Oppenheimer Park Golf Club

Oppenheimer Park Golf Club was founded in 1949 in Welkom, a city in the Free State that grew up around gold mining following discoveries in the area in the 1940s. The club was commissioned by the Anglo American Corporation and designed by Bob Grimsdell, who laid out an 18-hole parkland course that opened for play in March 1951. It was named after Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, the mining entrepreneur who controlled De Beers and Anglo American at the time. Anglo American maintained the club until it was privatised in 1998. The address is 3 Harry Oppenheimer Street, a short three-minute drive from Welkom’s city center, and around 90 minutes from Bloemfontein via the R30.

The course plays 18 holes to par 72 across 6,249 yards, with a rating of 71.4 and a slope of 129. Greens are bent grass and fairways are Kikuyu. At its peak, the course appeared five times in the Golf Digest Top 50 between 1998 and 2010, reaching a high of No.36 in 2000.

Course Overview

Grimsdell’s design made full use of the Witpan Dam that borders the property six of the 18 holes run along its edge, requiring accurate tee shots and approaches with water as the direct consequence of a miss. The dam is home to thousands of flamingos, which are a constant presence during a round and give the course an atmosphere that most inland parkland layouts cannot replicate. Away from the water, dense rows of mature trees many predating the club itself line the fairways throughout, and the rough is famously penalising. Staying on the fairway at Oppenheimer Park is not merely advisable; it is the primary skill the course tests.

The layout changed significantly in 2022 when rising water levels from the Witpan Dam flooded several holes on the front nine and forced a redesign. Rather than close the club, the committee commissioned six new holes, four new greens, and three renovated greens, all on the front nine removing the playing areas from the high-water mark. The redesigned course reopened in March 2022 and is slightly shorter than the original layout. The second hole now features an island green that was not part of Grimsdell’s original design, and the opening hole was extended by 75 meters to play as a par 5. The course now closes with a 530-meter par 5.

The competitive history here is genuine. Oppenheimer Park hosted the SA Ladies Amateur in 1973 and the SA Amateur three times 1981, 1988, and 2001. The Sunshine Tour arrived in February 1999 for the SA Masters, won by Desvonde Botes on a 19-under total of 269. The Goldfields Classic followed in 2001, won by Callie Swart. Neville Clarke beat Ernie Els on the 40th hole of the 1988 Amateur final, which gives the club a place in South African golf history that goes beyond its regional context.

Practice facilities include a driving range, putting and chipping greens, a practice bunker, and a halfway house. The bar overlooking the 18th green is a good place to finish a round.

For golfers on a South Africa golf trip passing through the Free State goldfields, Oppenheimer Park is a course with genuine depth a Grimsdell original, a tournament history stretching back more than 50 years, and a setting beside a flamingo-filled dam that you are unlikely to find anywhere else.