Welcome to the 2024 PaR nz Golfing Holidays South African Luxury Golf & Safari Tour! 4 May – 23 May 2024.
This is an exciting Golf Tour to South Africa that includes four nights in Kruger National Park and a day with the elephants at Knysna Elephant Park.
PaR nz Golfing Holidays are proud to release our 2024 South African Golf & Safari Tour. We feature a unique collection of the best of golf in South Africa, a journey on the deluxe Rovos Rail Train and your chance to see wildlife up close. All accommodation is secure, 5-star, throughout with extensive food and wine inclusions as part of your tour package.
Our 20-day journey takes us from Johannesburg to the Kruger National Park. We then travel in luxury on the Rovos Rail Train to Cape Town taking in the famous Robben Island, Table Mountain and Stellenbosch vineyards. We have two nights on the Garden Route staying at the 5-Star Marine Hotel, Hermanus before five nights at the luxurious Fancourt Golf Resort.
We play 10 rounds of championship golf on tour including golf at Glendower, two rounds at Leopard Creek taking on the challenging Par-3 Executive Course and the Championship Course, Steenberg, Pearl Valley and then onto Arabella and Hermanus. The tour includes Pinnacle Point, and rounds at Fancourt’s Montagu and The Links.
A highlight in 2024 at the end of our tour, will be a day with the elephants at the Knysna Elephant Park and the chance to be up close with these wonderful intelligent animals. Labelled ‘Extraordinary Elephant Encounters – Knysna Elephant Park was established in 1994 and was the first facility in South Africa to house and care for orphaned African elephants.
Full details of the PaR nz Golfing Holidays led tour to South Africa –follow. Strictly limited to 26 only – Register now with denise@parnz.co.nz or kim@parnz.co.nz
Many thanks from your PaR nz Golfing Holidays Team.
Tour Safari Overview
This is an unforgettable and exclusive bucket list adventure. You are invited to experience a PaR nz Golfing Holidays hosted tour, which includes the best that South Africa has to offer.
On your journey, you will enjoy breathtaking beauty, cultural diversity, mouth-watering cuisine, world-famous wines, unique golf experiences, and the possible opportunity to come face to face with ‘Africa’s Big 5’ while on safari in the African bush.
This promises to be a journey filled with memories. A journey whereby you are guaranteed to leave this country having fallen in love with the people, the beauty and the diversity that South Africa presents.
The safari experience is a mind blowing adventure. Awake early at sunrise to head into the wild on your private African safari with your ranger and discover a world usually only reserved for the screen during Animal Planet . You’ll find yourself in an environment that is as old as time, where the rhythm of nature is the only governor. Two game drives take place each day – in the morning and early evening. This is when the wildlife is most active, and the temperature more moderate.
There are also walking safaris – the bush takes on a completely different perspective when you are on foot. Each of your senses will be on full alert as you feel the grass and stones beneath your feet; touch the leaves of trees; smell the musky scent of wild animals in the vicinity; taste the sweet grass of the veld; and hear the crack of a branch indicating you are not alone. Walks generally take place after breakfast and last approximately 1½ to 2 hours, depending on the fitness level of the group.
The 2024 tour also includes a day at the Knysna Elephant park who have dedicated 20 years to the rescue and relocation of over 40 animals, many of whom are cubs as a result of poachers.
6
2024 South African Luxury Golf & Safari Tour
Glendower Steenberg
Leopard Creek
The Golf
We will play on some of South Africa’s finest courses! Glendower, two rounds at Leopard Creek taking on the challenging Par 3 Executive course and the Championship Course, Steenberg, Pearl Valley and then onto Arabella and Hermanus. The tour includes Pinnacle Point, with rounds at Fancourt’s Montagu and The Links. These are all highly rated courses that include four designed by none other than South Africa’s Gary Player, two by the acclaimed South African course architect Peter Matkovich, with Jack Nicklaus of course featured!
Glendower Golf Club – The Classic Golf Experiencel
Glendower Golf Club is an exquisitely designed, highly ranked parkland golf course in Gauteng, South Africa. Currently ranked number four in South Africa.
Glendower is challenging, set amidst gorgeous surroundings, boasting lovely kikuyu fairways with 64 bunkers, 27 on the front nine and 37 on the back nine with water hazards on 11 of the 18 holes.
Dating back to 1935 when 10 businessmen joined together, formed a company and purchased the farm “Glendower” with the purpose of creating a Country Club. The farm was mostly a plantation of trees. English golf architect Mr Charles Hugh Alison planned the course and a South African professional golfer, A.F.Tomsett, was assigned the task of construction.
The club was eventually opened on the 7th March 1937, and after only two years played host to its first major tournament. The Transvaal Open Championship. Glendower has hosted the 1964 South African Non-European Championships along with other national amateur championships which include the 1986 Women’s 72-hole Teams Championship, 1987 SA Amateur and SA Stroke Play Championships, the 1993 SA Men’s Inter-Provincial and the SA Women’s Amateur and SA Stroke play Championships in 2003 and African Amateur in 2018, and has been home to the Sunshine Tour’s BMG Classic since 2009. Glendower welcomed the return of the South African Open Championship in 2013 where Morten Orum Madsen was victorious in lifting the trophy. In January 2015, Glendower hosted the prestigious South African Open Championship once again and was home to the Championship until 2018.
Leopard Creek – Designed by Gary Player
Working closely with the Kruger National Park and nature conservation authorities, the Leopard Creek Golf Course was specifically designed to blend in with the surroundings, providing sophisticated leisure amenities in an undisturbed natural environment. Sightings of crocodile, hippo, antelope, buffalo and wild boar are commonplace, either on the course itself or in the river running alongside several holes. Golfing hazards take on a new dimension at Leopard Creek for much of the water is home to hippos and the creature for which the adjacent river is named – crocodile. The tour will include both the demanding Par-3 course as a challenging opener before we take on the Championship Course.
Steenberg Golf Estate – Designed by Peter Matkovich
Steenberg (meaning mountain of stone) Golf Estate is nestled in the Constantia Valley wine-growing region with the Constantiaberg mountains as a spectacular back drop. The golf course has been laid out on the valley floor to roam through centuries-old vineyards and more recently a high-end residential estate. The parkland course features challenging dog-leg par-4’s and well-defended par-3’s. Bunkers, sandy waste areas and meandering streams pose threats on most of the holes so golfers need to be on their game at all times!
Steenberg is the oldest wine-growing area of the Cape Peninsula. Vines were brought to the region is 1682 by a young German widow Catharina Ustings Ras, who originally named her farm Swaaneweide (many swans). It has been cultivating grapes for wine ever since.
Pearl Valley – Designed by Jack Nicklaus
The Pearl Valley Golf Estate is surrounded by the Simonsberg and Drakenstein Mountains and bordered by vineyards with The Berg River water hazard running through it. Pearl Valley is the latest South African addition to Jack Nicklaus’ repertoire of signature-designed courses worldwide. Nicklaus has stayed true to his design principles by working closely with nature and has provided a golf course that fits in with the environment.
Arabella – Designed by Peter Matkovich
The Arabella golf course has a demanding and exceptional design that offers a challenging experience to all levels of golfers. A parkland design, with wide kikuyu fairways and bentgrass greens. The exceptional overall conditioning of this course ensures that it is consistently rated the best course in the Western Cape and amongst the country’s top five courses by both leading South African golf publications.
Hermanus – Designed by Robert Grimsdell
Hermanus, on the Cape South Coast, is located in a charming fishing village famous for the whales that visit annually to calve.
With its unparalleled scenic beauty, modern infrastructure, upmarket shops and endless adventure options, it’s little wonder that Hermanus town has grown in size and popularity during the last decade. The golf property features 27 holes and is extremely popular with visiting ‘Capetonians’ all year round. We will join this growing group of visitors and enjoy this course located in what is known as SA’s whale watching capital!
Pinnacle Point – Designed by Peter Matkovich, assisted by Darren Clarke
The Pinnacle Point Golf Course is something truly unique for the discerning golfer. This 18-hole championship golf course was designed by well-known South African golf course architect Peter Matkovich who opened the course together with top Irish Tour Professional Darren Clarke in November 2006. This cliff top course inspires golfers to play this challenging layout with a level of respect due to its dramatic views and breath-taking terrain. The layout is characterised by seven majestic holes that line the Indian Ocean rock cliffs, four of which are played over ocean and cliff.
The Fancourt Duo – Designed by Gary Player
No golfing trip to South Africa is complete without a round or two at Fancourt! The Fancourt Golf Resort was recently ranked in the top 10 Golf Resorts in the world, and is the only Golf Resort in South Africa with three breath-taking golf courses, all originally designed by Gary Player. The Fancourt Montagu course is a much celebrated parkland course and has been ranked as the number-one golf course in South Africa in the past. The Fancourt Outeniqua Course, as part of South Africa’s premier golfing destination, lies at the foot of the majestic Outeniqua Mountains in the heart of the world-famous Garden Route district.
Closer to the time, tees will be confirmed for the group on
either the Montagu or Outeniqua course.
The Links at Fancourt is without doubt the most impressive piece of golf design and construction ever in South Africa. Fancourt owner Dr Hasso Plattner, who took a very hands-on function in the creation, commissioned a golf course, which would not only be a thorough test for every golfer, but would also rank among the top courses in the world. Gary Player’s design team spent months studying the classic links courses of Scotland and Ireland and then, armed with inspiration from the best that those countries had to offer, embarked on the ambitious task of recreating some of their finest holes to make a genuine links test on what was once an airfield.
