• Bucket list item ticked off

    Gowrie Farm
    A worthwhile trip
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    South Africa is blessed with an almost endless supply of great golf courses and ticking one off the list is always enjoyable.

    Gowrie Farm 

    For the longest time, I’ve had Gowrie Farm on my golfing bucket list. I’m not sure of the exact year I put it on nor the specific reason, all I know is that I was desperate to play the KZN Midlands course.

    My interest piqued when the course, designed by local attorney Guy Smith, was featured as a Course of the Month. The headline of that article was ‘Trip to Heaven’ – maybe something to do with the track being a little off the regular run path or the mist that can envelop the course at times. Either way, I had Gowrie right near the top of my ‘to play’ list.

    This past weekend, I ventured into the Midlands for the first time and managed to get on to the course, which was pretty packed due to a number of activities planned in the town around the long weekend.

    Greeted by friendly faces eager to help and a not-so-quaint farm-style clubhouse and surrounds, I knew I was in for something special.

    The course was in immaculate condition, the sloping greens were running a shade under 10 on the stump and there was little to no wind to speak of. As a two-ball, we raced around the course which plays, I’m assuming, much much harder when the wind blows.

    There’s always such a stigma around nine hole courses – I really don’t know why though. When the course is in such fine condition and the greens are that good, I’d easily sign up for 36 holes.

    Each hole is well thought out; it’s almost impossible to choose a favourite. The 9th is special but working back, you’d have to press me to pick out one that I didn’t like. The dog left first can be a menace if you are playing out of the thick rough with the 2nd a brute of a hole if you don’t flight the ball high and far. The 3rd is a real challenge if you find yourself missing the green with the devilish undulations.

    The par-three 4th is a little gem where club selection is 75% of the battle as danger lurks around the green so you better be dialled in with your iron approach. The 5th is the most demanding hole on the course with two big hits – playing uphill – required if you want to save par but again the green slopes, so anytime you avoid a three-putt, you should walk off the green smiling.

    The 6th provides you with a risk-and-reward choice as does the 7th before another tricky par-three, the 8th. Much like the 4th, it plays downhill where you better miss the well-placed bunkers that are ready to cause you a mountain of pain.

    Like I said, the 9th is special: you aim to avoid the water left and short but getting up-and-down from the swale behind the green to a front pin is almost impossible. What’s left is to enjoy a hearty halfway house meal and head out to do it all again – this time with some variations to the ‘outward nine’.

    Gowrie, playing to a Saga rating 69 and a par 71, offers you a real chance to shoot an exceptional score – that is if you can quickly adapt to the greens and avoid danger off the tee – as it plays short at a little over 6,000 metres.

    Often ticking off a bucket list item can prove to be a bit like a sequel to a blockbuster movie as the build-up of anticipation can lead to an underwhelming final product. This weekend, however, that proved to be completely the opposite, as the golf experience matched everything I’d led myself to believe it would be.

    If you find yourself in the Midlands, do everything you can to make time for a round at Gowrie, it’ll be worth it and then some.

    With another course ticked off my bucket list, I set aim at another not-so-easy-to get-to course that has been the centre of my attention. I’ll be sure to let you know when I’ve ticked that off the list, which grew even longer this weekend after driving around the countryside.

    *What course is on your bucket list? Tell me @wadepretorius on Twitter 

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