I had no idea what to expect arriving at Hermanus Golf Course, for years I had heard it was a good course, but had simply never managed to get to play there and since the course had undergone a recent, and basically complete, renovation I never would get to, but at least I had the new course to look forward to.

Having only been around for a very short while, I had heard few reports on the new course so far and none had been very conclusive. With concern to our arrival, everything went very well. All the staff are very helpful and happy to point you in the right direction and all in the pro shop are friendly with a good sense of humour and the prices, by Cape Town standards, are more than reasonable at 180 Rand affiliated and 350 Rand non-affiliated.

Eventually we were ready to tee off and today there were no excuses, the weather was perfect. The course was in great nick, perfectly manicured and marked out. Everything seemed well placed and just as I had hoped, this was a course that punished for bad play and rewarded for good, clever shots. Smart play will win here everytime, as I unfortunately found out when I was rolled over by my opponent on the last hole, simply because I didn't pay attention to the hazard warnings.

The highlight of the course for me was the 11th hole. They say the channel through the trees off the tee is reminiscent of the 18th at Augusta and that is exactly what it reminded me of when I stood on the box. A truly beautiful, yet underrated course.

The short car drive between Cape Town and Hermanus is now filled with many great courses and the hidden gem at Hermanus Golf Club is nothing less than a great compliment and added variantion to this route.