170 - Zimbali Country Club

Location: Durban, South Africa

Rating: 8.4

Zimbali is a private member’s club just north of Durban on the east coast of South Africa. As someone who grew up in Durban it has always been on my wishlist to play and very glad to be able to have come and done so because it is a beautiful course a stone’s throw from the coast.

Word of warning, it is a very secure estate so make sure you have your pincode for the day to be able to enter, it took a good 20 minutes of calling and trying to get through to be able to get into the estate and make our way to the course.

The course itself is a lovely design and a pretty tough test. Being so close to the coast it is quite prone to strong winds, especially the 5th hole, a downhill par 3 where you can play directly into the wind or it comes slightly across. The green is protected by water towards the back and by bush near the front, a very tricky hole with stunning views of the Indian Ocean in the background.

Throughout the remainder of the course you work your way up and down the contours of the Zimbali estate with plenty of bush on either side of the fairways and water in some places as well. The fairways are generous enough to not make it too daunting but on a windy day you can lose plenty of balls into the bush.

Halfway around there is the typical South African, halfway house with plenty of food and drink, a compulsory stop in this part of the world and a welcome respite from the hot and humid Durban climate.

The facilities are good, there is a driving range as well as short game practice area. The pro shop has a great variety of goods and the restaurant is in a lovely setting. It is a cart only course, wouldn’t recommend even attempting to walk in that heat and for about R800 including a cart I’d say it’s pretty good value. Apart from our debacle at the gate the hospitality was pretty good overall.