The Port Elizabeth Golf Club was founded in 1890,and was originally situated in the North End flats, on the western side of the Uitenhage road. The layout was strange, to say the least, a par 90 with the front nine being 42 and the back a strenuous 48, including 2 bogey sevens and 2 bogey sixes, and not a par three in sight! In 1899 the par was reduced to 82 and the sixes and sevens reduced to the standard bogey fives that we are used to today.
North end didn't last long, as PE's industry started expanding into the area. The town council offerred the club land in the middle of what is now Greenacres shopping center, but the club felt that the land on the opposite side of Cape road was a better option.
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So, with the help of the then club pro, Jimmy Johnston, the Greens Committee began the design of the new layout. Amazingly, many of the holes still have the same routing today as they did over 100 years ago.
The course was officially opened by Mayor J.C. Kemsley, on November 10, 1902. The mayor struck the first shot with a special club, made by Johnston, for the occasion. The club and the original ball are on display in the clubhouse trophy cabinet.
An Amusing, Interesting Story - PEGC was the site of possibly the first recored plane crash in South Africa. On November 17, 1917, Major Allister Miller, accompanied by Sgt-Mechanic Way, took off from Young's Field in Cape Town for Port Elizabeth. 5 hours and 18 minutes later, averaging 70 mph, the 2 touched down at PE Golf Club - the first aircraft to land in the city.
Almost 5000 people were there to witness the event, but were so tightly packed on the 18th fairway, that Miller had to crash land in one of the fairway bunkers in order to prevent a major tragedy. The plane was well and truly bunkered, but the only damage was a broken propellor. The prop was presented to the club and, after a clock was fitted to the centre, was hung in the clubhouse, and still hangs in the cabinet to this day.
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