MONDAY June 2, 2025
By Patty Magubira
The Tranquility News Reporter, Tanzania
The world’s top golfers no longer have an excuse for not visiting Serengeti, as a world class golf course built besides the Africa’s finest national park will be open to them in the near future.
Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) Conservation Commissioner Mussa Nassoro Juma Kuji assures golfers of enjoying fresh air, hearing birds singing, and viewing the awe-inspiring wildebeest migration for which tourists of all walks crave.
Construction of the over $3.5 million worth state-of-the-art facility has reached 65 per cent, Dr Richard Matolo, the consulting engineer with TANAPA Investment Company Limited, says.
The subsidiary of TANAPA is constructing the 18-hole Serengeti National Park Golf Course within a 450-acre area at Forti Ikoma along with four consultants – all renowned professional golfers – including Engineer Enock Magire.
With topnotch professionals in various fields, the newly established TANAPA commercial wing is tasked with carrying out civil engineering projects within and outside the state-run conservation and tourism agency as part of a wider strategy for diversifying revenue sources.
The golf course is billed to attract about 3,000 professional golfers annually, who will, in turn, leave behind approximately $857,632 and leapfrog other economic sectors with substantial multiplier effects to a critical poor mass surrounding the godsend.
Forti Ikoma area in Serengeti District, Tanzania, being a buffer zone for Serengeti National Park, makes the golf course one of the few facilities, if any, built adjacent to national parks.
Besides playing golf while sampling wildlife animals in the world’s prominent national park, the design of the Serengeti golf course is equally unique.
With a total of 7.065-kilometre (7,726.4 yards) walking distance, equivalent to 3.528 kilometres through inbound holes and 3.537 kilometres through outbound holes, it will be among the longest golf courses in the world.
Both inbound and outbound holes of the golf course have five par 4s, two par 5s, and two par 3s each, making a total of 72 pars.
By the time a professional golfer reaches the 18th hole, he will have walked up to 15 kilometres,” Dr Richard Matolo, TANAPA Investment Company Limited CEO.
“By the time a professional golfer reaches the 18th hole, he will have walked up to 15 kilometres,” Dr Matolo, an upcoming golfer himself, says.
The Serengeti golf course is also furnished with a range – a 430-metre course for warm-up and training – as well as rough regions that abound with hazard features (obstacles) between fairways.
Undulating terrain, drifts, small ridges, and bunkers (sand traps) enhance the obstacles, let alone about 3,000 acacia tortilis tree species planted on the rough regions to fetch doglegs.
“Golf calls for high concentration of the brain’s central processing unit to reach a hole using fewer pars,” the Engineer eying the acer status – hitting the ball directly from the tee into the hole with one stroke – says.
The Serengeti golf course will also be equipped with a club house comprising a restaurant, bar, and changing rooms.
Mr Zakaria Edward, one of the supervisors in the construction of the Serengeti golf course, says rains being a major challenge such facilities face, a robust drainage system has been built to ensure golfers continue playing immediately after downpours.
The contractors have already built a reservoir capable of storing 22 million litres of water and are currently laying down recommended pipes, sprinklers, and are planting grass.
Heavy duty pumps will be installed to draw water into the reservoir built within the facility and into shallow ponds to be scattered around the golf course to prevent wildlife animals from encroaching on the facility.
Upon completion, TANAPA Investment will in collaboration with interested investors build luxurious cottages, hotels and other essential facilities to accommodate golfers.
“The Fort Ikoma airstrip situated a stone’s throw away from the golf course will also get a facelift,” says Dr Matolo, explaining that a tender for the construction of reliable accommodation facilities is up for grab.
With local golfers alone, the cost of the investment in the Serengeti golf course will not be returned, Chriss Martin, Regional Director of Africa Golf Federation (AGF) Zone Four, cautions.
Mr Martin advises TANAPA to consider comparing notes with golfers in Istanbul, Turkey, where the game is played throughout the year.
He is upbeat that the facility will create golf tourism and promote Destination Tanzania big time, if well marketed.
“We at Region Four are willing to promote the facility. We’re in good rapport with our European, Asian and American counterparts,” Mr Martin says.
Golf is not only a civilised game, but also a sport to watch in Africa, adds Mr Martin, explaining that the continent boasted having 3.4 million golfers by February last year.
Golf is no longer the preserve for the rich as was the case in the past, he says, attributing its growth to declining prices of playing gear and fees, among others.
“A golf kit is now available at between Sh800,000 (about $297) and Sh1 million (about $371). Second used kits are plenty in the market,” he explains.
In East Africa, Kenya is leading in the number of players and courses, with Tanzania having about 17,000 golfers, barely 100 of them professionals, scrambling for only 11 courses available countrywide.
The 18 holes Kilimanjaro Golf Estate situated at Usa River in Arusha leads in meeting international standards followed by Dar es Salaam Gymkhana, Lugalo also in Dar es Salaam, and Arusha Gymkhana.
Other golf courses in Tanzania, mostly 9 holes, are in Morogoro and Moshi municipalities, at TPC on the outskirts of Moshi Municipality, in Mufindi District, at Kilombero Sugar Company, and at Sea Cliff in Zanzibar.
“We’re heading there,” says Mr Martin, a Tanzania national himself, unveiling the country’s strategies for promoting the game, including ensuring each club establishes a foundation to groom youth.
The Serengeti golf course is the brainchild of the TANAPA Board of Trustees.
The concept is compounded by the scramble for sports tourism whose global market value is poised to hit over $1,800-billion hallmark in five years.
“The Board thought out of the box to create new products in a bid to attract more tourists and retain them. This project will build up value chain and enhance foreign earnings,” Dr Matolo believes.
Indeed, with the recent expansion of Serengeti on the north-western side to Nyatwali area, a golfer, who is also interested in water sports, can now access Rubondo, Saa Nane, and Burigi Chato national parks along Lake Victoria shores aboard a speed boatΩ
Recommended Posts
The Tranquility News Reporter/Sub Editor, Tanzania
Patty Magubira is an experienced environmental and business editor whose career started at the Tanzania's state-owned newspaper - The Daily News. He is a man of perfection. Aided by his extensive training as a community forestry expert before joining Tanzania School of Journalism. Magubira had successfully held various key posts in newsrooms, giving him an unmatched connections in media fraternity. Having worked as a bureau chief in Arusha and Mwanza, he managed to build a team work, boosting sales to the highest level ever. He was then promoted to a sub-editor after completing a training in Nairobi, Kenya. His incredible experience, critical thinking and exposure are critical to the quality of any media outlet.
