Golf writer Grant Winter offers this list of the top golf courses in South Africa.  The order does not represent any preference.

Superb world-class courses, affordable green fees and glorious weather which allows for play every single day of the year, combine to make South Africa a golfer's paradise. Visitors have a wide variety of courses to choose from, be they at the coast, inland or next to tourist hot spots and major game reserves. In all, there are nearly 500 courses in this sun-drenched land and here is a guide to 15 of the very best places to tee it up and let rip:

1. Durban Country Club: Fashioned out of the dunes, just a nine-iron away from the warm Indian Ocean, this is a masterpiece of design where nature herself is the chief architect. First opened for play in the 1920s, the course has consistently been ranked among South Africa’s finest, and the World Atlas of Golf included the club’s par-5 third hole among its ‘World’s Best 18 Holes’.
2. Wild Coast Sun Country Club: A round at this spectacular Robert Trent Jones II design 170km down the coast from Durban requires one to hit over ravines, dams and even a waterfall as the course winds its way through unspoilt subtropical coastal bush. The ‘Green Mamba’ par-5 12th is one of the great holes of Africa, where the drive is launched from a high pulpit tee to, far below, the fairway which snakes its way through an ancient valley up towards the green. This is golf at its wildest, even though right next door to the resort's hotel and casino.
3. Pearl Valley: Set in the beautiful Cape Winelands, less than an hour's drive from Cape Town, and close to the much-visited little vineyard town of Franschhoek, this immaculately groomed Jack Nicklaus-design has hosted several South African Opens. Nicklaus has made good use of the dog-leg, and worked water hazards and fescue-covered mounds into the layout.
4. Fancourt: Located in the delightful Garden Route town of George, there are three fabulous courses – Montagu, Outeniqua and The Links – at this upmarket resort with its five-star hotel. The Links is designed by Gary Player and although man-made, looks for all the world like an old, traditional British or Irish links. The International Team and the United States fought out a memorable draw here in the 2003 Presidents Cup, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods deadlocked at all-square in their pivotal singles when fading light brought play to an end.
5. Royal Cape: This grand old lady in Cape Town is the oldest golf club in South Africa, founded way back in 1886. An international class facility, nine South African Opens have been staged here, a measure of the high esteem in which it is held.
6. Erinvale: is a classy residential estate nestled at the foot of Helderberg mountain in Somerset West, 60km east of Cape Town. The splendid course, which has also hosted the South African Open as well as the 1996 World Cup won by South Africa, lies across the road from historic, 300-year-old Vergelegen wine estate, a national treasure.
7. Arabella: Is situated in a lovely coastline setting a little more than an hour’s drive from Cape Town, near Hermanus, in prime whale-watching country. Peter Matkovich, one of South Africa’s most prolific designers, laid out a real beauty here. There is a luxury hotel at the resort.
8. Leopard Creek: The preserve of one of South Africa’s richest men, golf benefactor Johann Rupert, this awesome bushveld course, host of the European Tour’s annual Alfred Dunhill Championship, lies right on the banks of the Crocodile River (yes, the river is swarming with crocodiles) which forms the southern boundary of the world famous Kruger Park. And yes again, leopards do occasionally roam the course! As do giraffe and a number of other animals. The elevated green at the par-5 13th overlooks the Park, and is a prime game viewing spot once you’ve rolled in your birdie putt!
9. Sun City: The Gary Player Country Club course at this iconic resort has become known all over the world as the venue for the Nedbank Golf Challenge, where the game’s superstars battle it out each year for big money and prestige. Next door, on the other side of the ultra-luxurious Palace Hotel, is the Lost City course where the par-3 13th green is in the shape of Africa. An enclosure next to the putting surface is home to some enormous crocodiles. Stay well away, even if you’ve hit your brand new Titleist in there! Sun City is adjacent to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, where the Big Five roam freely.
10. Royal Johannesburg and Kensington: There are over 80 golf courses in the economic hub of Gauteng, which encompasses the cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni. And it takes an awful lot to beat Royal’s two wonderful, lush, tree-lined courses – tough uncompromising East, host of many professional events over the years, and the popular, slightly more forgiving West.
11. Glendower: Despite its situation in a well-populated residential area, it feels completely isolated from Johannesburg’s hustle and bustle. Rich in birdlife and heavily wooded, Glendower – the current venue for the South African Open and a formidable test off the back markers – was proclaimed a nature reserve in 1973.
12. Blair Atholl: This exclusive estate north of Johannesburg is situated in beautiful rural countryside, where Gary Player created a masterpiece. The par-3 third hole is a brilliant replica of the 12^th at Augusta.
13. Simola: South Africa’s Garden Route is one of the wonders of the travellers’ world and the town of Knysna one of the jewels in its crown. The Simola Golf & Country Club, with its pristine turf and challenging holes, is located in the hills behind the town with superb views out over the Knysna lagoon to the sea.
14. Also in Knysna is the brilliant, breath-taking cliff-top Pezula course while in Mossel Bay you'll find Pinnacle Point, another outrageously spectacular Pebble Beach-type layout with the ocean as a backdrop.
15. St Francis Links: 90km down the coast from Port Elizabeth in the delightful seaside town of St Francis, Jack Nicklaus has exploited a superb piece of seaside ground here to fashion out one of the most special courses you’re likely to find anywhere.