White 6398 metres, CR 73.8/136
Blue 5726 metres, CR70.0/134
Red 5253 metres, CR67.3/127
Women’s blue, CR75.6/145
Women’s red, CR73.0/134
R525 weekday
R650 weekend
Golf cart R450
Laurie Waters 1910,
Bob Grimsdell 1951
012 460 6242
www.ptacc.co.za
28 (2023), 31 (2022) & 38 (2021)
Pretoria Country Club enjoys a magnificent setting in the upmarket Waterkloof suburb east of the city. Unusually the club still occupies its original site from when the club was founded in 1910, and the main reason for that is the beautiful lake behind the clubhouse. This was the centerpiece of the club in the early 20th century and a particular attraction for members.
The parkland course, however, has always kept its distance from the lake, and there are a relatively modest amount of water hazards in play. The attractive par-3 eighth green though has an island green reached by a bridge. The gently undulating course makes up for that by being strongly bunkered, this happening when the Bob Grimsdell layout was modernised by the Gary Player Group early in the millennium. Some holes have them in abundance. The uphill par-5 18th has a total of 13 bunkers, six of them guarding the green.
Pretoria CC had all 18 of the greens, plus the practice putting green, restored in 2018 by their golf course maintenance contractor, Southern Turf Management. The bent grass greens had become infested with poa, several had drainage and growing issues, and the resurfacing project has restored the course with quality putting surfaces using Dominator bent. Three greens, 11-13-15, had their slopes and contours softened to provide more pin positions. Each green had a new gravel layer installed to USGA specifications.
Pretoria CC is a superb test of golf and has hosted several of the Sunshine Tour’s biggest championships. In 2006 it was the venue for the Centennial Women’s SA Amateur, where Ashleigh Simon at age 16 completed the “double” of winning both the strokeplay and matchplay trophies.
61 by Hennie Otto, 2010 Vodacom Championship;
Jacques Blaauw, 2015 Tshwane Open
The dogleg par-4 15th, 390 metres from the back tee, was christened by Bobby Locke in the 1950s as the club’s signature hole. It usually requires a layup short of a deep bunker on the right and trees on the left, leaving a challenging approach with a medium iron across a water hazard and willow tree to an elongated green sloping from back to front. The 330m 17th is an excellent short par 4, having a well bunkered fairway and narrow green. Pretoria CC has a good range of par 3s, from 125m at No 8 to 206m at No 16. The 443m 10th, a sharp dogleg right, is one of Gauteng’s outstanding par 4s.
There is a members only 250-metre downhill range for 20-25 players adjoining the 18th, with a high net to protect balls from entering the playing area. Teaching pros Athol Dowie and Henk Alberts.
2023 Marais Vorster & Maritha de Beer
2022 Louis Moolman & Bronwyn Doeg
2021 Christiaan Maas & Bronwyn Doeg
2020 Christiaan Maas & Bronwyn Doeg
2019 Christiaan Maas (15) & Danielle du Toit
1/ Joint golf directors and club professionals Sybrand van der Spuy and Athol Dowie have been together at the club for a combined total of 83 years. Van der Spuy joined in 1977 and Dowie in 1980. Two previous club pros, Graham Roebert and George van Niekerk, each served 25 years.
2/ South Africans won all three Tshwane Opens at PCC (European Tour): George Coetzee 2015 (266), Charl Schwartzel 2016 (264) and Dean Burmester 2017 (266). Coetzee was a club champion with Richard Sterne and Martin Maritz.
3/ Hennie Otto had a record 72-hole score of 260 when he won the 2010 Vodacom Championship. He had 31 birdies and two eagles, set a course record of 61, and won by 9 shots. Incredibly he had 9 twos at the short holes.
4/ Pretoria CC is a true country club with a broad membership of 1800, having two bowling greens, six tennis and six squash courts, a snooker room, and wine fraternity club. There’s a birding club, and over 90 different species have been recorded on the property.
5/ Golfers enjoy The Pavilion overlooking the course, and behind that is the old clubhouse, with all the function rooms. It has been home since 1998 to the Pretoria Club, founded in 1885, and their magnificently decorated club rooms contain an impressive library.
6/ Past club champion Christiaan Maas won the 2021 SA Amateur at Royal J&K, and shot 17-under 271 at PCC to win the 2021 Gauteng North Open.
Conditioning RatingsFacility RatingsThe course is currently looking and playing amazing. With all the rain of late it is the greenest it has been in 10 years with well-paced receptive greens. A treat to play at PCC. From the first tee to halfway house to the 19th it’s all well done and well looked after.
Pretoria CC has raised the bar with its new greens. A delight to play this parkland beauty in its current great shape. The property reeks of history and tradition and class. It's a magnificent old members club with loads of activities for everyone including snooker. The pro shop is now in the Pavilion by the putting green, and overlooking the first tee is the smart Blu Saffron restaurant. Opposite is a coffee shop-cum-halfway house. At the back of the main building past the tennis courts is a large and attractive dam with fishing and picnic areas, which visitors never see.
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