Cape Town is preparing for its busiest and most profitable season of the year—the holiday period. As the days grow longer and the city fills with visitors seeking sun, wine, and prime scenery, one of the city's quiet economic engines comes into play—golf. This is most evident at the King David Mowbray Golf Club (KDM), whose value extends far beyond the fairways.
Nevertheless, as KDM gears up for its busiest months, the City of Cape Town is considering a plan that could lead to the demolition of the entire area to make way for high-density residential, industrial, and commercial developments.
The global golf tourism market is showing sharp growth, and South Africa, particularly the Western Cape, is well-positioned to be a major beneficiary of this trend. Golf tourists from Germany, the UK, the USA, and Switzerland already highly rate the local courses.
At KDM alone, besides 1,500 local club members, approximately 25,000 rounds are played annually by visiting golfers. These visitors are high-yield tourists who tend to stay longer and bring their families.
Golf tourists spend, on average, 120% more per day than regular tourists, according to South African Tourism, which actively promotes the country's courses as a flagship element of destination marketing. The multiplier effect of tourist spending extends far beyond the club's boundaries.
An Investec study for 2026 showed that the South African golf industry is estimated to generate around 49 billion rounds annually and supports approximately 40,000 jobs in the value chain. A historic club like KDM, due to its unique proximity to the city center, picturesque views of Table Mountain, and 116-year history, is central to this industry.
KDM contributes to the overall economy of Cape Town. Even James Vos, a member of the City of Cape Town's Majoriate Committee on Economic Growth, stated directly: 'golf is invaluable to the Cape Town economy.'
It is easy to dismiss golf courses as elite zones, but they serve much more important functions than just being economic assets. They also act as valuable recreational areas, 'green lungs' for surrounding communities, and necessary natural barriers against flooding.
Fundamentally, KDM has built a history as an inclusive golf community, boasting one of the most diverse membership bases in the country, serving residents from the city center, western Cape Flats, and southern suburbs. It brings people together.
KDM is also unique because the South African Golf Association for People with Disabilities uses the club as its base. The association stated that if KDM disappears, it will lose its home, as relocating and adapting an alternative course for the needs of disabled players would be prohibitively expensive.
One example of what would be lost is the South African G4D Open—the largest event on the national disability golf calendar, which KDM hosts from November 15th to 17th. It attracts world-class competition, gathering golfers from across South Africa and many international participants. Notably, this event is sponsored by the City of Cape Town, which, in this instance at least, recognizes its value.
This month, KDM also unveiled plans that will make it an even more significant public asset: a new network of pedestrian and running paths through the golf course. This network will include four trails: from an easy 1.41 km loop to a 4.05 km figure-eight connecting the upper and lower courses. Each will replace old informal dirt tracks with a properly paved, safe path between 2 and 2.4 meters wide.
These trails will be accessible to dogs and open to the local community via an affordable walking pass. The first scenic loop, located closest to the proposed pedestrian entrance on Links Drive, will open in early 2027, with others following later.
The City has put forward plans to replace the entire KDM area with 6,700 units of high-density housing along with industrial and commercial premises. This proposal is made despite the fact that anyone driving through the city can see other, more suitable vacant and unused plots of land.
No one denies the need for more housing in Cape Town, but valuable public assets cannot be sacrificed to achieve these goals. The City has not yet disclosed how many submissions it received during the comment period for its development concept project, which closed on August 7th. As the summer wave of golfers returns to our courses in the coming months, there is hope that the City will reconsider the value of KDM. All submissions received during the comment period should be rationally assessed, and the club should be viewed not merely as a site for development, but as what it has been for over a century: a hardworking, inclusive public asset.
Mike Flacks is the chairman of King David Mowbray Golf