11 replies to this topic

[Mystic]

Driving around Tasmania, it is difficult to find any small town without a golf course, making this island an ideal destination for golfers.

Few people from the mainland realise that Tasmania is not only where Australian golf was born, but is home to what is considered the oldest golf course outside of Scotland. The Ratho Course at Bothwell is currently undergoing restoration and also houses a well stocked golfing museum. It is definitely an interesting place to visit, even if the greens are fenced off to prevent the local sheep from grazing on them.

Having finally taken the plunge and getting ourselves a set of clubs recently, both Margie and I are looking forward to exploring many of our courses. Uni commitments mean we will have to wait until next week before we can get to on of the local courses, but we are both looking forward to whacking the little ball around the place.

Rosebery and Zeehan both have 9 hole courses that are well maintained and open to the public. Green fees are only $5 at Zeehan and $10 at Rosebery, and there is no need to book, although local events do take place at various times throughout the year. We will be going down to Zeehan after an exam I have to complete next Thursday and provide more info about the course then.

Meanwhile please share your experiences of golfing around Tasmania, and tell us about your favourite courses. We are looking forward to discovering as much as we can about golf in Tasmania.

[Shane V]

ZEEHAN GOLF CLUB

On thursday Anna and I went for a hit around Zeehan Golf Course. This was my frist ever game of golf. What a buzz.

The course is a nine holer with elevated greens on most holes making it a very tricky course. On some of the holes if you don't make it on the green you are shooting up a five metre embankment, this makes up for the lack of bunkers. There are also three swamps, which are classified as water hazards, but some of the fairways are slushy. The greens are a bit patchy but they deceptionaly fast, it was sort of like putting on concrete.

There seems to be a lot of wildlife around although we only saw and heard birds, no doubt at a different time of day we would see other animals.

There are 3 par 3's, 1 par 5 and 5 par 4's. Green fees are $5 per player and visitors are welcome. There is an honesty box behind the clubhouse where you pay your fees and get your scorecard.

It was a most enjoyable wander through a cool little course, and I look forward to playing it again. Here's a couple of shots. Will add more shots.

I think this is the 4th, can't remeber exaclty where I took it.


This is the view, from just below the green, looking back to the tee on the 6th hole.

[Mystic]

A great little course. Very challenging, and most enjoyable. We are becoming members of this club and just waiting for the paperwork.

If you live in the west coast and want a club to join, they currently have pro rata membership at just $30 for a family, which takes you through to March 2009, after which it is only $130 per year for a family membership.

Please contact Arthur on 03 6471 6158 for details, or any questions about the Zeehan Golf Club. The number listed on virtually all other sites for this club is no longer valid.

Next week we are very much looking forward to the par 3 St Helens Course. Always loved par 3 courses, and I think this is the only one in Tasmania. Please correct me if you know of others.

[pmcphotography]

The golf courses in Tassie aren't talked about much, but they are all great. The Bothwell course, and there's one on the East coast (Whose name I cant remember!) that are beautiful. I'm having my bucks night playing golf, in fact.

Even the small muni courses are nice.

[Shane V]

Hey Paul. Would love to hear the story from your bucks night Which course are you going to be playing? Hope you have a great time.

[Mystic]

Queenstown Golf Club

A nice day here in the west yesterday, so Shane and I decided it was time to go do some damage to our local golf course. Had been wanting to check out the Queenstown course since we arrived, but rain and other things have not made it possible until now.

The first surprise we had was to discover that this is a private course. It is only open to members and those who are members of other golf clubs may play after paying a green fee of $10 per player. The clubhouse and course is only generally staffed during match days, and there is no pro shop available so you must bring your own clubs.

This is another 9 hole course, and has no par 5 holes, it consists of five par 4's and four par 3's. The entire course is flat, and the fairways tend to be more moss than grass, which can make it an extremely soggy course after rain. A high ball landing on the fairway can be buried in the moss, so landing your ball on the fairway does not mean you won't lose it.

Shane's neighbour was arriving at the same time as us, so we agreed to embarrass ourselves by playing a threesome. Enjoyable course with lots of bird life, but very soggy under foot. If playing this course after rain you will need a fresh pair of sox and dry footwear to change into later.

A few shots of the course....

Some of the mushrooms you are likely to see

[bandi]

Looks like a nice course Anna! Love that you had time to stop and shoot the mushrooms Brilliant!

[Mystic]

Thanks Anthony. Have to stop for the mushrooms, taking photo's is 90% of the motivation behind hitting the frustrating little ball around.

[exislegirl]

Love the last shot, Anna - those mushrooms look like they have been dipped in chocolate!

Just had a shudder pass through me at the thought of actually tasting mushies dipped in chocolate. LOL

Natalie

[Mystic]

Thanks Natalie. They do look a bit chocolate dipped, and I don't think I am likely to try mushrooms in my next chocolate fondue.

[Shane V]

Broccoli then

[dave]

to be honest my first thought at seeing the drippy ones was "why is she photographing steaming dripping doggy doo" but then I had a closer look, very good snaps and not at all like the aforementioned!