214 - The River Club Golf Course

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

Rating: 8.4

The River Club is an exclusive, private member’s club based in the heart of Johannesburg. Open by invitation to international guests you can enquire through their website and be offered the chance to come and play this pristine parkland course.

When surveying the website before it’s easy to develop certain impression of the club being one of those super private, not so inviting clubs where you feel like they don’t value you being there but that couldn’t be further from the case. Everyone was so polite, friendly and welcoming.

The River Club doesn’t have tee times, I’m sure you have the regular visitors who turn up on a weekly basis at a similar time but if you’re done on the driving range, ready to go and the tee box is empty off you go!

From what I was told it was just an extremely well manicured parkland course but I don’t think this couldn’t have underplayed how nice the course is itself. The 1st hole starts directly in front of the clubhouse, every golfer’s worst nightmare, teeing off whilst the ensuing groups get to sip their morning coffee.

The course continues to weave its way through the tree lined fairways, it is not a flat course, there are plenty of changes in elevation, raised tee boxes and blind tee shots which make it all the more interesting. At 6,200 metres it is not one of the longer courses in Johannesburg but has a lovely mix of generous fairways whilst having tree line trouble. It is by no means a parkland only course. Several of the holes have water features that you have to take into consideration, take the 11th hole for example, a downhill par 4 requiring an accurate tee shot leaving a short iron over a stunning little pond to a green nestled between two bunkers.

The halfway house, similarly to Blair Atholl is situated underneath a group of trees with a lovely selection of food for you to choose from and included in your green fee. For a course a stone’s throw from a bustling CBD it has a calming nature, a sense of tranquillity amongst the crowds, a must for any foreigner passing through Johannesburg.