Courses I've played : Potchefstroom Golf Club : 3/10

So after driving for over an hour and dodging various trucks, idiot drivers and speeding cameras I come across Potchefstroom Golf Club and I have to admit it was not love at first sight.

Before I start, there is one thing you must realise about me and that is that I love to play golf (I average at least one round of golf per week, even in the middle of winter) and love to play new courses even more. The problem comes when I never want to return to a course.

Upon entering the club grounds the first thing you notice is that they have seen better days, the place is fairly badly run down and it does not look like anyone has paid any attention to the facilities (other than the course itself) for quite some time. And it goes downhill from there.

Upon entering the "golf shop" (no pro on this course by the look of it) you are hit with a wave of 70's nostalgia: faded posters, a funny, smoky smell, nasty & overpriced used balls and staff who would rather you where not there.

We had booked two carts, but on asking for them where told that only one was left (after someone was allowed to cut in front of us and take one he had not booked), no apology, no we'll make a plan, just a blank stare and a limp, open hand demanding payment. And once we had paid, there was no 'enjoy your round, do you need some balls, etc' just a vacant, slightly aggressive stare. So we took the hint and left.

The course itself is a fairly old, parkland layout that could do with some toughening up, either the rough needs to be grown up substantially, bunkers need to be moved to cope with the advances in new equipment or the generous fairways need to be narrowed - I believe that it has hosted the South African Open on more than one occasion and I can see why - you really need to think your way round the course, with a number of holes having doglegs to deny the use of the driver and bringing trees and water into play on most shots into the green.

There where a number of extra things that didn't count in the courses favour though: firstly, it has been raining like hell here lately and the course was soggy meaning most of the fairways lost the run that would take badly placed shots into the rough and you could go straight for the pin on most greens as the ball was sticking. What's worse though is that the course is mown using agricultural equipment and it shows - the fairways have a ripple effect in the grass, there is little or no first cut and the whole thing looks like the ground staff have just done enough to get by.

The greens however are a different story with the vast majority being in excellent condition, holding almost all short iron shots and reading absolutely true (if a bit slow, but I guess that's the weathers fault) - whoever looks after them should be in charge of the rest of the course!

For me their signature hole is the 16th: a par 4 playing 372m off the club tees that requires a extremely accurate drive if you want to be able to see the green for your second shot. The hole is played straight down a fairway that goes out of bounds at about the 300m mark, whereupon you have to play your second 90 degrees left over a stream, with both sides of the green guarded by some rather large willow trees and an out of bounds area to the right. The green itself is a large tabletop with a premium placed on the accuracy of your second shot to ensure you don't have a monster putt to finish the hole off. This hole is very similiar to the 1st, but has that little something extra that makes it memorable. The 357m par 4 9th would run the 16th a close second as it forces you to think about your distance off the tee and shot placement to give you a line in for your second to a green which uses trees on either side of the 100m marker to give a very narrow gap to thread your shot through.

The halfway house left a lot to be desired; a total a six items on the menu (two of which where a plate of chips) and the orders (and drinks) took ages to arrive. The bar attendant looked like she should would rather have be somewhere else. The halfway house and bar look just as run down as the rest of the club and the members should seriously consider doing something about this - I have seen better plastic patio furniture at second hand sales (in fact the plastic chairs looked like they had been donated/stolen from one of the local schools)

Now back to the "Golf Shop" - on completing the round I returned there to claim my cart deposit. The delightful individual manning the counter didn't say a single word to me as he begrudgingly threw (literally) the R50 note in my general direction before returning to his seat to watch the cricket. I asked where I should enter my score for the day and he uttered that I should go to the club house (not where in the club house, just to the club house). When I got there I found that their NGN computer was out of order and that they didn't have another one but that they should be able to enter my score in at the "Golf Shop", so back I went. When I got there I asked if I could enter my score - the answer was obviously no, delivered with a wonderful 'don't be a stupid idiot' air and a denial of any knowledge of the fact that the other terminal was broken. My question to the 'Golf Shop' is: if your terminal is good enough to swipe my card to take my money, but I need drive 140km to enter the score at my home club because you are to stupid or to lazy to do the job properly?

Lest I forget one highlight of the day, the two caddies we had (as a fourball) where great - they ran left and right all day, not loosing a single ball (not bad when you have 3 24's playing) and giving great advice!

In summary, I think the nicest thing about this club is the new tar they have in their parking lot - at least it treated me with some respect! I doubt I will be playing this venue again (and I hope the 'Golf Shop' enjoys the letter I am going to send to the club chairman and captain).

If you are still interested in playing, it costs R105 (excluding competition fees, levies, etc) to play as an affiliated visitor during the week.