Royal Johannesburg

Courses

Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club, home of the Joburg Open, is one of Africa’s most reputable golf clubs.

In its almost 130 years of existence, it has, along with the Joburg Open since this European Tour event’s inauguration in 2007, hosted seven South African Opens as well as numerous other tournaments of note, including the SA Amateur.

In recent years it has also become the preferred venue for the African International Final Qualifier (IFQ) for the world’s oldest major, The Open Championship.

HISTORY

The club as it is today is the product of a merger of the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Clubs in 1998 which, according to its official website, has produced a financially sound club with modernised facilities and a strong and supportive membership base.

Essentially, the improvements to the Clubhouse and the two courses at Royal Johannesburg were funded from the sale of some of much of the Kensington property.

The Johannesburg Golf Club was founded in 1891 and was located on the current premises as early as 1909.

It received its Royal Charter in 1931 and it has been noted that on the occasion of it’s Centenary celebrations in 1991, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews sent both its Captain and the Chairman of its Rules Committee as its official representatives.

The Club was instrumental in forming the Transvaal Golf Union in 1908 and providing the first President of the South African Golf Union in 1910.

In 2005 the PGA of South Africa relocated to the Club.

THE EAST AND WEST COURSES:

The Club’s two courses have both high achievers when it has come to ranking them

The East Course has consistently been ranked as one of its nation’s top 10 courses by both The Compleat Golfer and Golf Digest Magazines.

The West Course, recently ranked among the nations most improved courses, is not as highly rated as the East Course, but it is the preferred course for many members because of to its ease of playability for golfers of all abilities.

The East Course which hosts the Joburg Open, measures 6940 meters off the championship tees, but a more user friendly 6442 meters off the Club tees.

The club claims that “famously or infamously the 10th and 11th holes are reputed to be the two longest back-to-back par fours in the world”.

The East course was designed in 1935 by the then Club Professional, Robert Grimsdell.

The course was revamped in 1998 by golf course architect Mark Muller when some holes were altered, but more importantly, the greens, while keeping their original feel, were vastly improved.

The course has since been further improved with the Stream Rehabilitation Project, which was undertaken in 2002 to arrest erosion of the stream beds and reinforce the banks of the spectacular water course running from west to east through the property.

The signature hole of the East Course is the 11th and is one of the best par four’s you are ever likely to play, its fairway guarded as it is by dense clumps of the poplar trees that make the lower holes on the East Course so spectacular.

The finishing hole is a par five that can be reached with two well-struck shots, but like most of the holes on this course, the risk and reward factor ensures that errors can be very costly

Yet while the East course provides a sterner test than the West Course, both layouts provide a fine mix of holes that vary from the relatively benign to others that feature some really sharp teeth

TOUR TOUR OF THE COURSES:

You can get all the details of the two courses, including brief descriptions, pictures, pars and yardages of each hole by clicking on the appropriate course.
Click here for the East Course and click here for the West Course.

GREEN FEES

The 2013, 18-hole rates (in SA Rands) for visitors are:

Adults accompanied by a member:
R295 weekdays
R330 Sat and Sun
Students and Juniors accompanied by a member:
R115 weekdays
R290 Sat and R135 Sun
Affiliated Adult:
R395 weekdays and Sunday
Affiliated Student and Juniors:
R170 weekdays
R240 Sundays
Unaffiliated Adult:
R600 weekdays
R660 Sundays
Unaffiliated Student and juniors:
R200 weekdays
R300 Sundays

RENTALS:

Golf Carts: R280
Pull Trolley: R50
Golf Clubs: R350

OTHER FACILITIES

As can be expected of a club of this calibre, other facilities it provides include:
– a driving range with putting and chipping practice greens
-A well stocked pro-shop featuring most of the game’s top brands in equipment and apparel
-Quality change rooms
-Wining and dining facilities that include a restaurant and a bar

MEMBERSHIP

The club currently at least 18 different categories of membership ranging from a ‘Full Member’ to an ‘International Member’. For further information you should contact the membership secretary at +27 11 640 940 or at terryw@royaljk.za.com

CONTACT THE CLUB
Telephone +27 11 640-3021 or the pro shop at +27 11 485-4899
Fax: +27 11 640-9419
Email: royal@royaljk.za.com
Address: 1 Fairway Ave,Linksfield North, Gauteng 2192 |(28°06’28.36″E – 26°09’22.35″S)

Courses

Latest