The Nedbank Golf Challenge is played on an iconic course and we went around it to report on what us ‘Ordinary Joes’ can expect, writes GARY LEMKE in Compleat Golfer.
As that famous amateur golfer might say, this was ‘the calm before the storm’. OK, so Donald Trump might have been referring to North Korea, not the Gary Player Country Club, but he does come out with soundbites that stick.
It is also an appropriate reference given that this writer was one of those invited to play at the Final Round competition, the last before the course at Sun City was closed for staff to prepare for the 2017 Nedbank Golf Challenge. It offered a glimpse into the world of the professionals – although we were assured that when it came to November, the course would be a lot tougher than we found it on a hot October day. It really did feel like the calm before the storm.
The rough would grow a bit more, the fairways become a bit narrower and the greens even faster than we found them; on three occasions I was forced to putt from the second cut of grass off the green, on to a surface the caddie described twice as ‘medium’ and once as ‘fast downhill’. Once I left it woefully short – the ball snagging in the kikuyu – and twice it raced past the hole, one to the shout of ‘Taxi!’.
Before we take a ‘tour’ of the course from a double-digit handicapper’s perspective, a quick word about the caddies at Sun City, should you play there. Their reading of the greens is impressive and when they tell you your line is two metres to the left of the hole and not six centimetres, as the eye would suggest, believe them. It will save you a couple of shots as you work your way around the course.
‘Work’ is obviously a debatable word. The course can be hard work – a lot of the tee shots require a long, accurate carry – and if you veer off the fairway you are punished harshly. However, when you are walking for nearly 7 000 metres and witnessing the majesty of the Pilanesberg surroundings while hitting a little white golf ball around a course designed by Gary Player, you can’t really call it ‘work’, can you?
For the Nedbank Final Round day, we found a nice surprise in our lockers – a bottle of Ernie Els’ finest red wine – and
the nature of the day was set up as the pros would find it, a live leaderboard included. This required one of the fourball to carry a BlackBerry – yes, one of them – and enter the score, which was then updated on a screen in the clubhouse. Given that ‘rings’ didn’t apply, it became more of a medal-scoring round. The inputter couldn’t enter a ‘ring’ on the BlackBerry, so a ‘6’, ‘7’ or ‘8’ was required for the Stableford points to be a ‘0’. Needless to say, some high numbers were recorded.
The issue of slow play is one that continues to be topical and in the October edition this magazine addressed the scourge, but thankfully this wasn’t the case in our experience of the day. There was a shotgun start at 10:20am and by the time the final putts had been sunk it was approaching 3:30pm and there hadn’t been any bunching on the tees.
Compleat Golfer publisher Wayne Willmore has aspirations of turning professional and as if to show him how tough life is at that level, his fourball teed off from the 8th, the stroke-one par four. It’s one of the best holes to be found anywhere, reckons Els and it always plays tough for the pros at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Willmore admitted to ‘striping’ the ball down the middle of the fairway, but missed the green with his approach – and when that happens, the course bites you hard.
My fourball was driven in a Volvo to the 16th tee and for the pros it’s a 193m drive, straight and relatively easy. We didn’t play off the championship tees, so this was about the gentlest introduction to the Gary Player Country Club one could have.
That 16th was followed by No 17, which is infinitely tougher, with the water a magnet for any wayward shots. I pushed my drive over the water but out to the right, which left a long second shot – I didn’t reach the green – and reminded one how well Retief Goosen must have played here when he holed his second to win a Volvo.
Our third hole was the iconic 18th and despite the lack of tournament crowds, the scaffolding and grandstands gave one an insight into what it must be like to play when the chips are down come November. Sadly, I pushed my drive to the right – a few holes later I swapped driver for 3-wood to go for accuracy rather than distance – and was unable to have a go with my second to a green that’s protected by water in the front. My third went over the back of the green, making it tough to scramble for a point from there.
The par-four 1st came next and – yes, by leaving the ball out to the right again from the tee – the big fairway bunker comes into play. It’s a hole that plays tougher than it looks.
The par-five 2nd is a great experience. It’s a ‘thinking’ hole where club selection is important and also a sense of bravado, should you wish to take on the large dam. My only option was to lay up, although this is one hole I’ll be watching with enormous interest once the pros tee up in NGC week.
Next up was the par-four 3rd hole, which plays to all its length, and should you stray with your drive, your caddie is going to have to work for his money. ‘You’re back in the game,’ my caddie Eric shrieked, presumably in relief that this was the best tee shot of the day so far. Still, the second shot needs to be good and the green is slightly uphill, so make sure you’ve had a decent breakfast.
The par-three 4th requires a tee shot to the left, even if the pin is planted to the right of the green. The first and last rule of this gem is, ‘don’t try to get cute’. Avoid the water to the right and try to find the centre or left of the putting surface and trust your caddie with the line. It’s trickier than it looks.
Bunkers come into play on the 5th and I had my fair experiences of the ‘beach’ on the day. Coming from Cape Town, you quickly discover how different the sand is and how it plays. The bunkers have far harder surfaces and even if your golden rule has been, ‘two inches behind the ball, full follow-through’, that doesn’t necessarily apply all the way around Gary Player CC.
Holes 6 and 7, par four and three respectively, are ones for you to get back any confidence you’ve dropped in the last 25 minutes or so, but that just seems to lull one into a false sense of security, because the tough No 8 lies in wait. For Ordinary Joe, it’s here where you discover whether or not your caddie has a sense of humour – and bush adventure – or if your playing partners are the ‘Gentlemen Jims’ they have been up to this point.
However, a personal highlight was the 9th hole. There has been talk about the golf course scorecard being set up a little differently to allow for this par five to become the 18th, the finishing hole. It’s a risk-and-reward hole and you’ll see most of the pros going for the green in two and putting for eagle. That doesn’t mean there’s no danger, and a watery grave has been the downfall of many dreams of making a charge up the leaderboard. I managed to hit my best drive of the round, and then laid up, before hitting a pitching-wedge to the green. It made it on to the dance floor but was a long way from the band, although a nice two-putt resulted in a par. That was good enough for me.
Halfway house consisted of a prego-roll-on-the-go, and teeing up on the 10th we were still eating our way through the welcome delight.
Number 10 is another par five, where the pros will be looking for another red number to follow what they probably scored on the 9th, while the 11th is a tantalising dogleg par four, where the bush is a reminder to keep you honest.
The 12th is a par three and looks comfortable enough, but I didn’t take enough club and found the bunker to the front left protecting the green. I then overhit the shot from the sand and one thing you don’t want here is a long putt. Again, trust your caddie and if he says ‘medium’, he’s not referring to the prego sauce you just tasted.
Holes 13, 14 and 15 became our final three of the round and on a hot day and after a long walk – even if you’re not carrying your own bag – this is where fitness and mental resilience come into play. They are the strokes two, eight and six on the card and came at a stage when members of this fourball were getting fatigued.
This is a common occurrence in golf for us Ordinary Joes. The last three holes of any round can be costly – but the thought and experience of playing at Sun City banished any negative thoughts. In fact, after completing 18, there was a disappointment it had come to an end.
– This article first appeared in the November issue of Compleat Golfer, now on sale
