Zimbali Country Club

Overview: Zimbali Country Club is an 18-hole, par-72 course by Tom Weiskopf on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. The club describes it as a hybrid of links and coastal forest, and the routing makes that description tangible: the first eleven holes cross rolling ground with open views, while holes twelve through eighteen enter indigenous forest. Wetlands and environmentally sensitive areas are part of the setting, so the course’s visual variety comes from the landscape as much as from formal hazards.

History: Zimbali’s official club history dates the course’s foundation to 7 November 1998. It was developed as part of the Zimbali estate and has matured into a championship venue woven into the surrounding coastal environment. The club’s later identity has remained tied to both golf and conservation, with tee boxes positioned in some places to reduce disturbance to the natural setting. Zimbali also became the home of the Absa SuperSport Shootout, a high-profile gathering of sporting figures and a recurring part of the club’s public profile.

Did You Know? The clubhouse stands among the coastal forest beside the remains of a ruined farmhouse and an old wild fig tree. That setting helps explain why Zimbali feels different from a conventional inland parkland course: the buildings, fairways and forest are presented as parts of one estate landscape. The club’s own description also records a championship course rating of 73 from the longest set of tees and a top-line length of 6,524 metres.