As director of golf Louis Destroo worked his way through the changes to the 121-year-old Stellenbosch Golf Club, best friends Jacques Kallis (scratch) and Mark Boucher (6.4 HI) looked at each other with raised eyebrows. And, after Destroo had handed over the mic to MC Michael Vlismas, the latter observed: 'It sounds like the script to a golfing horror movie.'

The media, sponsors and celebrities were experiencing a taste of what the pros will be faced with when the 115th Investec SA Open takes place in the Cape Winelands at the end of February. It's a fitting venue – the fourth oldest golf club in the country – for a national open that is the third oldest of them all, behind only The Open (British) and the US Open.

It's now 27 years ago since the last time the SA Open was held at Stellenbosch Golf Club, and on that occasion it produced a home winner when David Frost took advantage of a 72nd-hole error from Sven Struver. The German led by one shot standing on the final tee but dunked his second shot into the water and the South African slipped through to win by one.

The hope is that there's similar drama in its return to the venue, with this year's challenge being more than a year in the making since it was awarded hosting status.

'The pros wanted more rough to come into play. We have given them… rough,' Destroo said. 'People said there weren't enough trees on the course… We have planted large trees, which they'll see on the 11th and 17th holes.

'People said the course wasn't long enough… we have lengthened it to 7 268 yards. Bethpage Black, which hosted last year's Ryder Cup, was 7 486 yards – as a par 71. Stellenbosch will play as a par 70 for the Investec SA Open. I think the winning score will be in single digits under par.'

Some 15 teeboxes have been remodelled in the last year to prepare for the big event. All of holes 4, 5, 11 and 13 have also been lengthened. As Destroo told the invitation day players, 'when you get to some of these holes, stand on the tee and look behind you. That's where the pros will be hitting from.'

Nothing has been left to chance in the meticulous preparation. All 44 bunkers have been redeveloped, so that the grass runs down from the face until it meets the sand. It's now a long course, championship course, and it will be played in the heart of the Cape summer, with temperatures pushing the mercury north of 30 deg C. There is simply no place to hide.

Throw in the fact that the winner will get an automatic entry into the 2026 Masters at Augusta and the heat has been turned up even more. The last seven SA Opens have been won by the hosts, with Dylan Naidoo creating history by being the first black South African to win, last year.

Although the Nedbank Golf Challenge is routinely referred to as 'Africa's Major', I'd guess that if you had to offer a South African golfer who hasn't won either of those tournaments whether he'd rather win the NGC or the SA Open, he'd choose the latter – and that's not denigrating the spectacular Sun City experience, which has become part of the country's sporting DNA over the past four decades.

It's simply that being called the champion of your country's national open is a rare privilege, and when the winner runs his thumb down the list of previous winners, he will see the company that he's in. There's no shortcut to the top and you can be sure that whoever raises this famous piece of silverware on the first Sunday of March will do so knowing the image and the achievement will forever become part of the country's golfing history.

Gary Lemke