Vipingo Ridge Baobab Course

Overview: The Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge is an 18-hole, par-72 championship layout on Kenya’s coast, set high above the coastal plain near Kilifi. David Jones shaped the course around the ridge, using broad Bermuda fairways, native planting, natural bush and a chain of connected lakes and streams. The clubhouse looks across the 9th and 18th holes, while the elevated setting brings changing views toward the Indian Ocean and a refreshing breeze. The design is generous in places, but the water network and bold target lines reward careful placement. Wildlife is part of the setting, with giraffe, zebra, eland, wildebeest, oryx and gazelle reported around the estate.

History: Vipingo Ridge transformed a former sisal estate into an international golf destination. Jones began the Baobab Course project in 2006, and his design record dates the opening to 2010. The course later gained PGA-accredited status, recorded in 2017, and hosted the Magical Kenya Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour. Those events brought the ridge-top setting to a wider professional audience. The surrounding wildlife sanctuary and resort development grew alongside the course, giving the layout a role in both golf tourism and coastal conservation.

Did You Know? The course takes its name from the iconic baobab trees that remain among the native trees planted throughout the site. Jones describes moving fresh water roughly two kilometres and lifting it about 140 metres to the ridge, allowing gravity to feed waterfalls, streams and ponds through the layout. Vipingo’s official course page also identifies the Baobab Course as Africa’s first and only PGA-accredited course and notes that it has three putting greens and Kenya’s largest driving range.