Mammoth 8,000-Yard South African Open Venue Extends Record For Longest Course On Tour

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.

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.