State Mines Country Club

Overview: At Brakpan’s State Mines Country Club, an 18-hole parkland course in Brakpan and one of the better-known golf venues in the Ekurhuleni area. The club describes a quiet setting among tall bluegum trees despite the surrounding mining landscape, while current scorecard material gives the course a par of 72 and a 6,614-yard yellow-tee measurement. Visitors are welcome, and the property includes a clubhouse, restaurant, practice facilities and a course that is regularly used for regional competition.

History: The site was commissioned in 1909 by the State Mines Gold Mining Company as a nine-hole recreational course for employees. It was later upgraded to 18 holes, and after members took ownership in 1970 the club appointed Rob O’Friel to redesign the course. Because the course evolved in stages, no single opening year is used here; the documented sequence is more accurate than a simplified founding date.

Did You Know? State Mines is marketed as an East Rand “hidden gem”, but its history is unusually visible in the layout’s origin. The course began as company recreation on mining land and later passed into golfer ownership, with the same transition reflected in the way the mature trees screen the modern course from much of the industrial setting.