The story of Leopard Creek
Leopard Creek may have been inspired by one man’s dream of creating an ’African Augusta’, but today this immaculate championship course stands in a category all of its own, offering an inimitable golfing experience overlooking the unfiltered wilderness of South Africa’s most famous national park.
Built by South Africa’s greatest. When Johann Rupert – the billionaire chairman of Swiss-based luxury goods company Richemont – decided to build a golf course amid the lush bush of the ‘Lowveld’ region of eastern South Africa, he turned to arguably the country’s most famous golfing export: Gary Player.
From a tract of virgin bush on the banks of the Crocodile River, the ‘Black Knight’ fashioned a remarkable 18-hole track often hailed as Africa’s Augusta. Construction took three years, with Leopard Creek welcoming its first players in 1997.
In 2016, a par-three course and dedicated practice facility opened – South African golfer Thomas Aiken called it “the best facility of its kind I’ve seen anywhere in the world” – and in 2017, the course underwent a bold overhaul, rebuilding and reshaping Player’s original layout, replanting the course with indigenous Cynodon and a fine-textured hybrid grass, called Barbados.
Straight into the big time. It didn’t take long after opening for Leopard Creek to come of age, capturing the imagination of golfers worldwide, both professional and amateur. It was soon recognised as one of the world’s top 100 courses, and by the early-2000s Leopard Creek was a fixture on the South African Sunshine Tour. It has hosted the Alfred Dunhill Championship – an Order of Merit event on the DP World Tour, with a €1.5 million purse – since 2004.
The Alfred Dunhill Championship has played host to a roll call of the world’s best golfers, from Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood to Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace. Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Charl Schwartzel all claimed their first-ever professional wins at Leopard Creek.
Holes among the hippos. With club tees playing to 6,000-metres – and Gold stretching that by another 480 – Leopard Creek is no slouch when it comes to the long game. The fairways are fairly generous but keep your shots tidy: the thorny bush of the Lowveld is notoriously unforgiving to wayward strikes. And, yes, there are snakes.
Course hazards certainly take on a new dimension at Leopard Creek, whether that’s crocodiles in the watercourses or giraffes and antelope grazing the fairways. They’re all wild, so keep a respectful distance. Water comes into play on more than half the course, and with hippos often calling the hazards home it’s probably safer to drop a new ball and take the stroke.
Par-fives and the Big Five. The 13th, a 465-metre beauty, sweeps downhill and asks some hard questions of every golfer who takes her on. Should you carry the mid-fairway stream, or lay up? You’ll need all eyes on your approach shot, with the elevated green perched 32-metres above the Crocodile River to dissuade you from overcooking it. While you wait to putt, look out for the Big Five game in the Kruger National Park just across the river.
The 18th is just as memorable; a par-five stretching 474-metres off the club tees, with an island green demanding steady hands and a sturdy heart. “There is just nothing like Leopard Creek in the world of golf,” said Ernie Els, the South African four-time Major championship winner. We’re inclined to agree.
What’s with all the leopards? While you’re unlikely to spot any in real life, a defining feature of Leopard Creek is the bronze artworks framing the greens and tee-boxes. They were created by acclaimed South African sculptor Dylan Lewis as “an evocation of the palpable menace that lies just beyond the manicured greens: a reminder of the wild, untamed periphery beyond the man-made oasis.” Quite.
Viewed as a series, the sculptures imagine a day in the life of Panthera pardus; lying on a rock in the morning sun on the 1st, hunting impala on 15 and 16, to ending with a gaze out across the bushveld at day’s end, a fitting partner for 18.
Dining with a view. The elegant clubhouse offers a range of bars and dining options encouraging you to linger after your round, with twin terraces overlooking the finishing holes or across to the Kruger National Park. There’s a fairly strict dress code, so plan ahead what you might need to pack.
Augusta-level exclusivity. Comparisons with the home of The Masters, Augusta National, are justified not just in terms of the quality of golf, but also in its exclusivity. Leopard Creek is a private members’ club, with membership by invitation and largely limited to owners of private homes on the wider lifestyle estate. However, with Golf Traveller, you’ll stay at one of the partner safari lodges and be on the course not once, but twice as part of your magical 10 night South African adventure.