One of the traditions of South African golf is to stop playing in the middle of a game to take on fuel before completing the round. Do we really need them? Asks John Botha.
In Scotland, when the first golf courses were laid out, most were designed in a way that a stretch of holes was played away from the clubhouse, there was a turn, and the remainder of the holes led back to the clubhouse. This was the classic ‘outward and homeward’ configuration, and it served the game well for hundreds of years. Stopping halfway for a slap-up meal would have been unheard of, and a round of golf took about three hours.
Even after the professional era began, and extending into the post-World War II period, when major competitions involved playing 36 holes in a day, players might take a break between rounds for lunch, but a round would take no longer than three-and-a-half hours. (The great Bobby Locke, on his way to his Open Championship victories, was known as a deliberate, rather slow player, but he seldom took more than the allotted three and a bit hours to play.)
But golf steadily began to take longer to play, and it is curious to note that even when the golf cart was introduced, for no other reason than to speed up play and to allow more people onto the course, a round began to take upwards of five hours to complete. It is little wonder that the need for sustenance in between nines became a necessity, and as the game took even longer to play (it is not unusual for a fourball playing behind a full field to now take six hours to get round), golfers needed a break halfway. Of course this practise just puts another half an hour onto the time it takes to play.
But long before courses became longer and more difficult, and were routed around and in between houses, the halfway house was an institution, although the amount of time spent wolfing down a pie or sandwich, washed down with a cold drink, was minimal. (Even ordering a cup of tea was frowned upon, and would elicit a disapproving glare from other golfers.) Times have certainly changed.
For many years little more was expected from a halfway house than to offer a sandwich, a pie or the old favourite mince on toast, and in managing a field a players, 10 minutes was budgeted for the halfway break.
Clubs began offering ever more elaborate fare, and in many cases an a la carte menu became available, stretching the time spent in the halfway house even more. More recently, certain clubs have attempted to speed up the process and the grab-and-go snack has been introduced – not without a storm of complaints.
At many clubs in the US and Australia, and more recently in South Africa, the mobile food and beverage cart was introduced, where golfers can buy a range of pre-prepared food ‘on the hoof’, eliminating the need to stop. Still, at most clubs the halfway house remains well entrenched, and they are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
Few golfers will admit that they actually enjoy taking a break in mid-round, most agreeing that it halts any sort of momentum to the round. After a hearty meal, some find it difficult to start again, as it feels as though they are beginning a new round. (Perhaps after a particularly bad outward nine, this is not always a bad thing.) But like them or not, the halfway house is here to stay, and as an integral part of the golf experience, we have incorporated them into our 5-Star Golf Experience rating system, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, that identifies the best in the business.
Counting for only four percent of the total score, factors such as the positioning of the halfway house is taken into account, as is the quality and presentation of the food, the appropriateness of the menu, and the ablution facilities. Size certainly shouldn’t matter, and at a normal 18-hole course there should be no need for more than four tables with four chairs each, and ideally as one fourball leaves, the next group should arrive. In the ‘prepared to order’ system this is unlikely to happen, and even the buffet idea has its failings when a golfer wants his bacon especially crispy, or an order for poached eggs throws a spanner in the works. At resort courses different rules have been implemented, for instance at Zebula, which has a particularly fine halfway facility known for its excellent food, groups behind are encouraged to play through if the fourball in front wishes to linger for that extra cup of coffee. At Fancourt the halfway house actually doubles as a mini-supermarket, although it is hard to imagine why a golfer midway through a round of golf might have the sudden urge to purchase a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil.
At most of our premier facilities the philosophy of supplying fresh, simple and fast food works well, and as long as the chairs are not too comfortable, it is reasoned that players will get on with it. A certain club clearly believes that if golfers are forced to sit outside in a particularly windy passage they will not tarry, and by charging unreasonable amounts for the most basic food most golfers will decide to ignore the menu all together.
All things considered, it is generally agreed that the best halfway house bar none is found at Blair Atholl, situated between this exclusive club’s 8th and 9th holes. Golfers sit outside on a deck built in a thickly-wooded area overlooking the Crocodile River, and a selection of food, freshly prepared, is placed in front of the players. This includes home-made pies, fresh sandwiches, newly-baked scones with cream and jam, served with tea, coffee or cold drinks. A one-tee start at this private club eliminates congestion here, and it is easy to linger at this beautiful spot as the water tumbles over the rocks and one contemplates whether just one more scone might adversely affect the swing for the remainder of the round.
