Arabella Golf Club:

The Arabella golf course in South Africa is ranked by Compleat Golfer magazine as the number one golf course in the Western Cape. It is also featured in Golf Digest’s USA’s Top 60 courses outside of America in 2007. Designed and built in 1999 by celebrated South African golf course architect Peter Matkovich, who is also credited with the design of Western Cape courses de Zalze and Steenberg, this classic parkland course has spectacular views across the Bot River lagoon and across the Kogelberg mountain range.

The pristine fairways are kikuyu, while the greens, which frequently receive high praise from professionals in the game, are Dominant Bent. The golf course has been refined in the past six years with the addition of several bunkers and the revamp of the par-four 6th hold in order to rid it of its blind tee shot. Awarded Five-Star Golf Experience for the first time in 2002, the course is complemented by a luxurious clubhouse with bar and halfway house, as well as a fully stocked pro shop and excellent practice area with two resident teaching professionals.

The Arabella Golf Club has been the annual home to the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament from 2003, hosting the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Samuel L Jackson, Ronan Keating, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark, Lee Westwood and Sam Torrance. These and other top names have made a valuable contribution to Gary Player’s initiative to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Foundation and the Player Foundation.