Key Takeaways
- Sun City holds two iconic courses — the Gary Player Country Club and the Lost City Golf Course.
- The Gary Player Country Club is walking-only and hosts the Nedbank Golf Challenge ("Africa's Major") each November.
- The Lost City course is famous for the par-three 13th, guarded by a pit of live Nile crocodiles.
- Sun City is malaria-free, 2.5 hours from Johannesburg, beside the Big Five Pilanesberg crater.
- Pair it with a Greater Kruger safari for the full Big Five and a palatial stay at the Palace of the Lost City.
Sun City: South Africa's Golf-and-Leisure Icon
Sun City is unlike anywhere else. Built into the malaria-free bushveld of the North West, beside the ancient volcanic crater of the Pilanesberg, it is a lavish resort city of palaces, pools and championship golf — two and a half hours by road from Johannesburg. For golfers it is a pilgrimage: two of Africa's most celebrated courses sit side by side, and the whole valley thrums with the theatre that only Sun City delivers.
Stay at the Palace of the Lost City — a domed, five-star fantasy hotel themed on a lost African kingdom, wrapped in landscaped jungle gardens and cascading pools — and you have a base as memorable as the golf itself. Between rounds there is the Valley of Waves, the spa, and game drives in the Pilanesberg, where the Big Five roam the crater.
The Gary Player Country Club
The Gary Player Country Club is Sun City's championship crown — a long, demanding, walking-only layout designed by the great man himself. Every November it hosts the Nedbank Golf Challenge, long dubbed "Africa's Major", drawing the world's leading professionals to one of the richest events in golf. The bentgrass greens are lightning-fast, the closing stretch is thrilling, and playing where champions have battled is a genuine thrill.
- Walking-only — take a caddie and experience the course as it is meant to be played.
- Nedbank Golf Challenge host — tee it up on Africa's most famous tournament course.
- Championship test — long, strategic and rewarding of good ball-striking.
The Lost City Golf Course & Its Crocodiles
If the Gary Player is the serious test, the Lost City Golf Course is the theatre. A dramatic, desert-and-bushveld layout, its signature is the par-three 13th hole, where the green is ringed by a sunken pit stocked with live Nile crocodiles — miss the green short and your ball is gone for good. It is one of the most photographed golf holes in the world, and the whole course, overlooked by the ruined-castle clubhouse of the Lost City, is pure fun.
The Safari: The Pilanesberg & the Greater Kruger
Sun City's golf pairs with two very different safaris. Right on the doorstep, the Pilanesberg National Park — set in an ancient volcanic crater — offers malaria-free Big Five game drives in an afternoon, perfect for a first taste of the bush. For the full experience, we fly you east to the Greater Kruger, where two or three nights at a private Big Five lodge deliver lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and buffalo on open 4x4 drives with expert rangers and trackers.
- Pilanesberg — malaria-free Big Five in a volcanic crater, minutes from the golf.
- Greater Kruger — the classic Big Five safari, a short flight away.
- Wildlife on the fairways — antelope graze the bushveld courses even at Sun City.
When to Go
Sun City is warm and playable year-round in the malaria-free North West. The South African summer (September to April) brings the warmest, greenest conditions, while the Nedbank Golf Challenge takes over the Gary Player Country Club each November. For the Greater Kruger safari half, the dry winter months of May to September are best for game viewing.
- Sep–Apr: warmest, greenest golf at Sun City.
- May–Sep: peak Big Five viewing in the Kruger.
- November: the Nedbank Golf Challenge — plan ahead.
Plan Your Sun City Golf Safari With Beyond Africa
We are a Cape Town-based, tailor-made safari and golf-travel house. We arrange your tee times on both the Gary Player Country Club and the Lost City course, your stay at the palatial Palace of the Lost City, and a genuine Big Five safari in the Greater Kruger — with all the flights and transfers between. Golfers and non-golfers alike are superbly looked after, from the Valley of Waves to the sundowner in the bush.
Ready for two iconic courses and the Big Five? 👉 Request a Sun City golf-safari quote → 👉 Browse our golf-safari packages → 👉 WhatsApp us: +27 78 471 4852
