The moat green on the 4th
Course 63 for 2021 – Strahan, Tas
A bit of fun in the Wild West
Nomadic_golfer : December 2021
Par 70, 5166m, slope 103, $10 green fee (9 hole course)
4 par3s 130-150m, 12 par4s 252-380m, 2 par5s 418m
This little 9-hole community-ran club is situated half way up the remote west coast of Tassie, in the iconic coastal town of Strahan. The permanent population here is 700, which, by the looks of the tourist accommodation, would increase 5-fold in the summer holidays.
The golf course sits in a pleasant setting on the outskirts of this seaside town, and is characterised by tall gums amid cool-climate scrub, and a number of water hazards; with red pegs in play on 6 of the 9 holes. She’s as flat as a biscuit, and is a little prone to getting a bit soggy underfoot and swallowing Srixons. While the course would provide great entertainment for the holiday-makers, and I’m sure it will be at it’s best over the summer months, it’s not the most serious test of golf, its about having some fun, so will I.
There are a few funky pieces of design here, which work well: the 1st tee shot (a daunting looking first shot of the day has a stream snaking its way down the middle of the fairway for the first 100m then a diagonal row of trees narrowing the fairway on the right, and with trees on the left of the tee, a right to left tee shot is required first up); the moat green on the hardest hole on the course, the 381m 4th (the green has a 4-5 metre wide, 1-2 metre deep grassy channel that wraps right around the green); and 9 (a tough 150m par 3 over a stream and trees, where you can easily aim for the wrong green – I did). They also appear to be grooming locals for The Masters with 3 of the 6 par4 tee shots (2, 6 & 7) needing you to navigate through tight chutes of trees, ala 18 at Augusta!
My favourite piece of design is the short par 5 3rd. At 420m it’s very reachable in 2 but the green is set back in the forest, and anything long or pin-high left is lost and a bail out right finds some tricky undulating wasteland.
To top off the fun element, my local playing partner for the day, Joel, has introduced a new playing condition for me that he and his mates employ – on 1 nominated tee per round, everyone hits a 2nd tee shot, as a Happy Gilmore, and you take the best of the 2 shots, to use for the hole. Not sure if Hootie Johnson’s successor would agree to introduce that next April!
