Course 14 for 2022 – Iron Pot GC, South Arm, Tas
113m 4th
Nice design on sandy base south of Hobart. Needs some lovin’
Nomadic_golfer : February 2022
Par 70, 5441m, slope 110, $15 green fee
4 par3s 113-188m, 12 par4s 272-396m, 2 par5s of 495m
Named after the Iron Pot lighthouse, located nearby at the mouth of the Derwent River, this 9 hole course is attached to the South Arm RSL. It is set on very sandy, rolling terrain 30 minutes south of Hobart, in a part of Tasmania where narrow ‘necks of land’ flanked by water are par for the course. The course opened in 1990 and was initially known for the quality of the greens, which were originally bentgrass but have been oversown with fescue.
This golf course is unusual. Unusual in that the layout is good, green complexes are clever, good use of the rolling terrain has been made, large gums in appropriate numbers and places exist, there are bunkers on 6 holes, but the course’s condition has been a real challenge due to mother nature. In mid-summer, the course condition was poor: the whole site was very dry, there were holes in greens, fairways had a lot of sand and tufts of dead grass. The 7 year drought through the late 2010’s did some damage and turned the groundwater to saline, resulting in a very limited water supply and the greens became unplayable. Captain Craig tells me they are on their way back and real improvement is being seen.
There are some strong holes on this course and the start is excellent: 1 (380/ 396m par4 moving slightly right with a green tucked away further right behind trees protected by 2 bunkers at the front); 2 (188m/ 166m par3 over a slightly domed midland to an excellent green complex with crescent shaped bunkers on each wing); 3 (a superb risk/ reward short par4 of 303 m with the corner of an OB fence creeping out from the left into the direct line of your tee shot, 50m short of the green. The 12th uses the same tee but a different green and is 387m long); and 4 (113m/ 126m par 3 from 2 different tees that are about 90 degrees apart, over a large dam to a good sized, undulating green that slopes away from you – some wow factor in that one).
And the 495m par5 7th is quirky in that you must hit your 2nd shot past a copse of very large trees in the left of the fairway at over 400m from the tee, to have a shot at the green with your third. There is no other way home!).
Overall, I reckon this course may have had some real interest over the journey and the foundations remain for a renaissance.
