Benoni Country Club

Founded as Van Ryn Golf Club in 1906, like most clubs on the East Rand, Benoni Country Club came into existence due to the discovery of gold, and it was originally a facility established for the employees of the Van Ryn mine. This club’s history predates most of the golfing facilities in the greater Johannesburg area and, although it began its life as a nine-holer, no time was wasted in extending the layout to 18 holes. Even before golf had taken root at the likes of ERPM, Crown Mines, CMR, Houghton, Observatory, Modderfontein, and State Mines, the golf club at Benoni was up and running and it has shown no sign of slowing down since. It is unfortunate that records of the club’s earliest history have been lost, and it is not known who actually laid out the original course, but whoever it was certainly known what they were doing. Various changes have been made over the years, at one point Bob Grimsdell had a hand in a revamp, and later the greens complexes and bunkers were modernized by Rob O’Friel. The basic character of the course still remains ‘old-school parkland’ – rather flat and well wooded, but set up for championship play, the layout has stood the test of time.