That’s because the iconic old layout, opened in 1922, was majestically upgraded by Golf Data in 2023/24, and the club itself has become a private preserve for its members. Its plain old greens have been creatively transformed and enlarged with slopes and runoff areas, and a quick-paced modern variety of bent grass has replaced the paspalum and Bermuda grasses that were relics of the old layout. Even though DCC remains one of the shortest par 72 courses to host a tournament on the DP World Tour, the revised layout can provide the tour pros with plenty of nasty surprises, reliant on a prolonged dry spell leading up to the Open. Other than the shapely greens there is now the factor of numerous water hazards coming into play from the sixth to the 14th, thanks to the new Scottish-type burn
Blustery weather in Durban would be welcomed at Country Club which hosts its 18th Open in an entirely new guise from the previous 17. Calm, wet days dampened the last Open played there in December 2010. Soft conditions turned the 100th championship into a record-breaking birdie-fest on newly- laid greens. Everyone would like the course presented for the 114th to be more challenging, and there’s every likelihood of that happening. Other than the shapely greens there is now the factor of numerous water hazards coming into play from the sixth to the 14th.
DID YOU KNOW There has been only one foreign champion at DCC in its 17 Opens – New Zealand left hander Bob Charles in 1973. Gary Player was 20 when he won his first Open at DCC in 1956. Three of his 13 wins were at DCC. Two wins apiece by Bobby Locke, Wayne Westner, Tim Clark and Ernie Els. Clark had to qualify for his first win in 2002, shooting 66 at Mount Edgecombe, and producing four superlative rounds (24 birdies) for 19-under 269. Papwa Sewgolum nearly achieved a shock result in the 1963 Open, losing by one to Retief Waltman. There have been several runaway victories at DCC, Bobby Locke winning by 11 in 1950, Tony Johnstone by 7 in 1993. The SA Open had six foreign champions between 2009 and 2018, the last being Englishman Chris Paisley at Glendower. The first 62 in Open history was by John Bland at DCC in 1993, matched by Hennie Otto in 2012 Open at Serengeti. which winds its way around the lower part of the course furthest from the clubhouse. It is sufficiently wide and close enough to several fairways and greens to impact the scoring. DCC has received the Open less than 12 months after being re-opened, yet such is the shortage of ideal coastal courses able to host the modern Open that it’s no surprise that sponsors Investec have decided to go there. The course will present beautifully on the TV broadcast, and a worldwide audience will be eager to see what the “new” Country Club looks like. Those who supported the contentious planting of bent grass on the greens in such a hot summer climate as Durban’s will have been vindicated by the way they have handled temperatures of 40C and extreme humidity through December and January. All going well, they will run at about 11 on the
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 71
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