Port Shepstone

Port Shepstone, KZN South Coast - KwaZulu-Natal

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Club manager: Ethan Grimsley
PGA pro & greenkeeper: Jesse Verster
Club captains: Eddie Ringo & Jenny Hulley
President: John Beekman

Course Summary

Three tees / Par 72

White 5744 metres, CR71.0/132
Blue 5217 metres, CR67.8/128
Women’s Red 5102 metres, CR72.1/125

Visitor Green Fee

R350, golf cart R340
R260 Monday, Tuesday

Course designer

Sid Brews 1948

Contact

039 695 0140
www.pscc.co.za

The oldest golf club on the KZN South Coast, founded in 1915, and boasting a charming course of wonderful variety. It’s also one of the longer South Coast courses, at 5 830 metres, and hosted the 2015 KZN Open for the country’s leading amateurs as part of its centenary celebrations.

The course sits on the banks of the broad Mzimkhulu River as it flows into the Indian Ocean. The river is close and threatening, with flooding over the years, the worst being in May 1959 when the country club was practically washed away.

It’s a golf course of two contrasting nines, probably due to the fact that it began as a 9-hole course in the 1920s, before extending to 18 in 1948. The shorter front nine is tree-lined and tight, and wanders into the surrounding indigenous forest, while the back nine is closer to the ocean – which unfortunately cannot be seen from any hole – and has an open links feel to it. It is quirky and old-fashioned, yet enormous fun to play. The longest par 4 is 377 metres (No 16), yet the holes can play long in any kind of sea breeze.

Read: COLIN NEL HAS 59 AT PORT SHEPSTONE

Additional Course Facts

Course Record

62 by Jesse Verster in 2005

Club Champions

2020 Phiwe Mkhoma & Kim Strauss
2019 Daan Swanepoel & Kim Strauss

Practice Facility

Short-game area and warm-up nets. Cricket field used as range when not in use.

Did You Know

1/ This is a proper country club, with a cricket oval, bowls and squash, family activities, and live music at weekends.

2/ In May each year the Restoration Cup competition commemorates the 1959 flood, and the gratitude of Port Shepstone CC for the help provided by other South Coast golf clubs and those further afield which raised funds to re-establish the golf course and clubhouse.

3/ Tristen Strydom, a Sunshine Tour pro, won 2015 KZN Open with 18-under 270. He had low round of 65.

4/ For five consecutive years (2015-2019) it was voted Best South Coast Course in the Reader’s Choice awards.

5/ Sunshine Tour’s Jaco van Zyl was a Port Shepstone member when he won 2000 SA Amateur at East London.

6/ Wayne Fairbairn had a hole-in-one at short par-4 fourth in 2004, one of 10 albatrosses recorded.

Course and Facilities Rating
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Course Reviews
I never tire of the front nine holes at Port Shepstone. Just walking these beautiful holes is a treat. They are framed by the forest from which they were carved, not long, but challenging you to hit a series of accurate shots. No where else I know do you step on to a tee, as you do at the short par-4 fourth and find three huge ancient trees (they appear to be one tree) blocking your view of the fairway. There was an ace here in 2004 and that fluke would have required a driver that climbed quickly to clear the trees. The par-3 fifth has an elevated tee, while the longer par-3 eighth has a wonderful two-tier green. The piece de resistance on the nine though comes at the ninth, an intimidating long par 5 between tightly packed overhanging trees on the left and bush right. And the canopy of another big Umdoni tree close to the green means you have to draw a long approach shot around it.
Stuart McLean
20 March 2023
Port Shepstone's greens, after problems in 2022, have returned to their normal good condition, other than that on the par-5 seventh. A fun course.
Trevor King
18 January 2023
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I particularly enjoyed the inland forest nine holes of the course, which is the first nine. Attractive holes framed by beautiful trees and coastal bush, and some elevation in places. The second "links" nine with its water hazards is flat and would benefit from elevated tees in order for golfers to see the various channels. Greens were slow.
Sabelo Ndabazandile
12 December 2022
One of the friendliest clubs in KZN, where members make visitors welcome. It has a homely feel to it. The golfers and the bowlers were in a festive mood after our respective games on a Wednesday afternoon, which indicates a good club spirit. I particularly enjoy the tree-lined front nine where there are many fine holes with testing tee shots to find narrow fairways. The short par-4 fourth is one of those quirky holes so typical of the South Coast, asking for a tee shot over a vast ancient tree which hides most of the fairway from view. It would be one of the flattest courses in SA but for the climb up a hillside to the tee of the par-3 fifth, a gem of a hole with its narrow green flanked by bunkers. The par-5s are all good holes.
Stuart McLean
13 November 2020

Two different nine-hole layouts. The course is very playable, and has some challenging holes to test your game. The course is dry, especially the tees.

Philip Malan
28 September 2020
Short layout but can be a real test when the coastal winds blow.
Trevor King
08 March 2020
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