St Francis Links:

Discover the destination that surpasses every expectation, every time. Our world-class Jack Nicklaus Signature links golf course is consistently ranked in the Top 10 in South Africa. This, along with our personalised experience, hosted by one of our 4 PGA Professionals under the leadership of Master PGA Professional Jeff Clause, means that St Francis Links is a must-visit on your golfing itinerary.

St Francis Bay

St Francis Bay Golf Club is renowned country-wide for its warm hospitality and a great club spirit, which has been the essence of the club over the years, and continues to grow. For all golfers, especially those visiting the Eastern Cape in South Africa, the opportunity to visit St Francis Bay Golf Club for a couple of rounds should not be missed.

Situated in one of South Africa’s, if not the worlds, the most exclusive locations, St Francis Bay Golf Course has been fashioned on an incredible piece of estate that overlooks the ocean that the town of St Francis Bay is built up against. The club, originally a nine hole course designed by Robert Grimsdell and funded by Leighton Hulett in 1975 was for private use but has since then incurred dramatic changes and a further 9 added by Maxwell in 1999 resulted in the 18 hole it is today.

The par 71, of moderate length provides a challenge and breaking par on this “thinking” course is going to prove to be a challenge. Fail or succeed there’s always the 19th to work out just what happened! Activities in the area include swimming, surfing, windsurfing, sun-tanning, body boarding and wave skiing.

Humewood:

A Genuine Links Course

The Humewood Golf course has been designed with wide and undulating fairways, fast greens and thick coastal bush. A round is a must for any golfer visiting the ‘Friendly City’ of Port Elizabeth.

Today, Humewood is still one of only a few genuine seaside links courses found outside of Britain.

1. It is situated on the sand dunes on the shores of Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth.
2. The fairways are exposed, undulating and wide to compensate for strong winds.
3. Bunkers are few with steep faces.
4. Greens are firm and fast, the rough is thick coastal bush and there are no water hazards.

Comparison with Links Courses available in USA

Especially in the U.S the term “links” is frequently misapplied. The name“Links” refers to very specific type of course. But nowadays it is common for any golf course that is relatively treeless to call itself a links course, and that’s not accurate.

In America, they get away with it. Most American golfers, have never seen a links course.

The British Golf Museum says that “links” are coastal strips of land between the beaches and the inland agricultural area where crops are grown. This term, in its purest sense, applies specifically to seaside areas in Scotland.

So “links land” is land where seaside transitions into farmland. Links land has sandy soil, so crops cant be grown. The land, in fact, was thought to be worthless.