The players taking part in the Women's World Cup from Friday agree on one thing - the rough is absolutely brutal.
"You're definitely going to have to stay on the straight and narrow if you want to contend this week," said South Africa's Laurette Maritz.
"It may sound rather obvious, but the trick is to hit fairways and greens and hope for a bit of magic with the putter on the greens," added the 44 year old, who is partnering 18-year-old Ashleigh Simon for the fourth consecutive year in the 20-nation tournament.
After plentiful summer rains, the thick, knotty kikuyu grass just off the fairways on the Gary Player Country Club course will be seriously problematic for any players straying off line.
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"You can be a metre off the fairway and you can lose your ball - I know because it happened to me in a practice round," said Germany's Bettina Hauert, who won twice on the Ladies European Tour last year and finished second to Sweden's Sophie Gustafson on the 2007 Order of Merit.
"I hope there's a lot of ball-spotters out there over the next three days," she added with a chuckle.
The big-hitting Swedes are being touted as favourites following the great season by Gustafson last year, while the team's other player, Maria Hjorth, was fifth on the moneylist, but played more events in America than in Europe, winning the LPGA's Navistar Classic.
"It's great to be considered favourites, but there are a lot of other good teams and we'll have to be at our best to have a chance," said Hjorth.
The United States, with seven-time Major champion Juli Inkster partnering Pat Hurst, are also looking strong.
"Hopefully we'll contend, but being so early in the season, we're not too sure what to expect. We've managed to loosen the bones up, though, and get in some good range time, so hopefully we'll be okay," said Inkster.
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