Stop three: Durban
The seaside city of Durban is home to the
grande dame
of South African courses, Durban Country Club, founded in
1922 after a
flood had
all but destroyed Royal Durban Country
Club. Appropriately,
the two architects
responsible for
rebuilding were named Waters and
Waterman, who did a magnificent
routing job, making full use of prime
land just a few hundred
yards from the
Indian Ocean.
I have never
seen a more
stern start—set along a narrow stretch
of rumpled dunes
with
dense tropical vegetation on both sides. The centerpiece
is the
par-5 3rd, played from an elevated tee to an ever-narrowing fairway
that
climbs to a small, ball-repelling green.
No. 12, 156 yards
to a
small plateau
green that slopes off on three sides, is
affectionately
known as the Prince of
Wales hole in fond
memory of the day half a
century ago when His Highness
twirled
a 16 on it. The nation’s finest
players, from Bobby Locke to Player to
Ernie Els, have had some of
their finest moments there during
multiple South
African Opens.
Although I couldn’t make the
same statement, I found myself
wishing I
had the time to play
this course again. And again and again.
