The Bredasdorp Golf Club, located in one of the picturesque parts of the Boland, was founded on 31 July 1919.
Bredasdorp is located in the heart of the Overberg region, about a 2-hour drive from Cape Town and about 25 km from Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa.
Gert Albertyn, former club captain as well as former president of the golf club, says the first course was located near the old cemetery. The first captain of the golf club was R. Taylor and a descendant of him Rod later played a major role in promoting golf among the junior players.
After a number of years, the golf course had to be moved and the second course was located on the old premises of the Police Station. Because this land was later made available for housing, the golf club had to make plans to relocate in the early 1970s.
The fifty members of the 1970s took the task on themselves to build the new course. Grass was planted, and farmers from the area brought their implements to level the rough terrain.
The course was opened in the early 1970s.
The greens were planted with Bermuda (kweek) grass, but two decades later all the greens were replanted with bent grass and today Bredasdorp has greens of excellent quality.
The Bredasdorp course’s attractive look, and quality fairways and greens make it one of the outstanding 9-hole courses in the Boland.
The par 72 course has a total length of 5 666 meters.
Another unique feature of the Bredasdorp course is that it is the golf course that is closest to the southernmost tip of Africa.
Visitors are very welcome and caddies and golf carts are always available
LEAGUE GOLF AND OTHER COMPETITIONS
Bredasdorp Club has been playing in the Boland League competition for years and is usually one of the strong teams in the Brodie League. The club are also stalwarts in the BBL league as well as Baklei League.
The competition for the ICM Cup has been played between teams from Bredasdorp and Hermanus since 1968.
There are also regular club competitions played throughout the month and especially the Wednesday league is very popular among members.
GOODWIN CUP
This year will be the 56th year that the club presents this day which is a highlight on the Bredasdorp Golf Club’s annual calendar.
CLUB COMMITTEE
The current committee of the Bredasdorp Club: Johan de Kock (president), JD Terblanche (captain), Eliza van der Westhuizen (women’s captain), Kobus Tollig (vice-captain), Pierre-Etienne Rossouw (secretary), Jannie Engelbrecht, Paul Valentine (additional members).
TREVOR IMMELMAN IS ONE OF THE WINNERS OF THE BREDASDORP OPEN
The 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman won the Bredasdorp Open in 1997 as a youngster.
Other winners of the Bredasdorp Open include the professional players or former professional players Hennie Walters (1993 and 1994), Ockie Strydom (2008) and Keagan Thomas (2019).
Swellendam’s Paul Baatjies has won the Bredasdorp Open four times.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS AND COURSE RECORD
Several players dominated Bredasdorp’s club championships for long periods.
Alfred Dowling was crowned club champion of Bredasdorp for 13 consecutive years (from 1950 to 1962) and this record still stands today.
Chris Blom has also won the club championships several times since 1967. In the 1970s he was champion almost every time, while his son Chris Blom jnr was also champion in 1977.
The well-known SA hurdles athlete Cornelius Uys was the club champion for four years in a row – from 1981 to 1984, while the former Boland rugby player Buks Jamneck was club champion in 1970.
Duard Coetzee won the first of his nine club championships in 1992. Coetzee is also the holder of the course record with an excellent score of 61.
FEATURE HOLE OF THE COURSE
An outstanding hole on the course is the 7th hole (par 5). It plays uphill and 5 is always a good score.
BREDASDORP WOMEN’S DIVISION
Bredasdorp Club has been very happy all these years that they had women members who played golf with great enthusiasm as well as made a great contribution in terms of club activities.
“The women have done a great job over the years by preparing food at the club’s big competition days,” says Albertyn.
Two great stalwarts of the club are Marie du Toit and Ria du Toit.
Marie du Toit was captain of the women’s division for almost 20 years – from 1969 to 1986 (except 1982). She also won the club championships several times.
Ria du Toit dominated the club championships of the women’s division and from 1971 she was crowned champion 17 times.
The annual Women’s Day of the Bredasdorp Club is one of the highlights on the golf calendar. This year there was a record number of participants of 70. The tasty food and wines are also a feature of this day.