Fabulous, By George!

Beyond its status as a golfers paradise, Fancourt offers scenic, soothing beauty

- Bruce Dennill

Though it’s a major centre in the area, the aerial approach to George Airport is still over territory that looks stirringly wild; all endless beaches and wooded gorges leading toward the interior. The weather is often in keeping with that untamed atmosphere, and our pilot contends with a stiff crosswind by landing the plane, safely and effectively, at an interesting angle.

From the airport, it’s a short, scenic transfer – like a trundle through the English countryside; there’s no real sense of entering a city – to George and, if you’re lucky, Fancourt, the gate to which comes up quickly as you come into town. The transition is distinctly marked by the estate’s magnificent landscaping after the rather less precise farm fields, with large trees and lush flowering plants as important a part of the welcome as the smiling gate staff.

Fancourt’s worldwide reputation is as a golfing destination – three highly-rated, Gary Player-designed courses and a golf academy – so the choice of golf carts to ferry guests between reception and their rooms on check-in seems apt. And it’s not that ridiculous scenario where your room is 18m away but the use of a vehicle is protocol. While staircases do cut down the distance when walking, the estate covers a substantial area (613 hectares all told, though that includes private housing and the golf courses as well as the hotel zone) and that introductory tour along tree-lined roads and paths helps guests get a sense of the scale and variety of the architecture of the place.