Roodepoort Country Club, by Pierre Lucat 

Roodepoort has many faces, depending on the climate or the season.

From June to September, in the winter, when the rough has withered away into a short and dry semi-rough and the fairways are crisp and bouncy, the course can be extremely gentle and forgiving - but wait for the rainy season, with soggy lies, knee-high, wiry rough and nasty gales of wind, and the same course turns into a fierce and savage opponent, fighting you on every shot you make.

The wind, mostly blowing from the north, is a constant factor, since the course lies at the bottom of a small valley and almost no trees are blocking it out.

This gives the course at links-like feeling, with its fairways separated by gentle mounds and most of the holes in sight of each other.

After a rather encouraging and not too taxing, medium-length par 4 1st hole, the first of the toughies awaits the pleasure of your visit: A 420 m par 4, dogleg left, uphill and upwind.

You will need a perfect drive hugging the left side of the fairway and narrowly avoiding a huge and deep fairway bunker in the angle of the dogleg to have a go at the green with your second shot.

Invariably, you will end up on a side hill lie, whatever you do. Don't get too cute and attack the plateau green with a fairway wood unless you are pretty confident.

Lay up with a medium iron if you must - a controlled 5 is an absolutely satisfying score, compared to an absolutely feasible, intempestive 7.

With the exception of this 2nd and possibly the mean 6th with an invisible uphill shot to a narrow and heavily guarded green, the front nine are rather easy.

Stay out of the water on the par 5 4th and the par 3 5th and avoid hitting the trees on the only tree-ridden hole, the par 5 9th, and you're off to a flying start for the much harder back nine.

The 10th, a long, narrow and straight par 4 played mostly upwind, is easily the hardest and most-disliked hole of the course, with thick vegetation and out of bounds to the left and a downhill slope to the right of the fairway.

It is a long walk away from the 9th green and after an uphill hike to the 10th tee you are bound to arrive there panting and out of rhythm.

Take a few more practice swings and try to get loose again before teeing off. From now on, pin positions will dictate your destiny.

If you spot the flagstick on the right-hand side of the green on the par 3 11th or the left-hand side of the 12th and 13th greens, you might want to aim for the center of the putting surface. End up on the wrong side of the pin and the penalties are very severe.

Which leads us to the majestic 14th, a par 5 with water down the right side. Provided you hit a long and crisp drive down the middle, this hole will tempt you to take the short cut across the pond and to go straight for the green.

But before you bite off more than you can chew, check the yardage on one of the many conveniently placed sprinkler-heads near you.

Place your approach behind the pin of the small green and you'll have one of these fast and breaking downhill efforts which can easily lead to a three-put.

You should be able to handle holes 15, 16 and 17, but each of them can turn into a score-wrecker if you lack humility and are not absolutely sure about what you're doing.

And so you've reached the tee of the par 5 18th and are facing the most intimidating  drive of the round, a downhill shot with water down the left and on the right of the landing area.

No doubt, this is a golf course with character. 18 holes with a friendly, inviting, but strict and uncompromising personality. The design of the course can teach you an awful lot about yourself and your game - try playing it out of character, and it will bite you.

It looks sometimes so easy and mellow that it will lure you into taking risks, only to show you the error of your ways and to gently nudge you towards more wisdom.

The architect of the course, none other than Gary Player, has created a masterpiece of skilful restraint and quiet dignity, equally challenging to high-handicappers and scratch players, encouraging you to play your best shot on every shot.

The Roodepoort golf course is a perfectly maintained, quiet and honest golf course, with great surroundings facilities in the modern-style, generous clubhouse.

Its members, mostly locals, manage to imbue the venue with true club-feeling and give it the ambience of a special place.

No negative aspects? Well, there's that thing with the soft spikes. No metal spikes allowed in Roodepoort - only the soft, rubbery ones.

Which is STUPID!

You will have to have your shoes re-fitted in the pro shop in order to trod the hallowed grass, but it still is a STUPID idea, because it does nothing to protect the greens: As gazillions of studies have shown, soft spikes are more harmful than metal spikes.

And what about this unique, addictive, crackling sound of metal spikes on concrete ground that is so sensually connected to the game?

Shall it never be heard again in Roodepoort?

That would be STUPID. This golf course deserves better, but it is well worth the sacrifice of your metal spikes for a few enjoyable hours.

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