Durban Country Club |
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The Durban Country Club, situated in the city of Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal along the coast of the Indian ocean, is diligently maintained and consists of two courses. The Durban Country Club course which was established in 1922 and the Beachwood course which was previously known as the Beachwood country club but now forms part of the Durban Country Club. Both the courses can be said to be championship courses.
The Durban Country Club course, classified as a semi-links course, has hosted the South African Open Championship 14 times and was ranked as the number four golf course in South Africa in 2004. Strong on shore winds blow through the valley of the scenic and demanding course .This course is classified as an extremely challenging course to most skilled golfers, and was designed for the more experienced golfer. Beginners should not attemp to learn golf here, as this is a course that will be enjoyed but never mastered. The courses difficulties commence at the very first hole, where the golfer who flinches from the out-of-bounds on his right hand risks a hanging lie on the hump to his left. From it he can be out of sight of the green, set into a huge tree covered dune. From the plateau green at the first there is a climb to the tee on the second where the shot is played from one ridge to another over a deep grassed hollow. The 3rd is everybody's favourite hole, played from an elevated tee at the highest point of the course into a valley. The ground rises again through a series of mounds, reaching like fingers on to the valley floor, to a green in the shadow of a tree covered dune. Large bunkers, tropical bushes, steep slopes and narrow fairways all add to the challenge of playing this course. The par-5 third is considered the best in the world as you play from a high tee to a narrow fairway with a predatory bunker on the left. One can drive the 252 meter eighteenth in favourable weather. Whatever the conditions, the severe temptation to hit beyond one's capacity is always there and this makes it a fine finishing hole, demanding accuracy. The eighteenth is among the shortest finishing holes anywhere in championship golf, but this in no way makes it easy to play.
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