Heritage Le Telfair Golf & Wellness Resort on Mauritius, which is already renowned as a golf / vacation spot!
This part of the world (Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands) has become accustomed to foreigners buying property, writes John Cockayne.
Well let’s face it – who wouldn’t want a 4-bedroom master-built house, with a pool, on a lifestyle estate and under sunny skies, for the same price as you might pay for a pokey and dingy 2 bed flat in suburban England!
While xenophobia is a real challenge almost everywhere, the Mauritius market openly encourages and welcomes expat residents through various channels, including its RES, IRS, or PDS programmes where the purchaser may apply for, and enjoy residency, as long as they remain the owner of the property in question.
One of the publications to which I contribute is Estate Living (https://www.estate-living.co.za/), which has provided some great intel on property investment opportunities in Mauritius.
While still on the subject of investment opportunities, despite the economic headwinds, which have affected most economies, the South Africa property market, especially in the Western Cape, has seen more than its fair share of investment.
However, the overwhelming majority of this activity has been for individual stand-alone properties, not entire golf courses (especially one of the region’s best), so the purchase of Pearl Valley Golf Club with its Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, which sits within the Pearl Valley Golf & Country Estate, breaks this mould by some margin.
This is a developing story, which we shall follow, but one can only imagine what plans are in the pipeline to further enhance one of the regions’ top golf courses. The club already has top-class supporting infrastructure in the form of a hotel, a country club, with an array of superb leisure facilities including a spa, gym and swimming pools. In addition, other facilities include; tennis courts, pétanque courts, cricket nets, a soccer field, a SwingFIT Academy, and an equestrian centre.
Pearl Valley Golf & Country Estate’s Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course – Western Cape in South Africa
The interests of the new owner (Philippine billionaire Enrique Razon) are not limited to golf, as his company ITSCI (International Container Terminal Services Inc), successfully tendered, in 2023, to operate Durban Container Terminal’s Pier 2. Successful that is until Maersk, the dominant force in maritime operations in the region, since its purchase of SAF Marine over 2 decades ago, cried foul, and laid an urgent application to overturn the successful bid – this being an urgent application, which took over 8 months to submit!
The details of the merits of the respective cases, are unknown to us, but given that ITSCI outbid Maersk, it sounds rather like an attempt at a good old-fashioned golfing stymie to me, and perhaps the course marshal should put Maersk on the clock, with a warning to speed up play!
Whatever the final outcome with this ‘spat’, given Dubai Ports commitment to the DP World Tour, it would appear that the crossover between golf and port operators continues to expand.
The weather (that most favoured of English conversational topics) continues to grab headlines, and I had thought that I was living in a water stressed region, but with the rainfall levels this year, I am no longer sure!
A few months ago, I went out for a quiet evening at the St Michael Sands Hotel, to enjoy a sundowner, the lovely view towards the beach and river mouth, and the pasta special, which they have once a week.
The lovely view from the terrace at the St Michael Sands Hotel down to the beach and river mouth.
Midway through the meal it started to RAIN – eventually dumping 155 mm on us in just 6.5 hours.
By the following morning, the inland rain fall had made its way downstream, and the sandy bars, which had, only a few hours before, seen people playing with frisbees, exercising and walking their dogs, were torn away by a raging torrent of brown water.
The following day the whole beach had been breached, and all along the KZN South Coast, rivers were pumping silty brown water (at least I hope it was silt!) into the ocean, which soon had a dirty looking tide mark, stretching some 1.5 kms out to sea!
Some days after the storms in KZN, but the river was still flowing strongly, and the original beach sand is probably somewhere near Mauritius!
Inland South Africa did not escape either, with the Vaal Dam overflowing for the first time since the 1990s as far as I can recall.
The golf courses were also inundated, although for some it was worse than for others and outside of the general rainfall, some experienced isolated and violent cloudbursts, all of which makes the ‘E’ in ESG, all the more relevant.
As you will see from the following photos, the residents at Eagle Canyon near Johannesburg, must have wondered if they might be best served by renaming the estate – Eagle Lakes!
Eagle Canyon during the rainstorm – could there be a golf course out there somewhere?!
And after the rain – ah there it is!
Overall, it has been a turbulent year by any standards, and looking at NATO, and the USA’s about turn on a whole range of previous commitments, and well-established alliances, the world of professional tournament golf should perhaps think itself very lucky that they only have LIV to deal with!
On the front cover of the April issue of BG Magazine, is the footer copy – ‘tale of the tape’ – which most will know as a boxing reference, by which combatants are ‘measured up’ for a fight.
The analogy is quite apt, given that many observers believe that we have ‘declared war’ on, and or are ‘in combat’ with the environment.
Histrionics aside, even the most vociferous global warming denialists, are becoming increasingly muted, as records, in terms of a host of natural weather phenomena, are broken with almost monotonous regularity.
All of this brings the importance of golf’s role in terms of E (environment), S (sustainability) and G (governance), and the need for us, as a sporting community, to be on the front foot and being seen to be environmentally aware, in terms of how we operate golf facilities.
In South Africa, and as we look forward to the rest of 2025, and the run-in to the festive season, it has been very illuminating to read through the John Collier Survey’s research, (https://johncolliergolf.com/), which has been compiled over the past year.
With over 200 clubs in South Africa now participating, the ‘depth’ of the intel continues to increase, which can be seen in the recently published eighteenth John Collier Annual Survey on ESG for South African golf courses.
Living in Africa, one of the key take-outs from this year’s John Collier Survey, is not just about us, as a sport, doing the right things, but also in its emphasising the need for us to be seen to be doing the right things.
Of course, the latter requires sharing with the public that we do not actually use potable water to irrigate the golf courses, and that sustainability and good governance are in fact cornerstones of any set of operational procedures in this region, if a club wants to grow and flourish as a business.
From a tourist’s point of view (especially if you are a golfer!), the region continues to offer great value as a destination.
This value is over and above the currency exchange rate with the Rand, and there are options available to suit every budget, from the high-end luxury, such as that offered by the plethora of 5-star hotels, and travel experiences such as Rovos Rail, to the great value provided by the more affordably priced B&Bs and lodges, throughout the country.
Sandton Sun & Towers Hotel in Sandton City, Gauteng in South Africa – the restaurant in the recently refurbished Towers Hotel.
Rovos Rail – all the modern comforts, but with the quality and style from what feels like a bygone era!
So, if you are coming our way any time soon, please remember – don’t just pack the golf clubs, bring the family too!
Any of Golf Business News’ readers who are planning a trip down to Southern Africa, whether on business or pleasure, are most welcome to contact our Africa Columnist – John Cockayne – who would be delighted to help with advice on, and information about the region.
John Cockayne
John can be contacted on email: cathco@mweb.co.za or by mobile phone on +27 (0) 73 896 7931
