A short chip to Mbombela Golf Club’s 94th birthday
Mbombela Golf Club turns 94 on November 16, and is gearing up for a birthday bash like no other.
This momentous occasion will be celebrated with a golf day on even date, in a culmination of all that makes the sport at Mbombela Golf Club great.
It gives you a reason and an excuse to play golf, to bond with friends, to celebrate golf and to commemorate the club’s rich history, while giving back to the club and assisting it in its journey to upgrade its food and beverage department.
In a format that is quite unusual to many (foursomes), you and a partner form a team and play a single ball between the two of you.
You then take alternate shots with this ball, so the format is also known as alternate shot. This format sees your teammate decide which of you will tee off on the even-numbered holes and which on the odd-numbered ones. You then play alternate shots throughout the play of that hole.
For only R1 600, you and three others can join in the celebration - dinner and halfway house included.
The food and beverage manager and organiser of the day, Maruschka Cameron, said there are still various other opportunities to become part of the day. Fourballs are still available at R1 600, while tee boxes can be sponsored for only R1 500. It is believed these opportunities will go like hotcakes, so don’t get caught napping. If you do miss out, fear not, as there are many other sponsorship opportunities available. To find out what these are, get in touch with Horn on WhatsApp on 083 626 0562, or mgcfb@mweb.co.za.
A bit of history
Mbombela Golf Club (previously known as Nelspruit Golf Club) was founded in November 1928 and moved to its present location in 1939. The bushveld course is a Bob Grimsdell design, built among rocky outcrops of land in the suburbs of Nelspruit, and the course has a curious history. It was a nine-holer for nearly 30 years before Grimsdell returned to complete a second nine in 1967-68.
The course was left largely untouched until 1998, when Peter Matcovitch upgraded it, and the adjacent Matumi
Golf Estate was established.
With a par of 71 and measuring
6 063m, it is not long or overly difficult to play, but the Mbombela Golf Course has an unusual start to the front nine in that the first is a par 4, the second a par 5, the third a par 3, the fourth a par 5 and the fifth a par 3, before closing off with four straight par 4s.
The back nine, save for the two par 3s on 13 and 17, is either played uphill or downhill, with the signature hole being the 498m 14th, the only par 5 on the back nine. From an elevated tee, a generous treelined fairway runs away gradually to a green surrounded by bunkers. There is the option of going for the green in two, but for high handicappers, the safe bet is to lay up.