Blog 131 – Mt Osmond

Nomadic_golfer : June 2021

Par 70, 5565m (white), slope 127, $70 green fee

5 par 3s from 127 – 166m, 10 par 4s from 275 – 393m, 3 par 5s from 420 – 472m

The views across the city and suburbs of Adelaide from a number of vantage points on this undulating course on the summit of Mount Osmond, provide the enduring memory here. Just like ‘The Stirling GC’, it’s little brother up the road, the golfing highlight is the collection of par 3s. No super-long 3s with 4 of them between 149 and 166m. They all have some character and use the hills to provide stiff penalties for missing in the wrong spots. And I really like 16, a little downhill 130m to a shallow green with lots of nuances, a bunker short left and anything long being dead.

The 4s are interesting, a lot of short and medium length holes, all tight tee shots amongst gums (mainly) and all have individual merit. It’s just that while they don’t look the same, the small landing zones come at you relentlessly – you never feel like you can give one a wack! Of the 4s, the most memorable and unique are: the driveable 7th (which turns hard left around OB, with a hazard, bunkers and wasteland right, to a large undulating green that falls away over the back, down ~400m onto the eastern suburbs!); and 12 (326m hard right-turning into a skinny little valley with a bumper bar through the fairway, turning uphill to a well bunkered, elevated green). We played on a wet day, which was also the day after the wettest day for 5 years. Despite being way up on the hill, it did hold a fair bit of water.

Condition of the bent grass greens was a little mixed but generally in pretty good nick, moderate in speed and all breaking toward the distant sea. Tees are predominantly couch and grass coverage was thin. Fairways are a combination of couch and kikuyu (more dominant) and were ok for winter. Design of the green complexes is a plus, not huge but contain clever bunkering and a real mixture of shapes and sizes. Overall, its a good day out aesthetically, tight and more of a plotters course than a bomber’s, that challenges your golf skills and your discipline.

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