Yellow 6614 metres, CR73.6/132
White 6427 metres, CR73.1/129
Blue 6167 metres, CR71.3/126
Red 5454 metres, CR67.5/118
Women’s blue, CR78.4/148
Women’s red, CR73.5/137
Weekdays R145; weekends R250
011 749 3187
www.stateminescc.co.za
100 (2021) and 85 (2020)
State Mines is a hidden gem among Gauteng golf courses, an attractive, tranquil experience on the East Rand that in days gone by was a firm favourite of Bobby Locke, who grew up in the area (Brakpan) and was a club member during the 1930s.
South Africa’s four-time Open champion joined State Mines as an 11-year-old junior member in 1929, after his father Charles Locke, a keen golfer and Bobby’s first coach, moved the family from Germiston to Brakpan where he opened a new outfitting business.
In 1931 Bobby was made a full member of the club after winning the Transvaal Prentice Memorial at 14. That allowed him to enter all club competitions. He saw this gesture as a landmark in his golf career. “A signal honour which impressed my father and me,” he wrote in Bobby Locke on Golf. His first handicap as a full member was 14, but by his 15th birthday he was playing off 5.
After winning the SA Open at Parkview in 1935, State Mines made Locke a honorary life member. In 1937, shortly before turning pro, Locke won the State Mines club championship with a course record 62 in the second round.
Tall blue gum trees are a feature of the property, and add character to the design of the holes. It’s a well-balanced layout with a mix of different holes, having been redesigned by Gauteng course architect Rob O’Friel in the early 1990s.
State Mines have recently replanted the greens with bent grass, with some new shaping done on certain holes.
With its excellent quality greens, the layout is a friendly one if you’re hitting it straight, and State Mines was the scene of the lowest score in a professional event in South Africa in 2003, when Jaco van Zyl shot 58 on the Diner’s Club tour. Club member Casey Jarvis had a 61 in the 2018 Ekurhuleni Open.
58 by Jaco van Zyl in 2003 Diner’s Tour pro event
Driving range open to visitors, with balls available at pro shop. Short-game area in front of clubhouse.
Vaughn van Deventer & Cynthia Dicks
Club member Casey Jarvis, at the age of 15, turned in a remarkable performance on his home course in the 2018 Ekurhuleni Open, winning by 11 shots with a 27-under-par score of 261 for 72 holes. He opened with an 11-birdie 61, and followed that with 70-64-66, having 30 birdies and 3 bogeys. The Ekurhuleni Open returned in 2021, when Christiaan Burke beat Christiaan Maas in a playoff after they had tied on 270.
1/ This area of the East Rand used to be prime gold mining country, and golf was first played at State Mines in 1909, the State Mines Gold Mining Company having built a 9-hole course as a facility for their employees.
2/ In the heyday of the gold mines there were numerous golf courses in the area. Some have closed, but several have survived and continue to offer affordable golf. There are 17 clubs affiliated to the Ekurhuleni Golf Union.
3/ All the street names in the surrounding suburb of Brakpan North honour former SA sports stars from the 1960s and 1970s, among them Pollock, Bacher, Barlow, Nash, Ellis, Du Preez, Drysdale, McMillan, Hewitt.
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