Birdies & Briefcases in KZN

‘The KZN Coast’s Big Six’ is the title on the first page, and the list reads as follows: Durban Country Club, Selborne, Zimbali, Prince’s Grant, Wild Coast and San Lameer.

Having decided at the last minute to bring your golf clubs along on this business trip, this array of reputable courses certainly piques your interest. But the problem of only five days to spend in KwaZulu-Natal and three business meetings as the priority looms as large as a water hazard before you. Then again, an evening business meeting at one of Durban’s famous curry dens is always an option.

Number one on the list must be Durban Country Club. With DCC only a five-minute drive away from Grey’s Street, the area renowned for its Indian cuisine, it means that you can enjoy a round of golf and then meet your business associate, Mr Singh, for dinner at one of the Indian restaurants in Grey’s Street.

A 16-time host of the South African Open – a record for the game’s second oldest National Open after the British Open – DCC is one of the world’s true golf gems.

The layout weaves through thick coastal shrub and then takes on a parkland feel over some holes. The first five holes make up a highly demanding opening stretch, including the tight par-four first. The exposed par-three second, the famous par-five third which concentrates the tee shot into a narrow valley, the par-three fourth which offers a brief respite, and then the par-four fifth, which ranks as one of the toughest holes on the course requiring an accurate tee shot and an equally accurate second into a well-bunkered green.
But DCC represents only the tee box of a stretch of coastal ‘fairway’ that is home to some of the most spectacular courses in the country.

Zimbali and Prince’s Grant are on the North Coast, also referred to as the Dolphin Coast, while Selborne, Wild Coast and San Lameer are on the South Coast, aptly dubbed the Golf Coast.

You decide to convince Mr Singh to join you on a trip to Zimbali and Prince’s Grant.

On Zimbali, the brochure reads: “Zimbali Coastal Resort lies deep in the forests of the Dolphin Coast. A luxury residential, holiday and golf resort with exclusive accommodation and hotel near the beach and ocean. The Zimbali Country Club’s golf

course is a par-72 championship course, designed by former South African PGA and British Open Champion, Tom Weiskopf. This course is both challenging and superbly beautiful, offering world-class standards for top players and higher handicap players alike.”

Midweek rates are pretty reasonable at R225, while a golf cart – for the aging Mr Singh – will cost an additional R300. A fee of R800 for the game and a night at the five-star boutique hotel beats sitting in a stuffy office in the famous Smith Street in Durban. The Zimbali Lodge has a total of 76 rooms situated in individual lodges, and there’s a health and beauty spa as well.

The next morning you and Mr Singh make your way to Prince’s Grant, just 80 kilometres from Durban.
According to your brochure, Mr George Prince acquired the land by deed of grant from Queen Victoria in 1856 for the princely sum of two pounds, five shillings and four pence sterling. Soon thereafter cane cutter Babu Bodasing acquired the farm. The developers purchased the farm from the Bodasing family and went about creating a golf club that epitomised the traditions and spirit of amateur golf.

Construction of the Peter Matkovich-designed golf course commenced in 1992, and it was opened for play in June 1994 and represents a more than challenging test.

It’s Thursday morning and you’re back in Durban having had a very beneficial trip with Mr Singh. In between your birdie opportunities at the fifth and 12th at Zimbali, and an amazing 40-foot eagle chance at Prince’s Grant, you and Mr Singh thrashed out your plan to take the textile industry by storm.

Your next associate, Mr Padayachee, has agreed to meet you in Durban, and from there you head down the South Coast for some more golf, and a little business.

You make a wise decision to play Selborne that afternoon as it is the closest course to Durban, and then on Friday the two of you will get in two rounds at San Lameer and the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, which are the two most southerly courses on this coastal stretch.

A quick glimpse at the brochure acquaints you with these courses.

“The Selborne Hotel, Spa & Golf Estate on the edge of the warm Indian Ocean is only 30 minutes south of Durban International Airport,” the brochure reads. “Woven around the natural rock and verdant indigenous coastal forest, the estate itself is home to duiker, mongoose, bushbuck and over 160 bird species. Mr Denis Barker, a well-known local sugar and dairy farmer, purchased Selborne Park in 1979 which was used as his family home and to run his pedigree Jersey cattle herd. In 1985, following a visit to the United States and Canada, Barker decided to build a golf course on the property.”

There is a wide variety of accommodation at Selborne, ranging from the luxury suite at R635 a night to the presidential suite at R3,500 a night.

Up early on Friday and about an hour’s drive from Selborne sees you arrive at San Lameer. According to the brochure it seems as though San Lameer is an intriguing venue: “A heritage of conservation-based planning makes for a natural woodland. San Lameer has 195 bird species, herds of impala, reedbuck, red and grey duiker, bushbuck and many other species of fauna and flora. San Lameer also offers eighteen classic holes that weave a natural challenge through the open glades, forests and lakeland, with the easy roar of the Indian Ocean cheering you on like a thousand-strong crowd. Enjoy a demanding round of golf on the 18-hole championship golf course designed by Peter Matkovich or a more relaxed nine holes on the Mashie course.”

Having to catch a flight out of Durban on Friday evening, you won’t be able to experience San Lameer’s stunning accommodation, which has units available to cater to anyone’s needs.

After 18 holes at San Lameer, you make the quick trip across the river to the Wild Coast Sun.

You don’t know too much about the golf course, so once again a look at the brochure puts you in the picture.

“The Wild Coast Sun Country Club is a rugged beauty of a course. A first glance at the scorecard might suggest that this course is a bit of a pushover – less than 6 000 metres in length with six par threes. But in reality the Wild Coast Sun Country Club is one of South Africa’s most testing layouts. Renowned American golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Jnr. has created a dramatic golf experience overlooking the Ocean.”

With very little time on your hands, you and Padayachee will have to miss out on the gambling this time. With a plane to catch you will also miss out on staying at the hotel, one of the best resort hotels in the country. This family-styled hotel has 246 guest rooms and several upmarket suites.

It’s time to head to Durban International Airport for a flight back to Johannesburg. That smile on your face may have something to do with the golf, or the fact that the deal with Padayachee was sealed on the 14th at San Lameer.

Mixing business with pleasure has never been this good.