Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 5 May 2015 | Page 42

what’s putting

steyn cityg
WHAT’S PUTTING

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Our golf Editor John Cockayne reviews the
newest golfing icon in the city.
Superb for a newly opened course and,
allowing for the inevitable divots and ongoing
maintenance, there was hardly a blade of grass
out of place.
Tees:
Flat as a pancake (no excuses about bad lies
here!) and, as they are pure bent surfaces using
a tee peg, especially on the par 3s, should be a
‘must do’ to get the best out of them.
Fairways:
The rye/fescue/Kentucky bluegrass combination
makesforalovely‘USPGATour’lookto thefairways.
The grass mix is thirsty, however, so it is very well
watered and, as a result, there will be absolutely
no run on the ball, making the course play longer
than the scorecard might suggest. When I played,
there was a local ‘pick up, clean and replace’ rule
in force, so shot problems associated with mud
on the ball were not a problem.

Sloping:
The course is deceptively hilly, as it runs along
the Jukskei River valley. It appears as if very little
shaping was done to create flat fairways or areas
so that sloping lies of various types and severity
will be the order of the day. This adds another
dimension for most golfers to the challenge
posed by the approach shots from the fairways.
Rough:
Much more golfer-friendly than kikuyu, but the
combination of rye/fescue/Kentucky bluegrass
can lead to the ball sitting down and ‘fluffy’ lies can
be expected (especially around the fringe area of
the greens), so fliers are a natural consequence.
Greens:
The surfaces are very receptive to a well-struck
shot. No alarming slopes and the pace is very
uniform (it was running at around 11 on the
stimp-meter when I was playing the course), so,
once you have your feel, you can concentrate on
the line and they are a real pleasure to putt on.