Go back a couple of months, and you may recall me mentioning a trip up to Legend, the golf and safari resort in the Limpopo Province that features a course designed by 18 of the planet’s top golfers – and a course that resulted in Paul Snodgrass, Golf Punk’s Extreme Golfer, suffering a severe but unnamed injury. With the latest issue of Golf Punk on shelves, I can now reveal what happened: Snoddy drove off the top of the mountain that looks down on the 19th hole, but hit a rock two metres in front of him, and took a flying ProV1 directly to the crotch. He collapsed in agony; we collapsed in hysterics. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything funnier.

You can watch the offending incident on YouTube. Snoddy was alright, thankfully, although his voice is still an octave higher than it used to be. And for his sacrifice, he’s etched himself into the history of Legend’s star attraction (when it opens properly next year, a hole-in-one on the 830-metre par-three will win a cool US$1-million); backing that up was the fact that everyone at Legend was still talking about Snoddy’s mishap yesterday.

I was back at Legend, now less than six months away from opening, yesterday to meet up with one of the designers: one Michael Campbell, the New Zealander who won the US Open in 2005, and has leant his name to the fifth hole at Legend, a tough par-four that plays off clever bunkering with a shape that entices a strong drive that draws gently round the corner. It’s Campbell’s first crack at design, and he’s very excited about it; not as excited as he was to get out of Callaway uniform and into his safari gear (specially purchased for the wilds of Africa — in the manner of German tourists landing at the V&A Waterfront), but excited nonetheless.

And why not, for a project that caught my imagination two months ago, has made giant strides since. The Miss World finalists will be dropping by in November (Peet Cilliers, the man behind Legend, has appointed me Head of Sun Cream Application when they get there, and Campbell has offered to assist me), as will a couple of seriously big names from international sport, all headed for a resort that’s getting bigger and better every day. The soccer academy is taking shape (expect an English Premiership club to be involved here), as are cricket, rugby and athletics equivalents, the wildlife is flourishing (spotting four baby jackals was yesterday morning’s highlight), and the infrastructure growing rapidly.

It’s the golf that’s the chief attraction for now, though, and with Retief Goosen, Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman the designers to have visited up to now to appraise their respective holes, Campbell’s now made a site visit, tweaking the layout, approving the bunkering, and giving his contribution to Legend the thumbs up. All the players involved in the project have been talking about it on Tour, and those who haven’t been yet, can’t wait to; I interviewed Camilo Villegas last week for next month’s Golf Punk, and he can’t wait to get here and go on safari. Campbell can always help him out with the wardrobe there…

The laidback Kiwi got a fair taste of safari yesterday; he also got in a little instruction, just not the usual variety. For in between driving golf balls off a mountain, checking out the course, and getting a feel for the whole project (he wouldn’t leave the Landrover before checking whether or not lions had access to that particular part of the estate), Campbell gave me a personal lesson in doing the haka. The verdict? You’ll have to read next month’s Golf Punk; in the mean time, look out for Legend popping up more and more on the sporting radar, as Peet Cilliers’ vision takes greater shape. Campbell’s the latest man to be swept up by an extraordinary project; if you get the chance to drop in, grab it. It really is something special, and unless you’re Paul Snodgrass, you’ll leave with some incredible memories.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za

    Print this page
    Send this article to a friend
    RSS
       Digg
    de.li.cious
    facebook