There’s nothing like a vigorous spa treatment or relaxing sauna and steam room session to ease those aches and pains after a round of golf.
In South Africa, you can find great spas that are part of golf resorts so everything is on hand. There are also many other hotels with spas in and around the country’s major cities that are handy as a base for playing courses in the area. And you can often use facilities such as the gym, pool, steam room and sauna free as a guest if you don’t want a treatment.
At the glitzy Sun City Resort in North West province, guests can choose from two spa and wellness locations: the Gatsby International Health Spa at the Gary Player Country Club, where the Nedbank Challenge is staged each year, and in the Royal Salon at the Palace of the Lost City hotel, which is reserved for guests.
Limpopo province has spas at the Legend Golf & Safari Resort, home to the famed Extreme 19th hole, and the Hans Merensky Hotel & Spa, which has a golf course right next to Kruger Park.
Close to Johannesburg, Zebula Golf Estate & Spa and The Fairways Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort tee up golf along with soothing treatments at their respective spas. Among Johannesburg hotels offering spas are The Westcliff and the Sandton Sun while the capital, Pretoria, weighs in with several from boutique hotels to international chain properties.
Play golf and enjoy spa sessions at both Champagne Sports Resort, near the Drakensberg peaks, and the coastal Fairmont Zimbali Resort in KwaZulu-Natal. Durban’s courses are close by if you prefer to stay in the city, where the Suncoast Towers is among spa hotels, or neighbouring town Unhlanga, with spas at hotels including the Oyster Box and Beverly Hills Hotel.
Both the Wild Coast Sun and Fish River Sun resorts offer golf and spa in beachside settings in Eastern Cape.
Along the Garden Route, Cape St Francis Resort has its cosy Hibiscus health and beauty studio as well as golf, while at Simola Golf & Country Estate, you can experience its spa and curved pool overlooking Knsyna’s hills and lagoon just as the Danish football team did during the 2010 World Cup. The luxury Oubaai Hotel, Golf & Spa features the first Ernie Els Signature golf course in South Africa and its Freesia Spa, where you can enjoy African-based treatments overlooking the Indian Ocean, and the incomparable Fancourt combines three of the nation’s top golf courses with an award-winning spa.
The Western Cape’s vineyards not only provide the backdrop for a number of golf courses, but you can also pamper yourself with spa treatments at the golf and wine estates of Boschenmeer, Devondale, De Zalze, Pearl Valley and Erinvale. And you can soothe your muscles in the spa after playing the top-rated course at the Arabella Hotel & Spa, close to whale watching town Hermanus.
Spa lovers are spoilt for choice in Cape Town, with the Belmond Mount Nelson, One&Only Cape Town, Pepperclub Hotel & Spa and the Taj Cape Town just a few of the many sumptuous places to stay and be pampered, all of them with golf just a short drive away.
