 |
| on the road |
Never has there been such a baron land, made up of 82% desert its hardly surprising the country has developed a beige effect.
Yet it is so beautiful its a wonder how it has thrived and doing so well.
We played all 9 golf courses in Namibia and they were as diverse as the country itself.
Desert golf brings a whole new meaning as you play along a fairway and an ostrich pops its head over the low brush observing as you play the ball. Never crowded never rushed, but always intriguing.
Playing off green tees and putting on green greens became somewhat of the norm - with a few exceptions and the most notable being Rossmund, who’s claim to fame is one of only five desert courses, that plays full grass. With impala wandering around, it must be lush grass at that!
 |
| Ostrich at Oranjemund |
Our Namibian golf journey begins in Oranjemund. A change of plan meant we had to cross the
Orange River into Namibia by a more westerly crossing than we had hoped, but the upside is we got to play Oranjemund golf course.
Criss crossing over the road with the sea fret present as it hung over the not too distant Atlantic Ocean, there was a uneasy, eerie silence only seen in a horror movie. Not that it affected the course or made it unplayable, it was just hanging with the cool kids. The course played well, despite the harsh conditions by the ocean and by a desert which claims the odd fairway as the wind blows.
As we planned a number of weeks in Namibia, our mini goal evolved into playing every course in Namibia - and that’s one sure way to get to see a lot of a country we didn’t know much about.
 |
| The road to Mariental |
 |
| Mariental GC |
Heading towards Windhoek, we stop at Mariental. A buzzing atmosphere greeted us as the post round drinks were flowing after a local competition. The rain came down heavy that night and we were scheduled to play the next morning - early. Rocking up and with a slight chill in early morning air, we literally plodded around the course. It was so wet my usually 5’9” easily became over 6’as the sticky mud clung to the bottom of my shoes. But after hole 2 - the lowest point on the course, things improved and the warn Namibian sun gave us heart to continue. Mapping around shrubbery, hitting off elevated tees and being able to tee up on the fairway, we completed our 9 holes and our 38th golf course of our overall Africa 100 challenge.
 |
| Mariental GC |
 |
| Omeya GC |
Playing golf in Windhoek takes us just outside to Omeya Golf Club. A strong Peter Matkovich design is doing well despite its relative tender years of only just over a decade old. Established trees and the swaying grass gives it a majestic feel in the warm breeze. Good sized and good condition greens, it really was great to play on this 18 hole course, where the clubhouse blends seamlessly into the course via a nice patio. The food was also really good here, so rather than tracking back into town, we took advantage of the great food on offer after a lovely round of golf.
 |
| Omeya GC |
 |
| Omeya GC |
 |
| Windhoek CC |
 |
| Omeya GC |
Windhoek Country Club is more centrally located for the capital city. A fairly luke warm welcome isn’t the best start, but the course improved our thoughts about this 18 hole course. The resort was established in 1985 and the course has a bush feel about it, slightly scrappy in appearance, and therefore difficult to find the ball sometimes, but it also played well on other
holes. The airport is quite close, in fact it’s very close to a couple of the holes with a warning sign not play golf is an aircraft approaches, makes it a unique talking point too. Nice shapely bunkers which can guard and make approaches harder as they narrow towards the green. Definitely one we’d like to play again as I don’t think we saw it as its best, and talking to others it has been much better. Great to see them working on the course though.
 |
| Windhoek CC |
 |
| Walvis Bay GC |
We’re heading West back to the Atlantic Ocean to play Walvis Bay, best known for its prolific wild birds such as flamingoes and pelicans which adorn the ocean side. Playing on a dry day, we got to really appreciate desert golf with its green greens and tees the rest laid, or other left to sand, gave it a reverse negative look, pleasing on the eye and nice to play. The sand on the fairway was fairly hard baked, so the tee-up was a god send, when you could get the tee in the ground the is! Little succulents make up for a lot of the green colour, which must be amazing when in flower. Unusually and something that made us smile, there are bunkers on this desert course! Shaped and positing to catch you out, they play like bunkers and you treat them like bunkers, despite it being surrounded by sand.
 |
| Pelicans at Walvis Bay |
 |
| Rossmund Desert GC |
A bit further north and were in Swakopmund to play, as mentioned previously, Rossmund Golf course. A real treat as we played a great design - all on grass. Obviously the course is not without its natural challenges which mother nature decides to share, probably more than most places. The course played well. A chilly start - we are by Atlantic after all! gives way to a blooming sunny day. Piled high rocks and cactus pop up to remind you of the harshness of the natural landscape. Couple this with the endemic grasses, give you a wonderful sense of ‘at one with nature’ - although you’re on a purpose designed golf course.
 |
| Henties Bay GC |
Henties Bay is like a washed out low lying town - the campsite we had we like a concentration camp in its design, but it worked with each site having its own flat roof low lying facilities. A big, big fishing area, the site was booked with keen fishermen, all with tales to tell.
 |
| Henties Bay GC |
Our remit was to play the 9 hole courses which was just starting to re-emerge after a few years of neglect. The overriding impression is one of - wow - it’s so beige with the odd green blob! Playing in sand, playing off sand and playing towards the Atlantic Ocean, the course was surprising receptive and did make it’s way into our hearts despite its colourless appearance. A lovely par three means you’re hitting almost straight into the ocean - although in reality the ocean is someway off behind the green. This course deserves to be given a new lease of life, and with the new and enthusiastic manger, it’s happening.
 |
| The crowds at Tsumeb GC |
After spending a few days in Etosha National Park, we popped out the other side and made our way to Tsumeb. A decent sized town with character. The golf course was another 9 holes, but parkland. Such a contrast to the desert course, with its lush greenery, although in places it was a bit patchy and in those patches, you can see the underlying desert terrain.
A warm day takes us past a ‘crowd’ of 2 children sitting on the side of the fairway, wanting to sell us a golf ball they had found- they only had one, so we bought it, give them some money - then gave them the golf ball back. They didn’t know what to make of this generosity but their parents working the field behind smiled and waved.
Its a slight give away when you think a course is friendly when really the play was just as hard as any other, but there was a nice atmosphere about Tsumeb. Some 12 shared greens but 18 tees. Glad we had a caddy, as the course was a bit higgly piggly after hole 5. Rough spiky grass didn’t endear us to hit it in there, but the caddy was fairly resilient and managed to find our ball.
 |
| Tsumeb GC |
Last up and we’re heading back towards the north west of Botswana along the Trans Kalahari Highway to Gobabis. A club house in need of more people to frequent its premises to give a bit of a buzz - but then we did visit on a quiet day! Keen and eager to see the duiker on the course these small brown buck which are fairly skittish, did show up after a while. The course was a bit rough around the edges, well and in the middle too, but it was laid out OK and it did play like a golf course. Most of the fairways had a slight bank of earth edging them, which
 |
| Gobabis GC |
can work for or against you, but mainly kept the ball in play.
Our scoot around Namibia in our Landrover Defender took about 6 weeks, in that time we played every golf course we could find, in fact doing research says there are 8 golf courses, we played nine, and were told of another, but we couldn’t find that, so maybe the desert has reclaimed it?
But we did so much more too - so watch this space for part two - Overlanding Namibia.
 |
| Dieker at Gobabis GC |
 |
| Sarah and Steve on Andi the Landy, Namibia |
No comments:
Post a Comment