Fancy Something Different? Why Not Combine Golf With Safari In This Incredible African Country!

Nairobi, Kenya

Many golfing travellers are aware of golf in Africa’s extremes, the north and the south, especially the southern coastline of South Africa. Substantially fewer know too much about the sport in its more central countries. Kenya straddles the Equator on the eastern coastline and with just a 2-3 hour time difference from the UK, jet lag should not be a feature here. Its bustling capital is Nairobi, a name derived from the Maasai for ‘cool water’, and at over 5,500 feet above sea level, the air is more refreshing than you might expect. With the majority of the nation’s golf within easy reach, it makes for the perfect base for a golfing safari.

The three courses featured below are all close to the city, as is the excellent Karen Golf Club in the south-western suburbs. The district and club were named after Karen Blixen, author of ‘Out of Africa’, which was published in the same year as its foundation, 1937. North from Nairobi is the Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort, just beyond and looking back over Lake Naivasha. You approach via a lengthy track glimpsing warthogs and wildebeest along the way, and the rustic accommodation is dotted throughout the grounds. There are some really good holes such as the par-4 9th and the long 17th, and you feel as though you are playing in paradise, perhaps waiting for a zebra to move out of your line of play, or watching a black-headed oriole.

A short flight from Nairobi across to the east coast will get you to Mombasa on the Indian Ocean. Here, there are several good courses including Nyali and Diamonds Leisure Beach & Golf Resort, while the star of the show is the excellent Vipingo Ridge. This is a relative youngster which opened for play in 2009, 20 years after its architect, David Jones, won the Kenya Open.

Muthaiga

• Par 71, 6,863 yards
• W: muthaigagolfclub.com

This historic, colonial club on the outskirts of Nairobi was one of the first to open in the country with its original 9-hole course dating back over a century. Soon expanded to a full 18, it was the beneficiary of a substantial upgrade in the early 2000s. It is the current host of the Kenya Open, a championship won here by the likes of Seve Ballesteros and Ian Woosnam.

The course twists and turns through the tallest trees, with water a regular and very attractive feature, and there is a welcoming and lively atmosphere in the clubhouse.

Sigona

• Par 72, 6,591 yards
• W: sigonagolfclub.com

Sigona is another club with history, opening just before the start of WWII. It was designed by the eccentric but brilliant Tom Simpson who worked with Herbert Fowler, designer of many courses including both at The Berkshire. Although you are in the suburbs, there is a real feeling of being out in the wild with frequent sightings of antelope and oryx.

There are some tight drives and tough angles, with the pick of the holes perhaps being the par-4 7th which doglegs uphill and to the left. The drive at the next might just be the narrowest in Africa, but there are plenty of elevated tees that are more forgiving.

Windsor

• Par 72, 6,365 yards
• W: windsorgolfresort.com

Windsor is home to an elegant and substantial hotel made up of a cluster of Victorian-style buildings. Once away from the clubhouse, the course runs through gently undulating woodland bordered by coffee plantations.

It opens with a tough par 4 to a green protected by water and trees, and thereafter there is great variety with dog-legs left and right, attractive and strategic bunkering, and a supremely tough and memorable signature hole at the 14th which calls for a committed and fearless approach over the river.

The unobtrusive presence of Sykes’ monkeys is a real bonus.

Quiz! Can You Name Which Countries Have The Most Golf Courses?

More courses are dotted around this beautiful, lush country, where the scenery, the food and the wildlife, not to mention the very reasonable prices, make for an excellent and very different golfing holiday.