Umdoni Park Golf Club Verified listing

Umdoni Park turned 100 years in 2020, it has been a largely unknown golf course, hidden away on a private estate an hour’s drive south of Durban.

It’s a fun, shortish layout in a scenic and tranquil location overlooking the Indian Ocean. Arnold Palmer once described Tralee in Ireland as “Created by God, designed by Arnold Palmer,” and the same could be said of Umdoni, where two former SA Open champions, W H Horne (1919) and Sid Brews (1930), played a huge part in laying out the holes.

Modern greens built in the 1990s by former greenkeeper Don Knight transformed it into a Top 100 course, and its reputation as a wonderful getaway destination has grown in the new millennium.

The rolling terrain on which it was built makes fora unique and quirky collection of holes. You reach the clubhouse through the village of Pennington, and then a paved road which takes you past Botha House, the ocean-facing historic guest house named after General Louis Botha, first prime minister of the Union of South Africa.

The course presents golfers with some of the finest outlooks of any coastal venue, as it climbs steeply in places away from the clubhouse. The front nine stays within view of the sea – long hitters will enjoy the prospect of driving short par 4s – while the back nine ventures into dense coastal forest. The back nine is 350 meters longer than the front and has some of the best holes, packed with character. These include the magnificent par-5 13th; the dramatic par-3 16th which plummets steeply downhill; and the 110-metre Majuba (No 12) with the green high in the forest above the tee. There are few flat holes at Umdoni Park. You are either climbing up to greens, or descending to them. The finish is a grand one. The challenging par-4 17th climbs uphill to an elevated green, and a walk from there through the forest takes you to the highest point of the property and the tee of the par-5 18th, a stage presenting the most panoramic of views.

Being a hilly course, not easy to walk, Umdoni has a big fleet of golf carts.

The beauty of Umdoni is undeniable, come and treat yourself!