60 - Oubaai Golf Course

Location: Oubaai, South Africa

Rating: 7.2

I had pretty high expectations for this course as one of the higher ranked ones in South Africa but was sadly let down due to the quality of the course. The course was in a bit of a state of disrepair with the fairways not being watered, quite rock hard and the greens not being cut in 2 weeks. By all accounts the owners have managed it so badly that the greenkeepers hadn’t been paid and were on strike.

In terms of difficulty the fairways were fairly wide so high handicappers could do quite well. There is one really challenging 180 meter par 3 where you have to hit over a gorge to get to the green. With the dry conditions you get quite a lot of assistance with generous rolls from the fairways.

Unfortunately, there is no driving range but a small pitching area with free balls and coupled with a nice chipping/putting green the facilities aren’t all too bad. The pro shop was visibly understocked, likely in conjunction with the problems outline above so there wasn’t much in there.

I do hope the financial situation gets fixed because it is a really nice course with loads of interesting holes, a bit linksy in it’s style with undulating, wide open fairways. It is set a bit more inland despite it being quite close to the close so you only really have ocean views on the 16th/17th green and 18th tee. Like most South African courses it is in an estate but you don’t pay much notice to the houses.