74 - Umhlali Golf & Country Estate

Location: Durban, South Africa

Rating: 7.5

Ballito, better known as a surf/beach destination just outside Durban, has a pretty good golf course just outside.

Umhlali is a tricky course with many changes in elevation, thick lines of trees that make hitting fairways a must and an array of water hazards that swallow up your balls. There’s a wide variety of holes that makes it a very interesting challenge. The first is a driveable par 4 which entails going over a set of high trees, might left and you’re in the car park, the real play is a low iron lay up and take your medicine. The second is a bending par 4 to the left, any faders of the ball have to take a more tiger line and avoid the tree line. The third is a very narrow 360 meter par 4, no room for error here and two good shots are required for a solid score. The fourth is a downhill par 4 with water in front of the green and out of bounds over the back. You catch my drift.

The overall quality of the course was good without being great. There was an incredible amount of rain the week I was in Durban so the fairways were quite soggy and it was cart path only.

At R400 a round it was pretty good value for money. There was a pretty picturesque driving range, set on the hill and good putting greens. The clubhouse has a great pro shop, great changing rooms and a huge terrace to enjoy a cold one after with a festive atmosphere.