North West South Africa's Golf Courses: Book Tee Times & Play Safari Golf in 2026/2027

North West Province sits between Gauteng’s urban density and the Botswana border, and the golf here exists in a context that no other South African province can match. Sun City is the anchor. Gary Player Country Club at 7,105 meters with a slope of 139, the venue that has hosted the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981 and attracted every major professional name in the game over four decades, sits alongside the Lost City Golf Club where the 13th green is surrounded by a water hazard containing live crocodiles. That is not a marketing line. The crocodiles are there. Playing a course with that specific hazard, in a resort that has Pilanesberg National Park as its immediate neighbor, is an experience available nowhere else in the GolfLux South Africa database.

Twelve courses serve the province across the Sun City resort complex, the Hartbeespoort Dam corridor, and the provincial towns of Rustenburg, Klerksdorp, and Mafikeng. The strongest cluster is Sun City and its surroundings, where the Gary Player and Lost City courses form a natural two-round program, and Pecanwood Golf and Country Club on the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam at 7,020 meters with a slope of 139 adds a third serious option within 45 minutes of Johannesburg. The province is about two hours from OR Tambo International Airport, making it practical for international visitors to base here for two to three nights without a domestic flight.

North West suits golfers who want to combine championship courses with a big five safari, couples where the wildlife experience is as important as the golf, and international visitors building a South Africa program that includes the Gauteng metropolitan courses alongside the Sun City and safari circuit.

Best golf courses in North West

1. Gary Player Country Club

Gary Player Country Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 7,105 meters, located at Sun City Resort in Sun City according to the club. The course has hosted the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981, bringing the world’s top-ranked players to compete annually, and the Gary Player design is described by the club as presenting a challenge that is as rewarding as it is demanding. At 7,105 meters in a bushveld setting with the Magaliesberg ridgeline visible from the upper sections, it is the most prestigious course in the province and one of the most historically significant tournament venues in African golf.

It suits experienced low-handicap golfers who want to play one of Africa’s most recognized professional tournament venues, and any visitor for whom the Nedbank Golf Challenge heritage makes the round meaningful.

2. Lost City Golf Club

Lost City Golf Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 6,983 meters, located at Sun City adjacent to the Palace of the Lost City hotel according to the club. The course is a desert-style layout in deliberate contrast to the Gary Player Country Club’s parkland character, and the 13th hole’s green surrounded by a water hazard containing live Nile crocodiles is the specific detail that distinguishes it from every other course in this guide series. The GolfLux listing notes the one-of-a-kind design featuring African motifs throughout the routing.

It suits any golfer visiting Sun City who wants the most unusual single hole in South African golf, and as the natural second round paired with Gary Player Country Club across two playing days.

3. Pecanwood Golf and Country Club

Pecanwood Golf and Country Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 7,020 meters with a slope of 139, located on the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam on Provincial Road R512, about 45 minutes northwest of Johannesburg according to the club. The dam-side position gives several holes water views across the Hartbeespoort reservoir and toward the Magaliesberg mountain range. At slope 139 it is one of the more demanding courses in the broader Gauteng and North West region, and the Hartbeespoort location puts it within easy reach of both Johannesburg-based golfers and visitors based in the Hartbeespoort resort area.

4. Klerksdorp Golf Club

Klerksdorp Golf Club is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 6,379 meters, established in 1889, described by the club as the oldest golf club in the Old Transvaal and one of the oldest in South Africa. The 1889 founding date gives it historical standing that the Sun City courses, built decades later, cannot match, and the course’s century of established tree growth gives the layout a mature character specific to courses of this age. It suits golfers interested in South African golf history and as a town course stop on the way to or from the Sun City and Hartbeespoort circuits.

Which course is better?

Gary Player Country Club is the first choice for tournament heritage and the most demanding challenge at 7,105 meters. Lost City is the answer for the most unusual playing experience in African golf. Pecanwood is the strongest course outside Sun City by slope rating with the Hartbeespoort Dam views. Klerksdorp is the historical first choice for golfers interested in the oldest Transvaal club. Most North West programs pair Gary Player and Lost City at Sun City as the two primary rounds.

Best time to play golf in North West

North West has a warm semi-arid climate with a wet season from October through April and a dry, cool winter from May through September. South Africa’s tourism authorities consistently identify the dry winter season as the most comfortable and popular period for visiting the bushveld provinces.

May to September is the most reliable window. The dry season brings clear skies, cooler temperatures around 15 to 25 degrees Celsius during the day, and the bushveld vegetation thins out making wildlife viewing at Pilanesberg considerably easier. This is the peak safari season and the most comfortable period for both golf and game drives. Morning rounds are comfortable at any tee time in this window.

October to April is the wet season. Afternoon thunderstorms are common from November through February, but mornings remain generally clear. The bushveld is at its most green and lush after the summer rains. Wildlife is active year-round at Pilanesberg regardless of season.

North West golf holidays and package tours

North West suits two to four day programs, either as a standalone Sun City resort stay or as part of a wider Gauteng and North West South Africa circuit. Sun City is about two hours from OR Tambo International Airport by road, and most international visitors connect through Johannesburg before driving or transferring to the resort. Several day tour and shuttle services operate between OR Tambo and Sun City directly.

A standard North West golf program covers two nights at Sun City, one round at Gary Player Country Club, one round at Lost City Golf Club, one morning game drive in Pilanesberg National Park, and an evening at the resort’s entertainment complex. For golfers adding Pecanwood, the Hartbeespoort Dam stop is on the road between Johannesburg and Sun City, making it a practical day-one round before continuing to Sun City.

Pilanesberg National Park is the strongest non-golf draw in the province. South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs notes Pilanesberg as a malaria-free Big Five game reserve accessible within two hours of Johannesburg, making it one of the most practically accessible major wildlife reserves in the country. Non-golfing partners can book independent morning or afternoon game drives directly through the park while golf happens, and the shared sunset game drive from the resort is a practical combined evening activity. Browse South Africa golf packages or create a custom North West and Gauteng itinerary that combines Sun City with the metropolitan course circuit.

Golf with Pilanesberg National Park and the Sun City resort

Pilanesberg National Park covers 550 square kilometers of bushveld in an ancient alkaline volcanic crater, making it one of the most geologically unusual game reserves in South Africa. South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs notes it as a malaria-free Big Five reserve with lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, and buffalo populations established through the Operation Genesis restocking program from the 1970s and 1980s. The park shares a boundary with Sun City, and the resort’s proximity means golfers at Gary Player Country Club occasionally see elephants or other wildlife from the course perimeter. Game drives operate from both the park gates and through several of the Sun City-adjacent bush lodges.

The Sun City resort complex itself, built by Sol Kerzner in the former homeland of Bophuthatswana, opened in 1979 and expanded through the 1990s to include the Palace of the Lost City, one of the most architecturally distinctive luxury hotels in Africa. South Africa’s tourism authority notes the complex as one of the country’s most visited resorts. The Valley of Waves water park, the entertainment centre, and the dining options within the resort give non-golfing partners a complete program without leaving the property, which is the practical advantage of Sun City over more rustic safari-only destinations.

The Hartbeespoort Dam area, between Johannesburg and Sun City on the Magaliesberg mountain corridor, has developed its own adventure and leisure tourism infrastructure including hot air ballooning, cable car rides to the Magaliesberg ridge, and the Snake and Animal Park at the dam wall. For golfers driving the Pecanwood to Sun City route, the Hartbeespoort cable car morning is a practical stop that adds an aerial Magaliesberg view to the day without extending the transfer significantly.

Book tee times in North West

Gary Player Country Club is the most in-demand North West course and fills during South African school holiday periods and public holiday long weekends. Booking a week ahead for the Gary Player course is sensible outside of peak periods, and two weeks ahead during peak holiday periods. Lost City Golf Club is generally more accessible with a few days’ notice. Pecanwood fills on weekends from Johannesburg-based golfers and should be booked a week ahead for Saturday and Sunday slots.

When organizing a North West golf program, confirm Gary Player Country Club as the priority booking, Sun City accommodation alongside the tee times as the resort books independently of the golf, Pilanesberg game drive arrangements either through the park directly or through the resort, and how the Hartbeespoort and Pecanwood day fits on the drive to or from Sun City. Start planning here or view South Africa golf packages to find a program covering the North West courses alongside the Gauteng and broader South Africa circuit.