Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club has two outstanding parkland courses as part of its 36-hole facility, and the East Course stands out as one of the continent’s leading championship layouts. The PGA Tour would likely have approved it as the venue for the 2023 Presidents Cup following an impressive bid by the club, but SA’s economic slump has meant the biennial match is too costly to host.
Having had 36 holes for more than 80 years, Royal has long been looked up to as one of the foremost golf clubs in the southern hemisphere, and today it continues a great historic tradition going back to 1890 with exceptionally high standards of quality service and presentation. Its clubhouse resonates with history, from the foyer to the locker rooms.
The East first went through a substantial redesign in 1999, when Royal merged with Kensington GC, which saw the construction of new holes on the back nine. Another significant upgrade took place in 2017/18, again by Golf Data, but this time the changes were subtle ones, and Bob Grimsdell’s design masterpiece has not been compromised. The layout was instead transformed by newly positioned bunkers, new bent grass on the greens, the pruning of trees to open vistas on the undulating property, and increased attention to detail.
The East was built with championship golf in mind, and in the days of persimmon woods and balata balls its sheer length was regarded with awe, even allowing for the effect of Johannesburg’s high altitude on the golf ball. In 1964 it measured 6660 metres from the back tees, par 72, equivalent to about 8500 metres today when you factor in modern equipment and the golf ball.
The course has hosted no fewer than 20 SA championships (men and women) since the Second World War, and most of those were in the previous century. In the new millennium it became a European Tour venue, hosting the Joburg Open for 11 consecutive years, and briefly an International Final Qualifying venue for the Open Championship.