Course 15 for 2022 – Tasman GC, Port Arthur, Tas
Cameron’s Chasm 124m across the water
Very entertaining little track but Cameron’s Chasm steals the show
Nomadic_golfer : February 2022
Par 70, 5310m, slope 109, $20 green fee
4 par3s 124-199m, 12 par4s 246-386m, 2 par5s of 440 & 442m
Set atop a peninsula it shares with Point Puer Conservation Reserve, just south of the historic Port Arthur settlement, this is a lovely place for a golf course. The sea is never far away, you can hear it constantly, see it occasionally, and then bang, you arrive at ‘Cameron’s Chasm’, the iconic 8th hole, 125m across a big bite out of Australia from one cliff-top to another. Check out the photos, I don’t think it needs any decriptions, but watch your step!
The layout is fun and varied, not long with only 2 par 4s over 340 (the 370m 7th & 386m 18th, and they are both par5s on the alternate 9s) and plenty of risk/ rewards on offer. Fairways are of moderate width between native eucalypts (some thick patches of trees, mostly out wide with the big misses) but most fairways slope sideways so play narrower than they look. They consist of naturally occurring grasses, the native rye prevalent but not dominant and were in good nick, greener than normal for this time of year due to Nov/ Dec rain, as they don’t have fairway irrigation here.
Greens (a real mix of grasses) are pretty standard shapes and heavily sloping, while the course has some OB fences and water hazards but is bunker-free. Due to that November rain and inability to get equipment on course, Spring-time coring was delayed considerably and as a result the greens were very patchy. Alan (greenkeeper, who was a great source of info and a friendly bloke) is currently undertaking some fescue overseeding (per Bougle Run) and time will tell how this turns out.
There are a number of memorable holes, with standouts for me being: the par3 4th (148/ 161m – through a narrow chute, over a small valley to a standard sloping green on a bit of a dome ); the 7th (a ‘snaking’ 370m par4/ 440m par5 that turns a little right to left off the tee into a rolling fairway with a dam on the right at about 240m from the par5 tee, so well within reach on the par4. It then bends a couple more times before going uphill to a sloping green with scrub in the background and a number of little copses of trees nearby to keep you honest with any length of approach); and of course Cameron’s Chasm – the obvious talking point and signature hole. Interestingly there is a completely different hole for the 17th – they don’t want too much of a good thing!!
Overall, this a very enjoyable track in a super seaside/ cliff-top location. Plenty of short 4s give you a chance, some tough 3s keep you honest and 8 is as big a wow factor as you will encounter.
