Wingate Park Country Club

Wingate Park is parkland golf in a picturesque Gauteng North setting, a regular tournament venue, and one of the country’s busiest courses, annually recording 50 000 rounds. The layout is one of four in Gauteng designed by Englishman Charles Hugh Alison, who worked with Harry Colt and Alister Mackenzie in between the two world wars. The others are Glendower, Bryanston and Riviera. Wingate began as a Jewish country club in 1947 in farmland. Four years later the course was built. It is a tranquil and attractive oasis in an area that has seen intense development. Wingate Park is an unbalanced layout by modern design concepts, which lends to its appeal. The front nine is short by highveld standards, 3059 metres off the tips, and a par of 35. It opens with a short par 4 and most of the other par 4s only require short-iron approaches. But the back nine, with three par 5s, is demanding at 3681 metres. There are no weak holes, some of the greens are small with tricky slopes, and two of the par-5s, 13 and 15, are proper 3-shotters for most. Wingate owes its popularity to exceptionally well-conditioned and quick greens.