The Top 100 rankings have returned to Golf Digest SA magazine. Follow this link to freely access the digital issue and view the Top 100 Courses section.
Leopard Creek has retained its No 1 position ahead of The Links of Fancourt, and there has been a slew of positional changes in the Top 10, with St Francis Links up to No 3, its highest position ever, Blair Atholl to No 4 (equalling its highest in 2014), and Arabella to No 5, its highest rankings since 2014.
New to the Top 10 are Sishen, for the first time in the Northern Cape course’s history, and East London Golf Club, which was last there in 2018. Falling out of the Top 10 are Elements and Humewood.
Omitted from the rankings this year was recently renovated Durban Country Club, which had fallen to No 24 in the 2023 rankings following the 2022 floods. A decision was taken that it would have been premature to include it just two months after re-opening. It has also been the preserve of mostly members in that time. Few Top 100 raters have had the chance to play it.
The renovated DCC could almost be classified as a new course such are the breadth of the design changes, and Golf Digest has a policy that newly built courses need to have been open for play for three years before being ranked. In DCC’s case a year should be sufficient for it to be eligible again.
THE 7 COURSES CLIMBING THE RANKS BY AT LEAST THREE PLACES IN TOP 25:
Sishen from 14 to 9
East London from 13 to 10
Pinnacle Point from 15 to 11
Steyn City from 17 to 14
Zimbali from 19 to 16
Champagne Sports Resort from 27 to 20
Pretoria Country Club from 28 to 24
THE 10 COURSES CLIMBING THE RANKS BY AT LEAST THREE PLACES BETWEEN 50 AND 26:
CCJ Rocklands 30 to 27
Royal Johannesburg West 33 to 28
De Zalze from 34 to 29
Pecanwood from 35 to 31
Victoria from 38 to 35
Prince’s Grant from 43 to 33
Wingate Park from 48 to 45
Plettenberg Bay from 49 to 46
Killarney from 53 to 47
Modderfontein from 56 to 49
THE 12 COURSES CLIMBING THE RANKS BY AT LEAST THREE PLACES BETWEEN 75 AND 51:
The Woods at Mount Edgecombe from 57 to 53
Dainfern from 64 to 56
Irene from 61 to 57
Atlantic Beach from 62 to 58
Umhlali from 67 to 63
Krugersdorp from 76 to 64
Reading from 72 to 66
Paarl from 70 to 67
Eagle Canyon from 73 to 69
The Lakes at Mount Edgecombe from 83 to 73
Goldfields West from 85 to 74
Knysna from 80 to 75
THE 6 COURSES CLIMBING THE RANKS BY AT LEAST THREE PLACES BETWEEN 100 AND 76:
Mossel Bay from 82 to 77
Waterkloof from 87 to 78
Goose Valley from 84 to 81
Royal Port Alfred from 92 to 86
Katberg from 93 to 89
Emfuleni from 98 to 93