Akabeko Golf Course

How to play the course… a perspective/opinion of the designer/builder…

The Course layout.

No 1/10.. 380 yd par 4.

Starting off on the first, a climb up to an elevated tee with a view over the course.(looks a lot longer and the kikuyu fairways don’t run that well from that height)

Take your driver with, this 380 yd is deceiving, a wide fairway sloping left to right, with problems if you go too far right.

the second shot should be a short iron in to the green, don’t over shoot there is a lot of dam next to and behind the green, with a bunker right.

No 2 .. 390 yd. par 4. No 11 .. 425 yd. par 5.

The second hole is a par 4 first round and a par five second round.

Why the short par 5 second round? This hole has water. First time round most can carry the first dam, second time round not that many. Carry the dam .. don’t go too far there is a stream ahead. Be accurate with your tee shot, between the two big poplars is ideal, making the shot in to the green a little easier. But the green is surrounded by 3 dams, left behind and right, so it’s not an easy shot. This is stroke 1 and 2.

An ideal view for your second shot, this is the line…

No 3 ..  500 yd. par 5 .. No 12 .. 420 yd. par 4

If you can hit a long drive to clear the stream and be accurate this is not a difficult hole. if you have to lay up short of the stream it plays long.

Second time round a little easier to clear the stream.

Ones second shot is into an elevated, level green, so fire in high or face the consequences of the trees behind the green.

No 4 .. 205 yd. par 3. No 13 .. 230 yd. par 3.

If you can’t hit this very receptive green leak left rather than right… too many trees to the right.

No 5 .. 290 yd. par 4. No 14 .. 300 yd. par 4

Yep .. you can drive this green, it is up hill all the way, but this is a difficult green sloping from back to front, and I mean sloping, so play below the hole as stopping a ball from the back if you miss the cup its off the green. ‘Bunker protected to the right and a lot of trees if you leak left make the hole more difficult than it looks. (Who put that tree in the way?)

No 6 .. 320 yd. par 4. No 15 .. 290 yd. par 4.

Sounds short? There’s a catch, it’s a sharp dog leg left.

You need a 220 yd drive to reach the corner, too long and you’re either deep in trouble or behind trees. You can go for the green if you carry the corner with a slight draw, but there is then a bunker on line as well as one right. Don’t carry the corner? you’ve got a heap of problems. The green slopes slightly front to back, no longer sounds such an easy hole specially with “out of bounds” behind the green.

Ideally this should be the view for your second shot to the green.

No 7 .. 250 yd. par 4. No 16 290 yd. par 4.

This hole is uphill but many can drive the green. The green is a small two tier, bunker protected left, right and front, that looks a little like “smiley face” from the air. When the trees planted on both sides of the fairway are bigger, the slight curve to the right will make the hole a little more difficult. Risk and reward is the name of the game on this hole.

No 8 .. 350 yd. par 4. No 17 .. 450 yd. par 4.

This hole is down hill to the trout dam well hidden from view. A 300 yd. drive from the 8th tee box is required to clear the dam. A lay up leaving 120 to 160 yd. second is recommended. The green is big and receptively built. Playing short will leave a uphill short chip, long, and there’s trouble.

An ideal second shot should have a view like this….

No 9/18 .. 90 yd. par 3

This is no easy hole. A small green (with many slopes) from a high elevated tee, makes for a trick shot requirement, or the short game capabilities of a Derrick James.

There are a few movable hazards on the course..

This is a course that can be walked and most of the time we recommend it. The scenery and peacefulness makes for a relaxing game of golf. With the chance of meeting up with our impala or Sable, walking is better, but there are golf carts available for the not so fitness fanatics. The ups and downs make for wonderful exercise.

Come and play the course, all are welcome. The Owner, Mr. George Tait gave this instrinstruction,   “Those that play, must enjoy themselves, relax and have fun.”

Sable antelope on Akabeko Golf Course.

If there is something that gives me so much joy, it’s to have wild antelope walking around on the Golf Course.

One of my favourite would have to be the Sable…

The head-and-body length is typically between 190 and 255 cm (75 and 100 in). Males reach about 117–140 cm (46–55 in) at the shoulder, while females are slightly shorter. Males typically weigh 235 kg (518 lb) and females 220 kg (490 lb).

The sable antelope has a compact and robust build, characterized by a thick neck and tough skin. It has a well-developed and often upright mane on its neck, as well as a short mane on the throat. Its general colouration is rich chestnut to black. Females and juveniles are chestnut to dark brown, while males begin darkening and turn black after three years.

As it can be seen these are all not quite 3 years old yet.

Both sexes have ringed horns which arch backward. In females, these can reach 61–102 cm (24–40 in), while in males they are 81–165 cm (32–65 in) long.

these are still growing…

Yet they remain so regal and tough looking even at this age…

They do make a few impressions on the greens, but I can live with that…

This one seems to be checking the view from the tee box…

I do hope they live long and happily on the course..

Akabeko Golf Course

It’s been a long time coming.

A return in part to blogging. Why? Well we have reached that stage where not much more can be done before the rain falls.

When will it rain? Wish I knew…

The greens are so close to completion, just here and there that we need the grass to reach total coverage. Fairways have been top soiled and the grass in part is pushing through without water, strange but true…

It has been a dream designing and converting this….

 

To this

And this …

Into this….

and the real joy is having the wild life now on the course… doing their inspection…

I’m hoping to get back into blogging on a more regular basis, so look for my likes and comments on your blogs…

A stroll on the Sishen Golf Course….

KUDU… I do love this animal with its steady stance and twitching ears that give it away…

Impala portraits 3… rutting season…

There are three distinct social groups during the wet season: the female herds, the bachelor herds and the territorial males. The mating season is the three-week long period toward the end of the wet season in May. A single fawn is born after a gestational period of about six to seven months. The fawn remains with its mother for four to six months, after which it joins juvenile groups. These little ones start practicing for the main event from a young age….

While mothers look on, and fathers wonder “should we chase them now???”….

“Not sure this is a good time to get involved in the head butting…”