Paarl has twenty-seven holes rather than eighteen, arranged as three nines that combine into three named eighteen-hole courses. Which one you play depends on the day, so it is worth asking when you book: the club publishes a separate conversion table for each combination.
Booking is by phone or email. The Book A Tee Time button on the club’s site leads to an empty page, so use the golf bookings address or the club line instead.
How the twenty-seven holes work
The three nines are the River Nine, holes 1 to 9; the Paarl Nine, holes 10 to 18; and the Boschenmeer Nine, holes 19 to 27. They pair up as the Old Course, River and Paarl; the Winelands Course, Paarl and Boschenmeer; and the Boschenmeer Course, Boschenmeer and River. Each nine is par 36, so every combination plays to a par of 72.
There is also a nine-hole par-3 course of 1,017 metres on the Boschenmeer nine, launched recently, for a genuinely short round.
The course
Parklands in character, on Bent-Poa greens over kikuyu fairways, framed by mountains, rivers and vineyards in the Paarl and Franschhoek valley. The River and Paarl nines are the older, tree-lined holes along the Berg River, with the river itself in play down the right of the 2nd.
The Boschenmeer nine climbs. The club’s own hole notes mention walking up the hill at the 22nd, call the views at the 24th breath taking, and name the 25th the best hole on the course.
Golf has been played by the club since 1908. The present layout dates from 1997 and is credited to Danie Obermeyer and David Frost, and the club says it has hosted Sunshine Tour events.
Playing Paarl Golf Club as a visitor
The club has dropped the terms affiliated and non-affiliated in favour of associated and non-associated, and states that it is associated with every South African golf club except a published exclusion list, which is worth checking if your home club is a small or virtual one.
The rate sheet runs from August 2026 to July 2027 and covers member’s guest, associated golfers, associated students and scholars, non-associated golfers and PGA professionals, at both eighteen and nine holes, with separate visitor cart rates.
Rental sets and pull trolleys come from the on-course Pro Shop Express store, and the club runs thirty-seven lithium-powered carts.
