Fish River Sun Country Club

Fish River Sun Country Club: On South Africa's Sunshine Coast, in an area of great beauty, much historical interest and no real estate development, Gary Player has designed another in his excellent portfolio of South African courses. Although Fish River is a bit off the beaten trail compared to the more frequented Garden Route, the naturalness and quality of this golf layout makes any visit a rewarding experience. Although the Indian Ocean is only seen from the higher elevations, you will be glad of the wind protection afforded by the tall line of impressive dunes that separate the golf course from the sea. This well-maintained, semi-links style course, which slopes away from the clubhouse towards the dunes, contains many open areas where long grasses will catch anything too wayward. On other stretches, dense bushes line the holes, putting a premium on accuracy rather than length. Although the course comes close to Fish River at one point (though you will not know it), it is in fact a smaller inlet from the sea, Old Woman's River, that comes dangerously into play on three of the back-nine holes. The superb par-5 12th is wrapped around a horse-shoe bend in the river, while your drive must carry over the river on the par-4 13th. On the par-5 16th you make the second river crossing, this time about 100 metres before the green - another dazzling hole. You'll occasionally find some tight dog-leg holes on this course, but above all will remember the magnificent views, testing layout and the Euphorbia (or Candelabra) trees that line several of the holes.