Durban Country Club

Packed into a scant 125 acres across a highway from Blue Lagoon Beach and the Indian Ocean, Durban spent most of the 20th century with the honor of being the African continent’s premier piece of golf architecture. The holes running along the eastern boundary—mostly the first nine—play through the coastal bush over severely heaving dunes with movements that can cause seasickness, particularly at the par-5 eighth and par-4 17th. The western half of the course is more treelined and sedate, and one wonders if a different routing could have taken the game more effectively in and out of the best land. Durban’s return to the rankings in 2022 (it was No. 96 in 2018 but later fell) could have been short-lived as the course suffered massive flooding in the spring of 2022 that put 15 holes under water. It reopened just as voting for the 2024 ranking closed, but our panelists have faith it will be back as strong as ever.