Oubaai

This 18-hole golf course on the oubaai residential estate in the western cape was developed by kuwaiti kharafi holdings company in 2005 and is the first signature course constructed by local golfing hero ernie els in south africa.

The big easy has a home in herold's bay, south africa, and is well aware of the strategic value of this new style, which competes against some of the area's more established golfing heavyweights like pezula and simola.

Although the fairways at oubaai are relatively wide with vast landing areas, this does not make the course easy to score on, as carefully placed fairway and greenside bunker complexes deftly enhance the degree of playing difficulty.

The signature hole is the par three 17th, which plays downhill to an "infinity green" with the dazzling indian ocean as a backdrop in modern course architecture parlance. If the conditions are good, it should be pretty easy to skip the four bunkers surrounding the green and card a three here, but who knows what score could be posted if the wind is up on such an exposed cliff top.