Play away in an idyllic setting at the Pearl Valley Golf & Country Estate near Cape Town, South Africa

WESTERN CAPE, South Africa -- Close your eyes and say the words "Pearl Valley." What do you see? Probably exactly what Jack Nicklaus laid out at the Pearl Valley Golf & Country Estate in 2003 -- a pristine course of babbling brooks and peaceful ponds surrounded by mountains.

Located less than an hour's drive northeast of Cape Town, Pearl Valley is generally considered one of the best "golf estates" in South Africa. The 6,749-meter course hosted three consecutive South African Opens from 2007-09. Golf Digest South Africa ranked Pearl Valley seventh among the country's best courses in 2014.

Nicklaus kept the homes from intruding on the round. Water on eight holes is the real worry. It's a full carry over ponds to reach the third and 13th greens, two scary par 3s. A stream zigzags across Pearl Valley Golf & Country Estate's fourth fairway twice, forming one of the country's great par 5s. A pond separates difficult par 4s at the seventh and eighth holes that run in opposite directions.

A slew of bunkers, not water, protect the short par 4s on each nine, the fifth and 15th holes. No matter how good or bad you play, the view of the Drakenstein Mountains never gets old.