Firethorn survived the wet summer better than the Bushwillow with only the seventh fairway, and both sides of the 14th fairway, still showing signs of a high water table. The course is looking great considering all that has happened in the past nine months. The greens have fully recovered from the calamity that befell them in late 2021 on the eve of the Joburg Open. However, at both Randpark courses the philosophy in treating the greens seems to be adding sand, so they are hard and not always true as a pebble may lurk to knock a putt off line. The bunkers as complexes are generally okay though some bunkers don’t always make sense in terms of playability and visual stimulus. The bunker sand is something else and plugged lies abound. There is enough sand to hide your shoes. Yet some bunkers have exposed slopes which provide spectacular ricochets.
