Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club (East Course)

Overview: The East Course at Royal Johannesburg is a mature parkland layout with subtle ground movement, carefully placed bunkers and a demanding change of rhythm between its two nines. The front side offers several opportunities to build a score, while the inward holes become more severe, beginning with two long par fours and continuing to the dogleg-right 11th, where water guards the approach. A full modernisation has sharpened the challenge without removing the course’s long-standing Johannesburg character.

History: The club traces its origins to 1890 and received its Royal charter in 1931. Robert Grimsdell began laying out a second course on land to the east in 1933, and the East and West courses were formally brought into use with the central clubhouse in 1939. After the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington clubs merged in 1998, the East layout went through further reconstruction, including a major 2017 revamp that retained its historic framework while updating its playing surfaces and strategy.

Did You Know? Robert Grimsdell was not only the East Course’s architect. He spent nearly two decades at the club as professional and greenkeeper before becoming one of South Africa’s leading course architects, and the club records his later induction into the Southern African Golf Hall of Fame. Royal Johannesburg has also hosted nine South African Opens and eleven Joburg Opens across its two championship courses.