63 - Pezula Championship Golf Course

Location: Knysna, South Africa

Rating: 8.5

This is a truly superb course at the top of a hill in Knynsa. One of my favourite courses along the garden route. When you drive in there’s immediately a guy there to collect your bag and take it round to the putting green. You walk in the club house and it’s a beautiful modern building with thatched roof. I think I spent a good 20 minutes in the pro shop trying to stop myself from buying things. Carts are mandatory here, wouldn’t even both trying to walk!

It’s a tough first hole to start, 528m par-5 where you have to lay up before a gorge, play the second shot over and up a hill with a blind 3rd shot into the green. The course overall is in top condition and plays quite long with all the changes in elevation and with many sloping fairways, shot placement is key. There are stunning views of holes cut into the woods and also down into the Knysna valley. There’s quite a lot of bush so you don’t have the luxury of missing left or right in most places. The course has many blind shots and one of the fairways on the back 9 drops off over the horizon. Sadly, we played the back 9 in thick fog so some of our shots were completely in the blind.

Pace of play could’ve been quicker - we had a 4 ball of ladies holding us up most of the way round. There are good practice facilities with separate putting & chipping greens and a pitching area, only lacking a driving range.