Situated in a lush and scenic suburb in the Centurion district, Irene Country Club plays host to the Sunshine Tour’s KitKat Cash & Carry Pro-Am.
Irene was originally established as a golf club with a nine-hole course in 1911 and a decade later was expanded to an 18-hole course by Bob Grimsdell and his brother. In 2007 the old parkland course was then redesigned and upgraded by Gary Player’s chief designer, Phil Jacobs, in time for the club’s centenary celebrations.
Jacobs remodelled all the green complexes, rebuilt the tees and added and remodelled the fairway bunkers, which made Irene fit to host tournaments again. The course now offers a fun and challenging layout, with the Hennops River flowing through the heart of it.
Irene boasts several standout holes including the 135-metre par-three seventh, named ‘The Pulpit’. This hole requires golfers to play a tee shot from an elevated position across the Hennops River to a distant green below. The back nine is hillier, with the downhill 432-metre par-four 14th the toughest hole. Out of bounds on the right and trees to the left of the fairway, with the green guarded by a dam to the front and another water hazard at the back create a tricky test for all players.
Every hole has been given a description name on this unique and sometimes quirky golf course which is one of South Africa’s hidden treasures.
DID YOU KNOW?
- One of South Africa’s top up-and-coming golfers, Casey Jarvis, won the Gauteng North Silver Salver at Irene in 2019 at the age of 16 with 270, including a nine-birdie 63.
- SA golfing legend John Bland grew up at Irene Country Club where he and his brother Roy won 10 club championships.
- In 2022 Dylan Mostert produced a bogey-free back nine for his maiden Sunshine Tour title when he won the KitKat Group Pro-am at Irene Country Club.
- Irene was ranked 61st in South Africa’s Top 100 Courses this year, a climb of six places from 2022.
