The estate you drive through to get to the clubhouse is mightily impressive. Witnessing the amazing architecture and flora as you drive through the wildlife estate. The clubhouse itself has seen a slight renovation with the current management team working towards creating a welcoming and historical welcome. Recently adding pictures of past SA Open winners from the tournaments that they have hosted. Most of the staff are incredibly friendly and are happy to say hello.
Now to the real reason we are reading this. Whistling Thorns. The course itself is a real challenge to your golf game and should not be thought of as a breeze to play. There are a number of the 18 holes that have greens that are not only well protected by sand traps, but by water hazards as well. Considering that I played the course in winter, the greens and tees were in incredible condition. The greens run smoothly and are not too quick, but have a good pace that you have to actually putt, rather than stab at the ball to push it through a goat patch. I will say that I played off the tips with my brother and a friend, who are or were depending on which, were qualified PGA instructors. The challenge off the tips is immense with 2 monster 290m-ish holes. Which for me, were definitely not reachable, and certainly not with a 60o push off the tee box. Ruining the morning cup of coffee of one of the homeowners. Which is a little unfortunate, having to apologise for a horrendous shot and losing a new prov1x, the only low point of the round. Besides repeating the exact same shot a few holes later at the other gargantuan of a hole for this par 3 championship course. Overall, I would highly recommend trying this course out if you do not want to play on a full championship 18 course, but would like to have a quick challenge to your game that will also allow you and your buddies to relax and have a great time taunting each other at coming short of the challenge of some of the holes.
how to get there
The course is located in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, getting there is not a problem if you are renting a car or have uber on your mobile device. As you will possibly want to enjoy the 19th hole, I would suggest an Uber. This would be my suggestion for all courses in South Africa.
price and rating
At around R600.00 (US$ 32), it is reasonably priced for the challenge and condition of the course. It is a wonderful time to tune up before you take on the signature course at the estate. Incredibly fun and can fit easily into an afternoon. It has a soft spot, a great 8 out of 10 toes.