Gansbaai Golf Club

Gansbaai Golf Club was started by accident during the Easter weekend of 1985.  Mr Jacob de Villiers had all his children over to visit and, the menfolk were awakened early to try and get them to go on a fishing trip but they said they wanted to play golf instead. Jacob went to his barber, Dirk Kotze, for a haircut and complained about the fact that the kids had to go to Hermanus to play golf and so lost out on family time. Since Dirk was also the chairman of the Kleinbaai Rate Payers Association, Jacob asked him if it was not perhaps possible to donate a section of land for the building of a golf course in Kleinbaai. Dirk agreed and pointed to portions 212 & 213 on a map of the area and, that was the birth of Kleinbaai Country Club / Gansbaai Golf Club.

The building of a golf course and recreation club was approved by the Municipality in December 1985, and an amount of R120,000 of the reserve fund was allocated for this purpose. The Divisional Council of Caledon, being the trustee of the assets of Kleinbaai RPA, agreed on the 24th of July 1985 to offer the KRC a lease of 99 years on portions 212 & 213 for the princely amount of R1 per annum. On the 27th of December 1985, Jacob was voted chairman of the Kleinbaai Rate Payers Association and, during a meeting in the garage of Hans Swart, the Kleinbaai Country Club was founded and included committee members from Gansbaai, Kleinbaai and Pearly Beach. The aim was to build a recreation club with a clubhouse on the grounds and to coordinate the different types of sports that would be played there. The first tentative plan for the layout of the course was pencilled in on copies of maps of the area by Jacob and Andries Brand. This was handed over to surveyor DJ Nicol of Hermanus, who surveyed and pegged the area free of charge. 

In June 1986 a bush clearing machine began clearing the first three greens, present-day hole numbers 1, 8 and 9. After the tops of the bushes were hacked down, teams of contractors used ploughs to break through a maze of roots which were then cleared by hand with pitchforks and shovels by workers from Gansbaai Co-op Fisheries and Gansbaai Marine. Then began the mammoth task to plant the grass by hand. The first grass cuttings were brought in by Erik de Wet, from his farm Retreat in Robertson, using his lorry and workers. Schalk Joubert, Boetie Geldenhuys, Gansbaai Co-op, Bokkie Botes, Wilfred Butler, Gansbaai Marine, Andries Brand and Kobus Havenga and their workers, all did a magnificent job in planting the first cuttings.

Finally, in December 1986 the first water was pumped to the course and the Divisional Council fixed the account for water use at R1 per annum. Ahh, the good old days, things have changed dramatically since then.

On the 7th of October 1987, the Kleinbaai Golf Club was officially founded in the Sea View Hotel in Gansbaai, with Andries Brand as president and Boetie Geldenhuys as vice-president. After sight inspections, plans for the clubhouse were finalised, and on the 18th of June 1987, the tender for the clubhouse building was awarded to DCW Swart & Sons.

Three additional holes were cleared during 1988 when Jac de Wet returned with his lorry full of cuttings, which his workers planted to create the 4th green. In 1990 the last three greens were completed, which qualified the club to join the South African Golf Union.

On the 21st of December 1991, the 9-hole golf course was officially opened by Andries Brand. Former State President, FW de Klerk, had been invited but had already accepted a prior invitation to the opening of the Kleinmond Golf Course which was to be held on the same day. However, in January 1992 FW popped in and played a 9-hole competition with Andries, Jacob and a sponsor. A memorable day and an interesting story to note is that FW’s official guard accidentally broke FW’s putter when he collected his clubs from the car. Luckily a member of the club, Darrel Fautly, was also a lefty like FW was and saved the day. Darrel loaned FW his putter after which the president proceeded to thoroughly enjoy his game.

Today, Gansbaai Golf Club is a thriving monument to the vision, courage, perseverance and will of ordinary people in a community. An average of 13,000 rounds of golf are played annually and membership includes players from South Africa, Germany, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Austria, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Channel Islands, Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden,  Switzerland and New Zealand. 

• Tables and Chairs
• Bar (fully-licensed)
• Kitchen (fully equipped)
• Catering (by arrangement)

• DJ (by arrangement)
• Rest Rooms
• Secure Parking