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The focal point of a mining town, it has a clubhouse with every facility, some first class accommodation and a golf course that's ranked 12th in South Africa.
The architect, relatively unknown, deserves wider recognition. The course is a beauty, carved out of the bush but still a part of it, to judge by the frequent sighting of game: a cheetah has been photographed making a kill near a green; a lion is a frequent visitor, and I heard a hippo snort, presumably after watching my tee shot.
It's a course that has won many admirers, it seems. The scenery is spectacular, the condition flawless, the design player-friendly. You can open the shoulders off the tee but you'll need your thinking cap thereafter because the principal features are the greens and their defences.
They're slower than they appear, because of the grass. It's Bayview which looks similar to Bermuda but is in fact napless.
Intriguingly, the grain has little effect on putts so they're true as can be. They say they can be quick in winter when lower temperatures allow keener cuts.
It's course with no tricks or gimmicks, simply a succession of glorious holes, some of which would grace any course.
To tempt you further: there are 20 or so self-catering chalets on the course, there's an airport 10 minutes away with three flights daily to Johannesburg and the Kapama Lodge is a one hour drive. Dream on!
ALL of this is simply a taste of golf in the northern region of the country and we haven't touched upon Johannesburg, where a ring of superb courses can be reached without venturing into the city.
But after five days my schedule called for me to head south, to the Cape and the coastline they call the Garden Route.
I had three ports of call, the first being the Fancourt Hotel resort near the town of George, four hours east of Cape Town.
A de luxe hotel in a garden that's big enough for three golf courses sums it up nicely, but there's much more to savour.
The main house, now a national monument, dates to 1847 and is the centre of a 230 hectare estate nestling between the Indian Ocean and the foot of the Outeniqua mountains.
Oozing style and under-stated elegance, it's been a resort for many years, a retreat for the seriously wealthy seeking a multitude of diversions, but golf was introduced only in 1991.
Enter the ubiquitous Gary Player, with plans for 18 holes. He added a third loop the following year and a fourth in 1997. You'd wonder how he finds time for all that travelling...
The original 18 is known as the Montagu; the new course as the Outeniqua, after the mountain range which overlooks it.
They're dissimilar in all but presentation: Striped fairways, glinting bent grass greens, pristine bunkers, all reflected in the lakes that dot the estate.
The Montagu is somewhat easier off the tee, although the kikuyu grass stretches the fairways and the second shots require your best attentions to ingeniously contoured greens. With the flags in position A you'll have your work cut out but it's a joy to play at any time.
The Outeniqua is trickier, with more water, and it makes all the demands associated with the great courses. Still maturing, consensus says it will become a major course within five years but be assured it's not so dusty now!
A week here would be memorable. It's all at prices to surprise and a relaxed ambience, rare in a hotel of such elevated standards, will entice you back -- British visitors increased by 30 per cent last year; the word is spreading.
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