22 Gleneagles Rd, Bunkers Hill,
East London, Eastern Cape 5210
Office
+27 (0)43 735 1356Pro shop
+27 (0)43 735 1357Fax
+27 (0)43 735 1390Website
Visit websiteGolf pro
AJ Steyn (Golf Director).The Course:
18 holes. Tree-lined & open parkland. Undulating terrain - several slopes to climb.
Surroundings:
Fynbos (coastal shrubland/woodland).
Designer:
Current design by English course architect Col. Stafford Vere Hotchkin (1928).
-32.996174
27.936033
3 km N of East London
From East London airport and/or town centre, follow the R72 (North-East expressway), and take the Gleneagles Road turn-off. Continue along Gleneagles Road to golf.
East London
East London Golf Club: Although a long drive into the Eastern Cape, the reward for making the journey is one of South Africa's oldest and most challenging oceanside golf courses. Located between the city and the sea, East London Golf Club meanders through the continually undulating (sometimes roller-coaster) terrain of the coastal dunes. Your golfing journey here will bring you through dense coastal fynbos, and alternately into slightly more open areas.
The opening par-5 hole does an excellent job in setting the scene, taking you from more open terrain towards a green surrounded on three sides by the small trees and bushes of the fynbos. The excellent par-3 2nd, known as "the Drop", for obvious reasons, is played to a green menacingly encircled by six good-sized bunkers.
The Indian Ocean is revealed on a few occasions from the course's higher elevations, but for much of the time you will probably be thankful that the fynbos-lined holes are getting some protection from the wind, which is often in attendance. There are several attractive and gently sweeping dog-leg holes, usually of sufficient width to encourage the use of the driver from the tee.
With an absence of water to worry about, your main objective will be to keep it straight, avoid the bushes, and hit the relatively small and well-bunkered greens. Although not on everyone's Cape golfing itinerary, East London is home to a rather special golf course, that's well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.
Must book in advance. Handicap required
Credit cards accepted. Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2022].
Walking permitted and caddies available at all times.
Good
East London GC has hosted many top-level tournaments including the South African Open and Africa Open (see our Tournaments section >by Venue >East London). Among the impressive list of SA Open winners here, you will find the names of such golfing greats as Gary Player, Bobby Locke, Mark McNulty and Sid Brews.
Although no longer on the SA Open roster (due to its distance from South Africa's largest population centres), the course still hosts South African Sunshine Tour events (often co-sanctioned with the European Tour) and major national amateur events.
12th best course in South Africa (SA Top 100 website, 2022).
Quartzite Drive, off Pearce Street, The Quarry, East London
+27 (0)43 707 5400
Visit websiteLocated in a quiet suburb of East London, Quarry Lake Inn is a 4-star graded guest house overlooking a rehabilitated quarry. Indigenous trees and plants were introduced to maintain a natural environment that supports an abundance of bird and animal life.
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East London
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15 Turnberry Avenue, Bunker's Hill, East London 5241
+27 (0)43 704 1400
Visit websiteLocated alongside the 14th green of the East London Golf Club, this upmarket 10-room guest house is an ideal place to stay for your golfing or business visit to East London.
East London (next door)
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