Fancourt, The Links

The Links is ranked number one in South Africa by Golf Digest South Africa (2025), and it hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup. I have played it many times and it is never quite the same course twice, because the wind sets it up for you each morning. It is open and firm, the ball runs, and there is very little shelter anywhere. On a still day it lets you score. When the breeze gets up, your caddie earns the fee: which side of the fairway to favour, how far short of the green to land the ball, when to keep it low and let it run.

Getting there is the easy part. Your aircraft leaves Cape Town after breakfast and lands at George in under an hour, and the Fancourt team meets you at the aircraft. You stay on the estate at the Fancourt Hotel, with the Outeniqua Mountains standing behind the tees, and the Montagu and Outeniqua courses on the same property.

Our golf journeys through George run in April to June and September to November. Non-golfers have the Garden Route to themselves: a private drive to Knysna and lunch on the lagoon, or a visit to the Golfing for Change project in Oupad, which every Ascot Private journey supports.

Country: South Africa