Blog 60 – Pottsville

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.

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