Paarl is blessed with two excellent courses, the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, Pearl Valley has been rated as one the best new courses in South Africa and will play host to the 2007 South African Open in December. Surrounded by a trio of majestic mountains, the course is only 45 minutes drive from Cape Town and close to the famed gourmet centre of Franschhoek.

The course is fairly flat and easy to walk, especially on the immaculate, carpet like fairways. There are plenty of bunkers and vast tracts of water that come into play on many of the holes. Sometimes the water hazards are invisible from the tee box, with water encroaching further into the fairway than you expect. - Lucky then that stroke savers are included in your green fee!

The par 5, 4th hole has a split fairway which requires you to cross the bisecting brook twice in order to reach the green. The shallow, pebble filled water looks innocuous but swallows balls whole!