PARKLAND
BEAUTIES
ABOUND IN
GAUTENG

FIRETHORN, ROCKLANDS & PARKVIEW
ACHIEVE PERSONAL BEST RANKINGS

Published by : Stuart McLean - 28 January 2021

Golfers in the greater Gauteng region are spoiled for choice when it comes to playing Top 100 courses. There are 36 of them in the rankings, and 12 of those can be found in the grouping announced today between No 40 and No 21.

Randpark Firethorn has climbed to its highest position of No 21 on the rankings.

Gauteng is home to the greatest collection of parkland courses outside the United States. Their undeniable quality is underlined by the fact that 16 are ranked in the SA Top 50. Illustrious designers include the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Charles Hugh Alison, Bob Grimsdell, Greg Norman, Fred and Martin Hawtree, and Gary Player.

And there’s another magnificent parkland course in Sandton, The River Club, which does not feature in the Top 100 at all. The most private of clubs in the region, The River Club asked to be removed from the Top 100 after its last appearance in 2012. Having been privileged to play the course in December, I can confirm that it remains as stunning as ever, setting Conditioning standards the equal of the best. It would at the very least be a Top 20 contender, possibly Top 10.

The 18th green at The River Club, a course which no longer features in the rankings.

Several of the older courses have benefitted in recent years from extensive redesigns or what some might call plastic surgery. Creative greens complexes often transform a tired-looking layout into an exceptional beauty. Golf Data have proved the leaders in this field, and three of their redesigns feature today – Randpark Firethorn, Country Club Johannesburg’s Rocklands, and Parkview. The three of them have moved up a cumulative 27 places, and each of them have achieved personal best rankings.

Firethorn, which has hosted four European Tour events since 2017, had more than just a makeover. Several new holes were built on Randpark’s flagship course, designed by Sean Quinn, who now works for Nicklaus Design, and the golf course is an exceptional one, both a championship layout and a fun course for the club golfer. Firethorn’s new ranking of No 21 is the best it has ever achieved.

PARKVIEW LINK TO ST ANDREWS

Rocklands was once the shy younger sibling of the Woodmead course at CCJ. It was such an understated layout – kept in the background – that it only entered the Top 100 rankings for the first time in 2002. Over the years it has evolved into such an exciting, scenic and enjoyable course to play – also extremely challenging from the tips (6831 metres) – that it’s now considered the equal of Woodmead.

The Rocklands climbs 16 places from No 52 to 36, which still leaves it 12 places behind Woodmead, but who knows where it can go from here. Remarkably this is the first time the Rocklands has been in the Top 50.

Parkview is a stately old classic Johannesburg course now ranked No 34.

The other course attaining its best ever ranking, Parkview (at No 34), is one of the oldest in Gauteng, having celebrated its centenary in 2016. Parkview is renowned for its connection to the late maestro Bobby Locke, whose statue stands outside the clubhouse. But it also has a link to Old Tom Morris and St Andrews. The original layout was designed by Laurie Waters, who was an apprentice under Old Tom. The work at his pro shop did not appeal to Waters – “Five years of toil for five shillings a week” – and once his apprenticeship was over he sailed for South Africa in 1894.

When Parkview opened in 1916 it was on the edge of the bushveld. Johannesburg’s suburbia ended there. Waters laid out the course on Scottish lines, one hole following another alongside the principal hazard. At Parkview this was a sluit which runs through the middle of the course, dividing it into two clear parts. Its narrowness is a feature and the routing unusual for South Africa.

It has been nearly 20 years since Golf Data rebuilt the old greens, and they were received with such acclaim that the course overnight catapulted to No 37 in the 2003 rankings. Parkview has been trying ever since to recapture that position, and have finally succeeded. It’s a club not only with an interesting history, and a beautifully preserved clubhouse, but one that can boast having some of the slickest greens in Gauteng.

Victoria CC in Maritzburg has charm, character and class.

Today’s rankings are not all about Gauteng courses. Victoria CC in KZN, another oldie redesigned by Golf Data (2007), has achieved its highest placing (No 39) in the last 20 years. Superb greens are a feature of this undulating Grimsdell classic in the hills above Maritzburg, and under the supervision of head greenkeeper Kriben Gounder it was judged the No 1 course in KZN in quality of Greens. Its mark of 8.3/10 placed it in the Top 10 in South Africa.

View today’s rankings here:

https://satop100courses.com/the-top-100-by-ranking/

Article Search
Search for news articles
Top 100 Course News, Blog
and Feature
Recent news articles
1 Bosch Hoek Golf & Lodge Near… Read more
Joe Knox is not a golf pro… Read more
Louis Oosthuizen’s display at Leopard Creek is… Read more
Homeowners at the Oubaai golf estate in… Read more
The weekend of the SA Open at… Read more
Fancourt have built a new halfway house… Read more
This year is the 25th anniversary of… Read more
An attractive 9-hole course on the remote… Read more
Peter Matkovich has kept himself active as… Read more
Marco Simone was the first purpose-built golf… Read more
More than half of South Africa’s courses… Read more
On a quiet Central Drakensberg road between… Read more
Listed below are all 414 courses affiliated… Read more
Gary Player Country Club will forever be… Read more
The new millennium has seen a remarkable… Read more
Pretoria Country Club has been rated on… Read more
The US Open at Los Angeles Country… Read more
South African Open host Blair Atholl, ranked… Read more
Of all the great tournament venues that… Read more
Augusta National has Amen Corner to describe… Read more
The closure of Beachwood CC in Durban… Read more
Former Sunshine Tour commissioner Arnold Mentz has… Read more
Durban Country Club will be closing their… Read more
Casey Jarvis has become the second youngest… Read more
In South Africa, the Halfway House stop… Read more
Amanzimtoti Country Club was devastated by flooding… Read more
The Garden Route is a popular destination… Read more
Pearl Valley has been judged as having… Read more
Zwartkop Country Club, the 18-hole course owned… Read more
Does any other sport offer as many… Read more
Silver Lakes has asked to be removed… Read more
Mount Edgecombe Country Club is hosting two… Read more
KZN estate Cotswold Downs, at No 52… Read more
There was a change of the guard… Read more
Houghton and Hermanus are two clubs at… Read more
Woodhill continues its phenomenal rise up the… Read more
Having a river flowing through your course… Read more
Atlantic Beach is one of those courses… Read more
Katberg, Orkney and Emfuleni are this year’s… Read more
An exciting project in Mpumalanga is the… Read more
We’re seeing five key changes to the… Read more
The Eastern Cape has been included as… Read more
The Alfred Dunhill Championship is one of… Read more
Royal Johannesburg’s newly renovated West Course was… Read more
Durban Country Club’s iconic short par-4 18th… Read more
Composite courses could become fashionable locally in… Read more
Blair Atholl is an exciting new addition… Read more
Veteran East London Golf Club member Denis Jones… Read more
How would you react if you learned… Read more
Blair Atholl has the longest stretch of… Read more
Amanzimtoti Country Club suffered the most devastation… Read more
Durban Country Club will next year be… Read more
Bryanston Country Club head teaching professional Leigh-Jane… Read more
Work has started on the refurbishment of… Read more
Golf Digest magazine in the United States… Read more
The Sunshine Tour visited 17 of SA’s… Read more
TOP 20 GREENS 1 Fancourt Links, 2… Read more
No 1-ranked Fancourt Links claimed more honours… Read more
Links courses were the big winners in… Read more
Gauteng is endowed with wonderful golf courses,… Read more
Today’s announcement of 20 courses ranked between… Read more
Anyone who has played at Plettenberg Bay… Read more
Woodhill is one of 17 courses in… Read more
Four courses – Reading, Eagle Canyon, Centurion… Read more
Two new entrants to the Top 100… Read more
Such has been the huge amount of… Read more
The new year ushered in great excitement… Read more
The 2022 Top 100 Course Rankings will… Read more
It was 30 years ago this January-February… Read more
Christiaan Burke, this year’s scoring sensation in… Read more
In recent years golfers have experienced more… Read more
Ian Leach, a doyen of golf club… Read more
They do not count as criteria when… Read more
Following the oddest year in major championship… Read more
From Plettenberg Bay in the east to… Read more
Veteran Western Province golfer Greg Woodbridge gave… Read more
In a high-profile appointment, Meyer du Toit,… Read more
Fancourt in the Garden Route is acknowledged… Read more
After an innovative, lengthy and suspenseful week… Read more
Golfers in the greater Gauteng region are… Read more
South Africa’s collection of bushveld courses are… Read more
Big positional swings are a feature of… Read more
Three of the new entrants into the… Read more
My 61-day Road Trip visiting 70 courses… Read more
Cash prizes for holes-in-one are being offered… Read more
The design of the standard golf cart… Read more
Zimbali Lakes has been an anticipated golf… Read more
Highland Gate was a popular venue for… Read more
It’s not fashionable today but there was… Read more
The Humewood links in Port Elizabeth has… Read more
A countdown has begun to the announcement… Read more
Irene Country Club elected its first female… Read more
The Top 100 Courses website has a… Read more
I’m on a road trip around South Africa aiming to complete visiting… Read more
The PGA of South Africa announced its… Read more
Pinnacle Point have done it again and… Read more
Gary Player Country Club will become the… Read more
St Francis Links has introduced a great… Read more
Big changes are taking place at South… Read more
Colin Nel at the weekend became the… Read more
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD FOR ST FRANCIS LINKS During… Read more
The golfing members at Irene Country Club… Read more
While golf has happily resumed, with most… Read more
One of South Africa’s iconic golf courses,… Read more
GolfRSA today received the green light for… Read more
Golf courses around South Africa serve as… Read more
The golf industry will need to adapt… Read more
GolfRSA is making every effort to ensure… Read more
South African golf courses today are increasingly… Read more
PGA professional John Dickson spends most of… Read more
One of the stated 10 keys to… Read more
The national lockdown over the coronavirus has… Read more
David Melman is the Golf Manager at… Read more
Golf clubs have been issued with lengthy… Read more
There are a handful of golf courses… Read more
When the idea of a Top 100… Read more
Silver Lakes Golf & Wildlife Estate in Pretoria has been named one… Read more
Golf participation in South Africa would appear to be increasing, with Handicap… Read more
Serengeti Estates in Ekurhuleni has created one… Read more
Intimidating and challenging closing holes help create… Read more
Umhlali Country Club in Ballito on the… Read more
Erinvale Country Estate & Golf Club is… Read more
The Links at Fancourt and Leopard Creek… Read more
It’s a magical scoring barrier everywhere in… Read more
Royal Johannesburg & Kensington will make history… Read more
FIND A TOP 100 COURSE