Arabella GC- hole 8  

 

Arabella is a noted resort style course located an hour east of Capetown in Sth Africa.

Designed by Peter Matkovich, Arabella first opened for play in 1998.

The course traverses some hilly terrain, as well as wetlands beside the lagoon.

 

An upmarket hotel is centrally located with commanding views over the course, lagoon and mountain backdrops

The views from the hotel are stunning..

 

   Arabella GC                            Arabella GC

 

 

The course starts out quietly with some pleasant hillside holes, but really comes to life with the gorgeous downhill par 5 eighth with its flashy waste bunkers abutting the reeds of the lagoon.

The green sits on a promontory with water both sides and behind.

It does look good!

 

The ninth is a cape hole.

It's a short par four from a tee out on the promontory.

You get to choose how much water to take on, and must hit the correct line and length to hit the short grass.

It is a perfect spot for a cape hole, but sadly the tee is set low and the reeds are tall, so the fairway is relatively unsighted from the tee.

The waste bunker running inside the reeds is impossible to see.

So a potentially great hole becomes less so, for the first time player.

 

Arabella GC- hole 9 teeArabella GC- hole 9 tee

On the back nine the course again heads up into the hills before returning to the coast for the pretty, heavily bunkered par 3 seventeenth hole, and the par 5 finishing hole.

 

Arabella GC- hole 17 approachArabella GC- hole 17 approach

Arabella GC- hole 17Arabella GC- hole 17

 

 

The 18th hole has a waste bunker on the right running the length of the hole.

Go further right and you are in the reeds, and further right again you will find the lagoon.

So you definitely don't want to head right!

It does get tight for the crucial second shot.. 

 

Arabella GC- 10th tee & 18th holeArabella GC- 10th tee & 18th hole

 

Arabella is good course, and for me it is defined by those four lagoon side holes at 8, 9, 17 & 18.

 

We also thought the hotel was excellent and an ideal place to start our trip down The Garden Route.

 

 

Golf Tours

 

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For suggested destinations see: Golf Destinations- South Africa

 

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