CAPE TOWN & GARDEN ROUTE GOLF TOUR

ITINERARY

Day 1. Arrival in CAPE TOWN
Welcome to Cape Town!  Upon arrival at Cape Town International Airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Day 2. GOLF @ STEENBERG GOLF CLUB (B)
The Steenberg Golf Club is an exclusive, private golf club set in idyllic surroundings in Constantia, Cape Town, Western Cape.  The course attracts golfers seeking a total golfing experience. Known for its hybrid plan, it offers traditionalists the opportunity to “bump and run” (a rare shot in South Africa) in the rough around the greens, and to meet the challenges of strategically placed sand pits and waterways.

The par-three, not-so-short 14th hole, features the largest green in Africa at 76 meters in length; indigenous shrubs guard the green and the mound has been shaped to echo the distinctive mountain range behind. Steenberg has always been named as one of the best conditioned courses in South Africa Golf Digest’s annual Top 100, consistent in its improvement each year.  The 18 hole course was designed to make full use of natural features and hazards such as the vineyards, pine forest and gentle waterways. Its environmental diversity gives the course its unique character.  The well-designed and refurbished clubhouse has seen many golfers enjoying the 19th hole. The Steenberg golf course is rated as one of the top three courses to visit in South Africa.

Day 3. CAPE TOWN Half Day City Tour (B)
You are collected from your hotel and taken to the lower cableway station on the slopes of Table Mountain. Weather permitting, ascend the mountain by aerial cable car, and from a height of 1067 metres, view the city and Table Bay below, Robben Island, the Atlantic Seaboard as well as most of the spectacular Cape Peninsula. Afterwards, head down into the Malay Quarter with its narrow cobbled streets and colourful Mosques.  Next we continue to Government Avenue where we park at the top and stroll to the National Gallery and SA Museum, as well as view the Houses of Parliament. We then travel to the City Hall on the Grand Parade and afterwards, visit the Castle. Enter the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront – a region that abounds with shops, pubs, restaurants and entertainment. A visit to the Shimansky Diamond Museum offers an insightful look at the intricate process of achieving the ultimate stone. Shimansky prides itself on offering a unique and unforgettable jewellery and diamond experience at their flagship showroom and workshop in the Clock Tower. Return to your hotel in Constantia.

Day 4. GOLF @ ROYAL CAPE GOLF CLUB (B)
With lovely views of Table Mountain from most holes this championship course offers a beautiful setting that will make your visit here truly memorable. Founded in 1885, the Royal Cape Golf Club is South Africa’s oldest and most exclusive club, featuring a course with narrow fairways lined by trees.  The course today is a fine test of golf especially when the south-easter is blowing. Essentially it is a flat parkland course, well maintained and a pleasure to play with lovely views of the Table Mountain range. The fairways are narrow and tree-lined.

Day 5. CAPE POINT Full Day Tour (B/L)
After being collected from your hotel, you will view the exclusive suburbs of Sea Point, Clifton and Camps Bay before continuing via Llandudno to the fishing harbour of Hout Bay. If calm seas prevail, join an optional launch cruise to view the Duiker Island seals and cormorants at close quarters. Travel along the spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive to Kommetjie, and enter the Cape Point Nature Reserve where you will be taken to the best vantage point to view what is erroneously said to be the meeting place of two mighty oceans. After a stop for lunch (own account), the tour continues to an African penguin colony, the Naval hamlet of Simon’s Town and then continues via Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay to Muizenberg. In the early afternoon visit the famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Return to the city via Rhodes Drive, which bisects the plush suburbs of Bishopscourt, Claremont and Newlands. The tour terminates at your hotel again in the late afternoon.

Day 6. CAPE TOWN to STELLENBOSCH WINELANDS Tour (B/L)
This morning, you will be collected from your hotel and taken on a full day winelands tour before checking in at your Stellenbosch hotel. This delightful drive winds its way to the heart of the Cape winelands, through superb mountain ranges, vineyards and Cape Dutch homesteads. Head off to the wine-country via the N1 to one of the Cape’s first farming districts – Paarl. Our first stop of the morning is a picturesque Wine Estate. An informative cellar tour and winetasting gives visitors personlised insight into the finer points of wine-making.

Proceed to the town of Franschhoek, historically dating back to the 17th century when the French Huguenots arrived. Billed as the Gourmet Capital of South Africa, this charming town retains a French Huguenot style. Franschhoek complements the artistry of its chefs and winemakers with the breathtaking beauty of its setting. We enjoy a winetasting at one of the numerous wine estates in the area, before taking time to enjoy the fabled culinary skills of the chefs at one of the many award-winning restaurants. Onward to Stellenbosch, via the scenic Helshoogte Pass, the heart of the South African wine Industry, boasting great beauty and culture that is steeped in South African history. Walk down the canal-lined avenues, in the shade of giant oak trees and beautifully preserved historic buildings. With the sheer vastness of wine estates on offer, we are truly spoilt for choice when we enjoy our final winetasting of the day in Stellenbosch.  Continue to Lanzerac, your home for the next two nights.

Day 7. GOLF @ PEARL VALLEY GOLF CLUB (B)
Pearl Valley Golf Course, in the heart of the beautiful Cape Winelands, is  South Africa’s premier sporting residential development situated among orchards and vineyards on the outskirts of two of the Cape’s most famous wineland towns, Franschhoek and Paarl. Pearl Valley is the latest addition to the Jack Nicklaus’s repertoire of signature-designed courses worldwide. The Pearl Valley Golf Estate is surrounded by the Simonsberg and Drakenstein Mountains and bordered by vineyards,  with The Berg River water hazard running through it. Pearl Valley Signature Golf Estate and Spa is destined to become the premier residential golf estate in South Africa. Designed on 212 hectares of tranquil surroundings for those who expect exclusivity and the finest quality lifestyle yet unmatched in this country.

Nicklaus has stayed true to his design principles by working closely with nature and has provided a golf course that fits in with the environment. This fairly flat and largely uninterrupted terrain enabled Nicklaus the freedom to develop hole strategies making this a golf course the golfer has to think his/her way around. In its engineering and planning detail, the course is very rare. It is crossed by roads in only three places, and the drainage system allows play to continue just minutes after a severe cloudburst.

Day 8. GOLF @ ARABELLA GOLF CLUB (B)
The Arabella golf course in South Africa is ranked by Compleat Golfer magazine as the number one golf course in the Western Cape. It also featured in Golf Digest’s USA’s Top 60 courses outside of America in 2007.

Designed and built in 1999 by celebrated South African golf course architect Peter Matkovich, who is also credited with the design of Western Cape courses de Zalze and Steenberg, this classic parkland course has spectacular views across the Bot River lagoon and across the Kogelberg mountain range.
The pristine fairways are kikuyu, while the greens, which frequently receive high praise from professionals in the game, are Dominant Bent.

Day 9. STELLENBOSCH to GEORGE (B)
This morning you are collected from your hotel for the drive to George.  Lying in a fertile, rich valley, surrounded by the Outeniqua Mountains, forests, rivers and prosperous farmlands, George lies just 420 km from Cape Town.  If history is to be believed, then this beautiful part of the world was only explored in 1688, well after Dias had landed in Mossel Bay in 1488, in the hope of finding meat and fresh water. To the Khoi people, who lived in this rich valley, the region was known as Outeniqualand – the ‘land of milk and honey’ – which aptly describes this lush and green paradise. A settlement was established here in 1811 and named George Town after the reigning monarch of England at the time.

Day 10. GOLF @ FANCOURT (B)
There is no doubt that Fancourt is South Africa’s premier golf resort, featuring three highly rated Championship golf courses as well as the Western Cape’s premier 18-hole public course. Since opening in the early 90′s with just 27 Gary Player-designed holes, Fancourt’s Outeniqua and Montagu golf courses have matured and developed into two of the finest 18-hole parkland layouts in the country.

Day 11. OUDTSHOORN Full Day Tour (B/L)
Today you are taken on a full day excursion to Oudtshoorn, “the ostrich capital of the world”. Visit the Cango Caves, one of the world’s great natural wonders, sculptured by nature through the ages. Mysterious and breathtaking limestone formations in a wide variety of natural colours, a subterranean wonderland. Continue to Safari Ostrich Show Ranch, which is a fully operational ranch where you are taken on a guided tour. You may even have to opportunity to ride an ostrich! Lunch included at the Safari Ostrich Show Ranch. Return to George for overnight.

Day 12. GOLF @ FANCOURT (B)
The Links at Fancourt was added in 2000 and a short time later Bramble Hill was added, a course that is distinctly Fancourt, yet has a friendly character all of its own. In addition to four golf courses suited to every type of golfer, Fancourt boasts one of the finest golf academies in the world, with state-of-the-art practice and teaching facilities, backed up by the expertise of PGA professionals, as well as several well-stocked on-course pro shops offering all types of golf merchandise.

Day 13. GEORGE to KNYSNA (B/L)
Depart to Knysna.  You are taken to the Knysna Waterfront area where you will board a ferry.  The Featherbed Eco Experience starts with a 25-minute ferry cruise. Your local guide on board will share fascinating tales about the Lagoon, the early shipping industry and oyster cultivation.   On arrival at the Reserve, visitors can enjoy a drive to the top of the Western Head in a 4WD unimog vehicle with trailers, stopping at a magnificent view point en route. Here unsurpassed views of the Lagoon, mountains and Knysna can be enjoyed, whilst knowledgeable guides explain the history and ecology of the Reserve. After the drive, your specialist guide will take you on an optional 2.2 kilometre downhill walk.  This will be followed by a spectacular buffet lunch served in outdoor restaurant under a canopy of the Milkwood trees. After lunch you will return by ferry back to Knysna.  Continue to Simola Golf Estate.

Day 14. GOLF @ SIMOLA (B)
Keeping your head down at Simola can be a challenge; simply because the views around the course are awe-inspiring, and with this, it is clear to see why Simola takes its place as one of South Africa’s premier golfing destinations. It’s also the first Jack Nicklaus Signature course on the Garden Route, reflecting the maestro’s philosophy of attuning the layout and design to the natural lie of the land.

The course offers challenging and rewarding golf amidst spectacular scenery. Set below the high ridges, it’s free from the wind that so often plagues coastal courses. Fairways flow with the natural undulating contours of the terrain and the unusual configuration of five par 5′s and five par 3′s adds a new dimension to the game. It’s par for the course that every hole boasts exceptional views; either out across the Knysna Lagoon all the way to the Heads or over the picturesque Knysna River as it twists and turns through the valley below.

Day 15. A fond farewell…
This morning we wish you a fond farewell as you are collected from your hotel and transferred to George Airport for your onward flight.

COST PER PERSON – Land Only – Daily Departure

Please Enquire Regarding Season Rates Not Listed.

CAPE TOWN & THE GARDEN ROUTE GOLF Tour Costs include:

• Accommodation as stated above, subject to availability.
• Transportation in a luxury air-conditioned vehicle.
• Steenberg Hotel includes Bed & Breakfast.
• Lanzerac Hotel includes Bed & Breakfast.
• Fancourt Hotel includes Bed & Breakfast.
• Simola Hotel includes Bed & Breakfast.
• Steenberg Golf Club includes green fee (weekdays only).
• Royal Cape Golf Club includes green fee.
• Pearl Valley Golf Club includes green fee and shared golf cart.
• Fancourt’s Montagu Course includes green fee.
• Fancourt’s Links Course includes green fee.
• Simola Golf Club includes green fee, golf cart and halfway house.
• Services of a professional driver.
• Services of a registered and experienced tourist guide.
• Entrance fees and excursions where stated in above itinerary.
• Welcome Pack: (e.g. itinerary, welcome letter, general information, maps, flags, brochures)

EXCLUDED:

• All airfares & airport taxes (if applicable)
• All other meals other than stated in above itinerary.
• All other entrances and excursions than stated in above itinerary.
• Items of personal nature such tips, beverages, laundry etc.
• Porterage.