DP World Tour history is being made this week at the Investec South African Open Championship as the field take on the longest course ever played on Tour.
Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate measures a colossal 8,161 yards, surpassing another South African venue in Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate - venue for the 2014 Tshwane Open - by 198 yards.
Here, we see what the players have to say about tackling a course described as "strong", "a beast" and "massive".
Dean Burmester
"It’s long. You’ll see quite a few long hitters in contention this week for sure. Whoever is coming to watch, wear a good pair of trainers. But it’s in great condition. The golf course lends itself to some good mid-iron play, and the greens are great."
Dan Bradbury
“It’s massive. We’re going to be putting the mid-to-long irons to work this week. Sometimes we tend to just use the top end and bottom end of the clubs in the golf bag, and the middle kind of gets forgotten about. I like a mix. This week it’s nice to be hitting a lot of seven and six irons into greens. As much as it’s harder it’s nice to mix it up.”
Brandon Stone
“I think Blair Atholl will be an absolute test of the game. It’s a beast. The Blair Mile on the back nine is a true test of ball striking. You cannot miss a shot there. A par on those few holes is great. If the wind gets up the course will be even tougher.”
Daniel van Tonder
"Blair Atholl is a great test. The course is in great condition, the greens are very good. It's long so you have to hit it quite hard and reach the greens for two to give yourself chances this week."
Dylan Frittelli
"It's a long golf course, a big property with wide fairways. The greens have a little bit of character. It's going to be a driver fest, just hit it as long and straight as I can and hopefully make some putts. I know that sounds like a cliché but this is literally the definition of it out here. I think you'll see a lot more shots from 140-190 yards on the par fours but if it's dry and hot we'll still be hitting 340, 350-yard drives on some holes so there'll be a lot of wedges and eight irons as well, it's a good mix."
The ten longest courses in DP World Tour history
| Course | Length (yards) |
|---|---|
| Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate | 8,161 |
| Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate | 7,963 |
| The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island | 7,876 |
| The Gallery GC at Dove Mountain | 7,850 |
| Gary Player CC | 7,835 |
| Chambers Bay GC | 7,826 |
| Erin Hills GC | 7,801 |
| Serengeti Golf & Wildlife Estate | 7,760 |
| Barsebäck G&CC | 7,729 |
| The Club at Steyn City | 7,716 |
*each venue counted once at its longest
