The Greencard Tour has been stopping off in South Africa for a number of years and the country never fails to deliver a wonderful golfing experience. This year was no different. We all met at the Vineyard Hotel, located in the Claremont suburb the venue is ideally located to access all that Cape Town has to offer and the various courses that we would play during our stay here.
The Vineyard Hotel – Greencard Tour’s Cape Town Home!
The golf programme consisted of the usual four round individual event and several team games. The first of those was an AM AM held at Royal Cape Golf Club. This is one of the oldest courses in the area – the design requires accuracy from the tee to score well. The winning team was captained by Gary Corbett and included Reuben Fielding, Sue Townshend and Jean Corbett.
The following day we were scheduled to play the second team game at Steenberg. This is a wonderful golf course, the design is simply superb. It was a pity that the club had recently undertaken work on many of the greens. This had been completed and the greens looked fine but unfortunately they were still protecting them and so they were on the slow side.
Magnificent Backdrop to Steenberg Golf Club
The winning team on the day was captained by Gavin Wilding and included Anthony Trafford, Jean Corbett and Gwyneth Fielding.
The following day gave people the chance to explore Cape Town and the surrounding area or simply relax around the hotel. There is so much to see and experience here whether it is taking a cable car to the top of Table Mountain, visiting Robben Island, driving to Cape Point or Simon’s Town where penguins can be seen in their natural habitat.
Martin Fell Opens with a Superb 36 points
Our next round was held at the Jack Nicklaus designed Pearl Valley. It was the first of the individual tournament. As is synonymous with Jack, bunkers were in plentiful supply, accuracy was therefore the key to achieving high scores. The course was in excellent condition and a pleasure to play although scoring was tough.
Martin Fell took an early lead after shooting the day’s highest score of 36. The next best score of 29 came from Anthony Trafford, followed by 27 from Sharon Fell and 25 from Gordon Pairman.
After one more night at the Vineyard Hotel, it was time to move to the superb Arabella Western Cape and Spa. The drive takes approximately 90 minutes and takes in stunning coastal views on the way to Hermanus. The location of the hotel is simply breathtaking. The rooms enjoy views over the golf course and the lagoon beyond. It is a magical place and we had three nights here with two rounds of golf.
The Stunning Western Cape Golf & Spa Estate in Arabella is always a highlight of our South African Tour Events
Next year we will have an additional night here to ensure our clients have sufficient time to enjoy the facilities to their maximum.The next morning we had another team game. Gavin Wilding once again captained a winning side that included Brenda Fletcher, John Attley and John Fulford. Their margin of victory was just two points from Anthony Trafford, Gerry Gentle, Bo Attley and Jean Corbett.
Fell & Trafford both in Contention at the Half Way Stage
We had one further round at Arabella, which was the second of the individual competition. The form of both Anthony Trafford and Martin Fell continued, as they once again secured the top two places with 35 and 32 points respectively. Gerry Gentle and Gary Corbett also carded scores of 32 whilst Tom Wilding, Bo Attley, Keith Trenter and Tony Daly all finished the round with 30.
At the half way point in the competition Martin Fell was leading the way on 68 points from Anthony Trafford on 64. There was then quite a gap to Gary Corbett in third place on 56 with Gerry Gentle one further back.
The following morning we all checked out and headed towards Fancourt. There are a couple of routes that can be taken, one is along the motorway and the other is the scenic road over the mountains and dropping into George. A few of the group took the motorway, whilst the majority of us headed over the mountains. The scenery was stunning and was well worth taking the additional time to experience.
Fancourt Golf Resort is the Number 1 Golf Destination in South Africa
Fancourt is recognised as South Africa’s number one golf resort with four courses, including the famous Links. This is all set in beautiful surroundings with the Outenique Mountains as the backdrop. It is an idyllic resort with superb practise facilities, three restaurants and a lovely clubhouse bar.
We would have two rounds on each of the Outeniqua and Montagu courses with an optional round on the Links. All of these courses were designed by Gary Player and are hugely enjoyable to play.
The first of these rounds was a team game on the Outeniqua. By this point, I think everybody wanted to be part of Gavin’s team as he captained yet another winning side. This time the margin of victory was a single point from the team that included Anthony Trafford, Wallace Grace, Gerry Gentle and Brenda Fletcher.
As previously mentioned the resort has a choice of restaurants in which to enjoy your evening meal. There is also the option of visiting the local town of George, just a short taxi ride away, with its selection of restaurants.
Back to the golf and it was time for the final team game of the event. This was played on the Montagu. This is a great course and finishes with a par 3 over water followed by a par 5 with an island green in front of the clubhouse.
Gerry Gentle, Barry Clutton, Tom Wilding and Bo Attley came out on top by a clear margin of 7 points.
There was no official golf planned for the next day and several of the group took this opportunity to visit the nearby picturesque town of Knysna. It is the perfect place to visit and then enjoy a relaxing lunch. Others took on the challenge of the Links course. It is a great experience to play, keeping the ball on the fairways has never been so important! If you are offline then it normally requires a reload.
Fell Extends Lead Going Into Final Round
The penultimate round of the individual tournament and indeed the event was played the next day on the Montague. Martin Fell once again carded the best score of the day with 34 and with Anthony Trafford finishing with a 29, he took a firm grip of the competition. Despite excellent rounds from Sharon Fell, Jean Corbett, Reuben Fielding and Gary Corbett his lead had increased to nine points going into the final round. Anthony was lying in second, Sharon in third and Gary in fourth place.
Fell Confirms Win In Style
2015 Greencard Golf Tour South African Event Winners: Gary Corbett, Sharon Fell, Martin Fell & Anthony Trafford
We returned to Outeniqua for the final round. It was clearly going to take an extraordinary round of golf from someone to catch Martin and given his form over the previous rounds, even this might not be enough. Indeed as we watched the groups finish on the 18th green, word was coming through that Martin was having another solid round and as a result closing the door on the chasing pack. This proved to be absolutely correct as Martin finished with 37 points and 139 in total. Anthony Trafford’s second successive score of 29 ensured he held onto second place on 122. Gary Corbett took third place with 120. Our leading lady was Sharon Fell, who finished in fourth place overall with 113. Congratulations to Martin on a fine win and qualifying for the Finals week at Quinta do Lago in November.
We marked the end of the event that evening with prize giving and a BBQ on the terrace overlooking the course. It was a wonderful end to a superb event.
At this time of year, South Africa is a perfect destination for the Greencard Golf Tour and we can’t wait to return in 2016. We hope that you will be able to join us – click here for details.
