Mpumalanga
Leopard Creek
The measure of South African golf
Location
Malelane, Kruger border
Designer
Gary Player
Opened
1996
Holes
18
Par
72
Length
6,713 m
The course
Leopard Creek is the reason a lot of golfers book a flight to Africa in the first place. Gary Player routed it along the Crocodile River on the southern boundary of Kruger National Park, and the result is a course that plays like championship parkland and looks like a wildlife documentary.
The conditioning is tournament-grade year round — this is the Dunhill Championship venue — but the memory people take home is the walk up 18, where the green sits on a bluff and the far bank is unfenced national park.
Signature hole
18th — a par 5 to an island-feel green set on a bluff above the Crocodile River, with Kruger on the far bank
Wildlife
Elephant, hippo and crocodile on the Crocodile River below the course; the clubhouse terrace is one of the finest game-viewing decks in the country.
Reviews
What our golfers said
“We have played a lot of top-100 golf and nothing prepares you for standing on that 18th terrace watching elephants come down to drink. The course itself is immaculate — every hole is a photograph.”
“Tough but fair. The greens were quick and the caddies read them better than any rangefinder. Our group of eight talked about nothing else for the rest of the trip.”
“The bush setting is the star, but do not underestimate the golf. Play the right tees, take a caddie, and give yourself time on the terrace afterwards.”
