St. Francis Bay Golf Club

Echt een hele leuke baan. De dorpsbaan. Bijna alleen lokale mensen. Mooi gelegen, vlak aan zee en goed onderhouden. Niet super uitdagend. Hier en daar wat water en bossages. Holes overwegend recht en redelijk vlak. Mooie greens, hier en daar een schimmeltje, maar mooi strak. Fairways en tee-boxes prima. Uitdagende bunkers! Simpele driving range. Clubhuis eenvoudig en wat donker.

St Frances Bay is the lesser known of the 2 courses in the pretty coastal resort village of St Frances. That doesn't mean it's the lesser experience however! The more famous Nicklaus designed St Francis Links is a great track, but a corporate style resort and feels like it. The Bay is the polar opposite - a charming and friendly members' club, which welcomes visitors with open arms. The staff are friendly, can't do enough for you and elevate your experience. The golf course was a pleasant surprise too. Originally built for a local family as their private 9 holer in 1975, it was expanded to 18 holes and opened up for memberships in 1999. Being relatively young, it doesn't have the feel of 2 different phases of development. The whole knits together seamlessly and you really can't tell. Other than the strong long par 4 2nd, the opening few holes are relatively gentle, lulling you into a false sense of security. Things get decidedly more difficult and strategic after the pretty par 3 8th, played over a lake. The dog leg right 9th is perhaps the strongest hole on the course, with a risk and reward tee shot to an angled fairway, followed by a long second shot to an elevated and angled green in front of the clubhouse. On the back 9, the relatively short par 4 12th presents probably the most testing tee shot on the course, to a narrow fairway which narrows severely and is linked with bushes on both sides. The green is set in dunes a few yards from the beach. A truly spectacular hole. Other standouts on the back 9 are the 2 par 5 holes. 15 gives you a chance to open your shoulders and try and get home in 2. 18 on the other hand requires pin point accuracy off the tee in order to open up a second shot which dog legs severely to the left, to a green placed in front of the clubhouse. As with most private member's clubs in ZA, it's incredible value for money with a walk on green fee of <£25. Caddie fees are <£15 and, if you are visiting for an extended period, temporary membership packages are available. You can walk easily, and get round relatively quickly. To summarise, St Francis Bay is friendly and welcoming, excellent value and a decent test. Conditioning was pretty good too. If you're going to St Francis to play the Links, you'll be missing out if you don't play the Bay whilst your there..................

Just before driving to the West -Cape we play the Francis Bay course. Of course it it less as the expensive Links course, but still close to the Indian Ocean and wind is a big factor. Therefore you can still play an 18 holes course, which have a length of 6642m so not easy.

The greens are fine and no excuse for 3 putts. Wind can be difficult if blowing but it all belongs to it. Staff and restaurant is fine.

Een leuke linksbaan waar de fairways op veel plaatsen geel zijn en deze daarom lastig/moeilijk te vinden zijn voor spelers die hier voor de eerste keer spelen. Ook is het op diverse plaatsen heel moeilijk te zien waar de volgende hole is. Dat begint al bij hole 2. Zelf kreeg ik de indruk dat men hier niets aan wil doen ondanks dat leden ons heel vriendelijk de juiste weg hebben aangegeven. Neem het zoals het is en je kunt een aangename dag hebben. Een echt “dorpse baan” zonder onvriendelijk te willen zijn. Gemakkelijk? Zeker niet. Zou je de baan niet kennen, zoals ik, dan kom je diverse keren voor verrassingen te staan. Dus, neem de tijd en probeer te genieten. De prijs voor de greenfee maakt veel goed. Greens zijn mooi, strak en goed te beoordelen.

Played here as we couldn't get on St Francis Links again (on a Monday). I expected fairly low quality, but it was fine. We had a warm welcome all round; the green fees and buggy hire were excellent value. It's a pretty true links course, so was tricky in the wind.

If you have time, give it a go.