Course no. 60, Pottsville, NSW
Unique, picturesque little 9-holer
Nomadic_golfer : August 2020
Par 28, 2608m, slope 96, green fee $15
8 par 3s from 91 – 195m, 1 par 4 of 240m,
Second course from our Tyalgum base on NSW’s Northern Rivers was this quaint little 9 hole track, on the outskirts of the coastal town of Pottsville, home to 7k people about 1/2 hour south of the Qld border.
It is a very picturesque little nine hole par 3 course, with one par 4 that occupies a small parcel of land. The first tee and clubhouse are at the top of a hill and you can almost see the whole course from that vantage point. Palm trees, a couple of ponds and very small greens make scoring tricky and there are some real testing holes as well as a couple of very easy ones. Condition is not too bad; very green and broad leafed surrounds and fairways; greens are ok, nothing flash and the tees are a bit scrubby.
There are 4 standout holes: 1 (155m steep downhill to a very narrow, right to left sloping green flanked by water on the left and a short right bunker – very tough green to hit); 3 (195m and if you hit the right club and miss the green you lose your ball! Water/ hazard all the way down the left from about 50m out, green is diagonal from short right to back left and the right side has a steep bank sloping toward the green with thick bushes at the top of the slope that start from about 20m short of the green; a very intimidating hole, as difficult par 3 as I’ve ever played, almost worth a lay-up); 7 (the only par 4 on the course at 240m is a real risk reward, slightly downhill with a narrow dome-shaped firm fairway which makes driving the green very possible, but trees and shrubs down both sides make losing a ball likely if you miss the cut surface, main photo above); and 9 (135m across a lily pond, uphill to a wide but shallow green on a plateau, with the clubhouse in the background, main photo below).
Overall, this was a great little detour from the traditional 18-holers I’ve been playing, with the focus all on iron play. Something different and fun, well worth the couple of hours it takes to play.
9th hole 5th 1st 6th 2nd
3rd 4th