| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1822 |
| Type | public |
| Total holes | 18 [1] |
| Website | https://rathofarm.com/ |
Ratho Farm Golf Links is an 18-hole golf course that was constructed on the Ratho Farm in Bothwell, Tasmania. [2]
The first game of golf in Tasmania, and among the earliest games of golf in Australia, was played in Bothwell. The course at the Ratho property was until recently thought to be the oldest golf course in Australia, which was thought to have been built in the mid-1850s. Jane Williams, daughter of Ratho's first owner Alexander Reid, [3] wrote in 1890 that golf was first played in the area sometime before 1860:
"...it (golf) was introduced over 30 years ago by Mr. William Wood, brother of Mr. Dennistoun Wood, of Dennistoun, and that it flourished as long as the Scottish element prevailed in the Bothwell district, when through death and other changes golf ceased to be practised in Bothwell." [4]
Alexander Arthur Reid of Ratho, grandson of the above-mentioned Alexander Reid, [3] wrote in 1930 that his father, Alexander Reid Jr., penned a letter written in the early 1860s stating that he was starting a golf club in Bothwell with 15 or 16 members. Arthur Alexander Reid also mentioned that he remembered the "queer-shaped old clubs." [5]
The newly opened links at Ratho were reported in The Tasmanian Mail in August 1911:
"Mr and Mrs. Reid gave a golf afternoon on the newly laid-out Ratho links, at Bothwell, on Saturday, when a handicap mixed foursomes for trophies given by the host and hostess was played... The new course is a really excellent one, the turf being naturally suitable for golf, and the grass greens are all wonderfully good. Every hole has its difficulties, and the spoiling nature of the course adds to its attractiveness. The length of the course (9 holes) is 2,551 yards. [6]
Golf in Australia started at Grose Farm in Sydney, with the first reliably documented match played in 1839 by A.B. Spark. [7]
Bothwell is home to the Australian Golf Museum, housed in the sandstone former school house.
George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly was a Scottish nobleman who took a leading role in the political and military life of Scotland in the late 16th century, and around the time of the Union of the Crowns.
The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews clubhouse sits adjacent to the first tee, although it is but one of many clubs that have playing privileges on the course, along with some other non-clubhouse owning golf clubs and the general public. Originally known as the "golfing grounds" of St Andrews, it was not until the New Course was opened in 1895 that it became known as the Old Course.
The Royal Montreal Golf Club is the oldest golf club in North America, and the oldest in continuous existence. In 2023, it will be celebrating 150 years. It was founded in Montreal by eight men in 1873. Permission was granted by Queen Victoria to use the prefix "Royal" in 1884.
The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of Prince Arthur the Duke of Connaught, one of Queen Victoria's younger sons. Robert Chambers and George Morris were commissioned to lay out the original course, which was extended to 18 holes in 1871. Harry Colt, one of the world's leading golf course architects, redesigned the course early in the 20th century, and it has since been tweaked periodically, mainly as a response to advances in equipment.
Geilston Bay is a largely residential suburb of Hobart between Risdon Vale, Shag Bay, and Lindisfarne, in the City of Clarence located on the Eastern Shore of the Derwent River, taking its name from an inlet of that river of the same name. The inlet and locality were sometimes known by the alternative name "Limekiln Bay" on account of lime kilns which operated there between approximately the 1830s and the 1920s, the remains of which remained visible for some decades thereafter; another early name for the Bay was "James's Bay". The present suburb name derives from an early land holding "Geils Town" in the region purchased by Andrew Geils, Commandant of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) for a brief period in 1812-1813, who subsequently left his Australian holdings behind when he moved back to Scotland.
Carnoustie Golf Links is in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Carnoustie has four courses – the historic Championship Course, the Burnside Course, the Buddon Links Course and a free-to-play short, five-hole course called The Nestie. Carnoustie Golf Links is one of the venues in the Open Championship rotation and has hosted golf's oldest major on eight occasions, as well as the Senior Open Championship in 2010 and 2016 and the Women's British Open in 2011 and 2021.
Bothwell, Tasmania is a small town with a population at the 2021 census of 499. Situated in central Tasmania on the River Clyde in a broad valley, it is notable for hunting and being a lake district. It is part of the municipality of Central Highlands Council and celebrated the bicentenary of its founding in 2022. Nearby locations include Hollow Tree, Hamilton, Ouse and Kempton.
Golf in Australia has been played in Australia since 1839. The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour of Australasia is the main men's tour in Australia. In women's golf, the ALPG Tour has operated since 1972.
The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has been a 72-hole stroke play event, having last been played as a stroke play event in 1907.
The Tasmanian Open is an annual golf tournament held in Tasmania, Australia.
Ilkley Golf Club is a golf club in North Yorkshire, England, just outside the town of Ilkley in West Yorkshire. It is located about a mile to the northwest of Ilkley and southeast of Addingham. The River Wharfe flows past the course. It was established in 1890.
John Dennistoun Wood was an Australian politician, a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and, later, of the Tasmanian House of Assembly.
The Australian Women's Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It was first played in 1894 and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, it became a 72-hole stroke play event in 2021, having last been played as a stroke play event in 1927.
Seaton Carew Golf Club has held golf games since 1874, making it the tenth oldest golf club in England. The club is based in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool on the North Sea coast, north of the River Tees in North East England. When it was first established it was the only golf club in the English counties of Yorkshire and Durham, hence its original name Durham & Yorkshire Golf Club; the club's crest and badge retain the emblems of both the Archbishop of Durham and The Archbishop of York.
Peter Alfred Toogood, was an Australian amateur golfer from Tasmania. He won the Australian Amateur in 1954 and the Tasmanian Open eight times. He was the leading amateur in the 1954 Open Championship and was part of the team that won the inaugural Eisenhower Trophy in 1958.
Eustace Slade Headlam was an Australian cricketer and golfer. Born in Bothwell, Tasmania, Headlam was a left handed batsman and slow left arm orthodox bowler and played one first-class match for Tasmania in 1911/12, achieving a highest score of 32 not out.
Hollow Tree is a rural locality in the local government area of Central Highlands in the Central region of Tasmania. It is located about 17 kilometres (11 mi) north-east of the town of Hamilton and about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south-west of the town of Bothwell in one of Tasmania's key pastoral districts. The 2021 census determined a population of 33 for the locality.
Leonard Nettlefold was an Australian businessman and amateur golfer. He won the Australian Amateur twice, in 1926 and 1928, and won the Tasmanian Open and the Tasmanian Amateur, eight times each.
Clyde Bowman Pearce was an Australian amateur golfer. He won both the Australian Open and the Australian Amateur in 1908 and was runner-up in the Australian Amateur three times. He was killed in Belgium during World War I.
The Australian Women's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for women between the states of Australia. From 1933 it was contested for the Gladys Hay Memorial Cup.
