Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate

Blair Atholl is ranked number two in South Africa by Golf Digest South Africa (2025) and, at 8,000 yards from the back, it is the longest course in the country. It sits on what was Gary Player's family farm on the edge of Johannesburg, and he designed it. Length is the headline, and the altitude helps: on the Highveld the ball travels further than it does at the coast, which takes a little of the sting out of those 8,000 yards.

Take your caddie's advice on the tees. Very few guests should play it from the back, and nobody enjoys a five-hour round after a long-haul flight. We play it in the morning, while the air is cool.

There are two ways we use it. On the KZN Golf Circuit you stay on the estate in its overnight suites, which look out over the course you play the next day. On the Highveld Golf Circuit you stay at The Saxon in Sandhurst and drive out for the round, then take a forty-minute helicopter flight over the Magaliesberg to Sun City that afternoon. Our golf journeys here run in April to June and September to November. Non-golfers can spend the morning at the estate's equestrian centre or with a private guide in Johannesburg's galleries.

Country: South Africa