Royal Cape Golf Club

Golf fanatics, so common today, were also alive and well in the Cape way back in 1885, as a brief glance at the history of the Royal Cape Golf Club reveals. In November of that year, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry D'Oyley Torrens sailed into Table Bay, ostensibly to take command of the British troops at the Cape of Good Hope. Just nine days later, tough, he was busy contacting prominent citizens with the intention of starting a golf club, the first in South Africa. And so the Cape Golf Club (the 'Royal' prefix was added in 1910) was born with the golf-mad Sir Henry as the first captain. A 9-hole course was fashioned out of Waterloo Green in front of the military camp in Wynberg and in 1886 the first competition, a monthly medal, was staged.

The Cape Argus, reporting on the event, stated 'Those who played any hole in less than five strokes showed admirable putting powers, but the strong wind blowing from the southeast greatly affected the play.' Members of the Royal Cape will testify that little has changed in over 100 years. The notorious Cape Doctor, the south easterly wind, wind, still whistles across the course, although it has since been moved to another par of Wynberg. Yet it remains in typical Cape Flats country, exposed to the wind.

On a benign day Royal Cape can be forgiving, but in a stiff breeze it can be an absorbing and often very difficult challenge, although the ferocity of the wind is tempered slightly by the many trees that line the fairways. Whichever way the wind blows, though, there is inevitably a good mix of demanding holes where a par is hard won, and easier ones where that sought-after birdie becomes a distinct possibility. A good stretch of holes on the outward loop includes the 433-metre par-four 3rd, where a par against the wind is a near miracle, and the 5th, a longish par-five, where a slice will be swallowed up in the tall trees on the right and a hook will end up out-of-bounds on the railway line.

The five finishing holes elevate Royal Cape to an international class course. The 14th is an incredibly difficult par-four; the 15th a medium-length par-three where a big water hazard extends to the front of the green. Against the wind it is a real tiger. Trouble in the form of a dam hard on the right and trees on the left give the par-five 16th (reachable in two) a make-or-break, birdie-or-bogey quality. The 17th and 18th are relatively easy par-fours, especially if the Cape Doctor is blowing from behind. Nine South African Open and eight South African Amateur championships have been staged at Royal Cape, a measure of the high esteem in which the course is held.