Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, bushveld fairways below the Pilanesberg
Best of · North West, South Africa · Ranked

The Best Golf Courses in Sun City and the North West

Two hours from Johannesburg, the bushveld holds the most famous tournament course in Africa, a sibling with live crocodiles on the 13th, and a string of dam and mountain rounds that cost less than a caddie tip at the majors. The Gary Player Country Club has run the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981, Lost City turns golf into safari, and the Hartbeespoort courses fill the drive home. Here are the five rounds we would build the trip around, ranked.

See the ranking Plan a Sun City trip

By the GolfForKings editorial desk · Editorial policy · Last reviewed June 2026

Photograph: Gary Player Country Club, by Tumiso Sithole, via Google

How we ranked them

We rank on the quality and character of the golf first, then on what each course adds to a traveling golfer's week: tournament pedigree, the drama of the setting, the welcome, and what the fee buys. The North West rewards honesty about its shape. This is not a province carpeted in courses; it is two clusters that happen to be world class at the top. Sun City holds the championship pair behind the resort gates, and Hartbeespoort Dam, an hour back toward Johannesburg, adds the Nicklaus estate round and the value plays. Every fee below is an indicative figure from club and resort published rates valid for the 2026 season; always confirm directly before booking. Our Sun City green fees guide carries the full rate card.

The geography is the easiest in South African golf. Everything on this list sits within two hours of Johannesburg's airports on good roads, the Pilanesberg game reserve borders the resort for the non playing day, and the altitude gives you ten percent more carry to brag about. Most groups base at Sun City for the marquee 36 and play the dam courses on the way in or out.

The ranking

01

Gary Player Country Club

Gary Player · Sun City · Nedbank Golf Challenge host since 1981 · par 72, walking only · indicative R2,250 visitor, halfway lunch included

Africa's tournament course. Built to give the new resort a stage at the end of the 1970s, Player's bushveld colossus has hosted the Nedbank Golf Challenge, golf's original Million Dollar Challenge, every year since 1981, and the roll of winners runs through Ballesteros, Els and McIlroy. It is long, hot and relentless off the back tees, with kikuyu rough that swallows ambition and a finish over water at 17 and 18 that has decided millions. The club keeps it pure: strictly walking, caddies at about R400 for the package, closed Mondays. The indicative 2026 visitor rate of R2,250 includes the halfway house lunch. Play it once off the members' tees and you will respect every November telecast for life.

Plan a Sun City golf trip

02

Lost City Golf Course

Gary Player, 1993 · Sun City · desert style, crocodile pit par 3 13th · indicative R1,750 with cart and halfway lunch

The fun one. Player returned in 1993 to lay a desert style counterpoint across the rocky side of the valley, all waste bunkers, cacti and bushveld views, and gave it the most photographed hazard in golf: a pit of live crocodiles guarding the downhill par 3 13th, where the green is shaped like the African continent. It is more forgiving than its older sibling, a cart round with grand scale and constant elevation, and the indicative 2026 visitor rate of R1,750 includes the compulsory shared cart and the halfway house lunch. Closed Tuesdays for maintenance. Drop a ball to the crocodiles and take the penalty; nobody argues.

Read the full Lost City profile

03

Pecanwood Golf and Country Club

Jack Nicklaus signature, 1998 · Hartbeespoort Dam · par 72, 7,020 yards · handicap certificate required

Africa's first Jack Nicklaus Signature course, opened in August 1998 on the southern shore of Hartbeespoort Dam with the Magaliesberg stacked behind. The shaping is unmistakably Jack: clear questions from the tee, big bentgrass greens, and water that arrives exactly when the scorecard relaxes you. The par 3 13th along the dam to a green flanked by sand is the postcard, and the estate keeps conditioning at resort polish year round. Visitors are welcome daily with a valid handicap certificate, which tells you the club takes the golf seriously. It is the natural first or last round of a Sun City week, forty minutes from the Johannesburg side of the dam.

Plan a North West golf trip

04

Rustenburg Golf Club

Rustenburg · bushveld parkland below the Magaliesberg · host of the North West Open

The province's club golf champion. Rustenburg's tree lined parkland runs in two returning loops around a creek and a scatter of ponds on the edge of the mining city, with the Magaliesberg as the backdrop, and it is the only course in the region to have staged a run of South African championships and the North West Open. The story is as good as the golf: near bankruptcy in 2016, the club was revived by local business and now plays like the heartbeat of the town, with a welcome for visitors that big resorts cannot manufacture. Green fees are modest club rates; confirm directly with the pro shop. Pair it with the Pilanesberg drive and you have seen the real North West.

Plan a North West golf trip

05

Magalies Park Golf Club

Hartbeespoort Dam · par 72, 5,864 meters · resort course, reshaped 2013 · indicative R250 to R425

The value round. Magalies Park slopes from the Magaliesberg down toward the Crocodile River arm of the dam inside a family resort with a water park and spa, and the par 72 squeezes five par 5s and five par 3s into 5,864 meters of bushveld parkland, reworked in 2013 into the friendly test it is today. Bent greens, kikuyu fairways, hippos occasionally rumored and weekday fees that run from roughly R250 to R425 with cart options make it the cheapest 18 on this list by a distance. It is not chasing the Gary Player Country Club and knows it; as the relaxed middle day of a buddies week, it earns its place.

Plan a North West golf trip

Editorial ranking by the GolfForKings desk, June 2026. Fees are indicative 2026 rates from club and resort published sources; always confirm directly before booking. Check tee time availability.

Building the trip

The classic shape is three or four nights: drive up from Johannesburg, warm up at Pecanwood or Magalies Park on the dam, then two nights at Sun City for the Gary Player Country Club and Lost City back to back, with a Pilanesberg game drive between them. The resort's golf packages bundle both courses with the room and beat paying the gate rates. From there most international groups bolt the bushveld onto a bigger South African loop: the South Africa destination guide maps the country, the Garden Route ranking and Cape Town guide cover the coastal half, and the best courses in South Africa list shows where the Gary Player Country Club sits nationally. Weigh the beach alternative in Mauritius vs South Africa, and when you are ready to price the whole thing, start at the South Africa golf holidays page.

Plan your Sun City golf trip

Tell us roughly when and who is traveling, and one concierge books the resort, locks both championship tee times around the maintenance days, and costs the trip to the head. No obligation.

Sun City golf questions

What is the best golf course at Sun City?

The Gary Player Country Club. Gary Player's bushveld brute has hosted the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981 and remains the most prestigious championship test in the region. It is strictly walking with no carts, closed Mondays for maintenance, and the indicative 2026 visitor rate is R2,250 for 18 holes including the halfway house lunch; resort residents pay about R1,550. Always confirm directly before booking.

How much does golf cost at Sun City?

Indicative rates valid December 2025 to November 2026: R2,250 per visitor at the Gary Player Country Club including the halfway house lunch, plus about R400 for the caddie, foundation fee and halfway package, and R1,750 at Lost City including a compulsory shared cart and halfway house lunch. Resort residents pay roughly R1,550 and R1,250 respectively. All fees are indicative; always confirm directly before booking.

Can visitors play the Gary Player Country Club?

Yes. The course welcomes outside play and you do not need to stay at Sun City, although residents pay a lower rate and the two round golf packages are the better arithmetic. Book ahead through the club, note the Monday maintenance closure, and remember it is a walking only course, so budget for the caddie package and a hot summer morning tee time.

When is the best time to play golf in the North West?

April to September. The North West sits on the highveld fringe where winter days are dry, sunny and around 20 C, perfect walking weather for the Gary Player Country Club. Summer, October to March, brings real heat and afternoon thunderstorms, so play early. The Nedbank Golf Challenge usually claims the Gary Player course in November, worth checking before you fix dates.

Related

Golf in South Africa Sun City green fees Lost City Golf Course Best courses in South Africa Best courses on the Garden Route Cape Town and the Garden Route South Africa golf holidays Mauritius vs South Africa

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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Course facts and fees verified June 2026 from club and resort published sources, including Sun International's published 2026 rate card; fees indicative, always confirm directly before booking. Last reviewed June 2026.