Country Club Tasmania

The 18-hole layout at Country Club Tasmania in Launceston is an early 1980s design from Peter Thomson and Mike Wolveridge. An extensive upgrade project got under way here in late 2022, with completion set for early 2025.

Playing to a par of 71 (36 out then 35 in), the course is arranged as two returning nines, with holes 12 to 17 set out in a separate compartment to the north of the property. After the opening two par four holes, the same par is never played consecutively for the rest of the round.

Water, in the form of ponds, comes into play on the front nine to the left of the green on the par three 3rd and to the right of the fairway at the par five 4th. There’s also a rather large lake positioned to the right of the green at the par four 9th.

The only real aquatic interest on the inward half occurs next to the green on the par three 17th though if you venture too far to the left on the par five closing hole then you’ll end up in the big lake that’s positioned between the 9th and 18th holes.

Other holes of note include the par three 8th (with a huge bunker protecting the front of the green); the par four 14th (bending left from tee to green); and the par five 16th which has a narrow creek and three large bunkers positioned in front of the putting surface.

In early 2024, General Manager Ross Hannah told us about "a complete rebuild of all 18 holes" which includes all aspects of the course:

• Tees – Rebuilt and laser levelled tee boxes in four positions per hole with a feature tee on the 10th constructed on an island in the main lake
• Fairways – Completely rebuilt with extensive drainage, irrigation, and a 200mm sand capping
• Greens – Brand new putting surfaces built from scratch, in a similar position to the old greens
• Roughs – Cleaned up and sown, some trees thinned out
• Irrigation – Brand new system
• Lakes – Extensive lake expansion, rock lined and dressed
• Bridges – Construction of two suspension bridges onto and off the island tee block plus ten new stone bridges and two stone staircases
• Cart paths – exposed aggregate concrete path installation
• Waterfall – Rock lined waterfall into a flowing river that runs through three fairways

At that point, the club was about eighteen months into a 3-year rebuild program with the completion date scheduled for 2025..