Blog 133 – North Adelaide, South course

Nomadic_golfer : August 2021

Par 71, 5805m (blue), slope 123, $32 green fee

4 par 3s from 122 – 176m, 11 par 4s from 319 – 399m, 3 par 5s from 421 – 458m

Santa anna tees, kikuyu fairways and bent greens, walking distance from the Adelaide cbd on it’s north-western boundary, this is a very well patronised golf course. The 18 hole South Course is the pick of the 54 holes here and represents a solid golfing challenge. Long enough without serious length, fairways on the tight side, with tall gums dictating fairways must be hit and particular sides of these fairways on a few occasions.

Condition is ok for a track that gets so much traffic, fairways are pretty good, some could do with preferred lies in mid-winter, greens are good and of medium pace, tees a bit lacking in grass and the surrounds also well worn and make getting up and down pretty tough. The layout is quirky and interesting; there aren’t many subtleties, with terrain either flat or with a steep hill; no gentle undulations. Some of the large trees play a major strategic role and a round or 2 will arm you with critical knowledge on the lines and lengths required to play well here.

I do like the strategy required on a number of holes; needing to flirt with danger (and major roads) to get the best line in on 7, 11 & 14, and a couple of real risk/ reward holes – the hardest hole (17) is a classic example, a really quirky 380m with a 90 degree dogleg right, where the fairway drops steeply at about 190-200 on the corner to a very narrow, heavily tree lined fairway with jungle either side. The 3’s (132m 12th with a deep grassy gully short and left, to a narrow saddle-shaped green flanked by 2 bunkers is my favourite, and the downhill 176m 16th to a green that resembles an elephant-graveyard is also a ripper) and 5’s (short 441m 2nd with a large tree in the left side of the fairway 80m out and the 7th, 460m to a narrow snaking fairway from a very elevated tee with Montefiore Rd all the way down the left) are my favourites. Another quirk is on the 360m par 4 8th, which has the most elevated green on a flat hole you have ever seen, with severe drop offs on 3 sides.

Overall, an entertaining course that will test all parts of your game, with lots of surprises, lots of players and lots of close-up city views.

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