62 - St Francis Bay Golf Club

Location: St Francis, South Africa

Rating: 7.3

If you’re in St Francis to play the Links course you should definitely follow it up with the Bay course. It’s 2 minutes down the road and roughly R600 so not the cheapest for the area, in fact I paid less for the Links course but still worth a visit. The Bay course is a real confidence booster and a place where high handicappers could shoot lower scores than usual. At 5,600 meters off the white tees, it isn’t exactly short but in hot dry conditions you get a lot of assistance from the fairways and the ball can roll for a while. There isn’t much cover in terms of trees so I can imagine it can get quite windy but I played on a very calm day. 

On the 3rd hole green and 4th tee box you get a really nice view of the ocean. The 3rd was probably one of the better holes, as you approach the green you have to hit between two dunes on either side in front of the green, makes it a really pretty and a little daunting approach shot. The overall condition of the course was good, the greens in good condition and whilst the fairways look dry there was a decent amount of juice in them.

There isn’t a driving range, but they do have a net and an area where you can practice short pitch shots. The pro shop has some good apparel in there at a reasonable price and there is a bar/restaurant overlooking the 18th green.