Course name: Durban
Location: Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Four Word Course Review: Stratospheric highs, subterranean lows
Playing Durban Country Club was always a goal of mine, so I made sure to set a couple of days aside during a recent trip to check it out.
Royal Melbourne (East) was always my barometer for hot and cold courses, but Durban CC leaves it in the shade in that regard.
It follows almost without exception at Durban CC that the good holes are on the good land and the poor on the flat land.
The best of the land is on the seaside east of the course and the southern area near the clubhouse (much of the front nine and the last two holes), while north and west, where the lion's share of the back nine sits, is plain and poorly used.
The undulations on the good land are extreme, with greens largely built on the high ground, maximising those landforms and ensuring you can't miss them.
The standout in that regard is the mid-length par four 17th, which plunges from a highpoint in the fairway to a series of ocean swell rolls before climbing up high again at the green. It's as dramatic as natural, traditional golf can get.
Two par fives on the front side - the 3rd and 8th - both occupy fantastic ground for golf, the former dropping from a high tee and the latter playing flat before rising to a well-elevated green. Both possess yawning fairway bunkers that both draw the eye and obscure what lies in the distance.
On the back nine, the unique short par three 12th - the famed Prince of Wales Hole - plays from one tall dune to another with the narrow green reaching all the way to the edges of the raised platform, meaning plenty of balls that land on the short stuff end up rolling down one of the flanks 25ft below the putting surface. If that's not tough enough, bunkers sit at the front and back of the green. I always thought the 17th at NSWGC was a severe short iron test in a high wind zone, but this is something else.
The last of the notables, the 18th is an extremely short four over some really fun land. Easily driveable, but if you take a straight line to the green you have to traverse a deep valley that kicks the ball right towards a steep falloff down to the driving range. The ideal shot is either a fade that lands on the higher ground and runs down to the green or a bold draw that flirts with the right before landing into the slope and running up the hill to the green. The putting surface is made by the flow of the central valley that runs naturally to a great right-hand side chipping area.
The vegetation management is a disappointment, with jungle so thick just off the fairways that going in to look for a ball is the definition of futile. Another let-down on the back nine is the removal of two epic fairway bunkers that would previously have made the par five 10th and 14th standouts on plain land, where now they lack something exciting.
With some judicious work, Durban CC could be a good two tiers better than it is and a worthy inclusion in the World Top 100, within which it nonetheless sits. Not many courses have as many breathtaking holes or such incredible land.
I highly recommend a visit despite the drawbacks. There's a lot to see that you won't see elsewhere and - my favourite thing about golf travel - you get to enjoy the game played a different way in a different culture.
