Mammoth 8,000-Yard South African Open Venue Extends Record For Longest Course On Tour
Blair Atholl Golf in South Africa was the first course to break the 8,000-yard mark on the DP World Tour - and this year it's even longer
At a time in golf when the distance debate is front and centre, it's ironic that this week's South African Open venue the Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate extended it's own record for the longest course on the DP World Tour.
The Gary Player design has been extended by 72 yards to measure in at a whopping 8,233 yards for players taking part in the South African Open.
The par-72 layout set the record last year, eclipsing the previous longest of Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate, which held the 2014 Tshwane Open, by 198 yards.
There are four par-5s that measure over 600 yards in play for the tournament, with the longest being the 650-yard 13th.
Tiger Woods, who predicted tournament golf courses would eventually creep over the 8,000-yard mark six years ago, is building a new course in Utah which will also go over that barrier from the tournament tees - and will also have a 700-yard hole.
Blair Atholl took golf courses over the 8,000-yard mark for the first time last year, and it continues to grow in length just as the debate about distances in golf intensifies.
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers says that, along with the USGA, they have made a decision on their next move to tackle the growing distances the golf ball goes in men's pro golf.
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Slumbers will reveal these rollback plans by the end of the year, saying that "doing nothing is not an option" as they look to rein in how far players hit the ball.
An initial plan on golf ball bifurcation – a new model local rule - hasn't gone down as well as hoped, and Slumbers admitted that finding a solution everyone was happy with had been a problem.
For now, golf courses are getting longer, and none more so than in South Africa with Blair Atholl is the biggest of them all.
Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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