{"id":624673,"date":"2026-04-23T00:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/624673\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T00:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:58:16","slug":"golf-legend-tees-off-at-golf-club-as-tourists-flock-to-tassie-the-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/624673\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf legend tees off at golf club as tourists flock to Tassie | The Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Check out the full magazine, Tasmanian Travelways, <a href=\"https:\/\/specialpubs.austcommunitymedia.com.au\/e-mags\/2026\/TTR\/0320_01\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Golf may seem intimidating, but it&#8217;s deceivingly beginner-friendly &#8211; whether or not you&#8217;re athletically inclined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Simon Coat is an engineer by day and a semi-professional volleyball player by night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">When he&#8217;s finished being a superstar on the court, he loves spending his free time at a golf course with friends and a couple of beers &#8211; regardless of where his ball ends up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;In my experience, golf is best experienced with a great group of friends that will celebrate your successes and laugh off your failures (don&#8217;t worry, there will be many),&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">The great thing about golf is that you don&#8217;t have to be highly skilled to get involved. In fact, you don&#8217;t even have to own your own clubs. Many clubhouses across the country will have them for you to hire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;Some of my most cherished times playing golf have been away from home, whether it is planned or on a whim, there are so many great and unique courses and experiences to be had all over Australia and the world,&#8221; Simon said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;Playing courses away from home is also a great way to meet some of the locals and experience the surrounding ecosystem.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Simon began his venture into golf just before COVID hit, and as the lockdowns began and the pandemic continued, he realised pretty quickly that it was a great way to both catch up with friends and to get outside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;Now that COVID is over, golf maintains the same quality, providing a great environment to participate in an activity with friends whilst also being able to have great conversation in the meantime,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;Both golf and volleyball require very fine-tuned skills to be successful, and I have enjoyed starting again on something totally new. It is a tough but rewarding challenge,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Monday, February 23, saw Ricky Ponting testing out the first nine completed holes at Country Club Tasmania&#8217;s new Championship Golf Course. On track to open in the summer of 2027, the course is a $20m golf development.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;Playing the first nine holes for the very first time was just extraordinary. I can now visualise exactly what this magnificent facility is going to be,&#8221; Ricky said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;The course is going to be something truly unique for Tasmania. It&#8217;s beautifully shaped, challenging in all the right ways and built to a championship standard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">With spectacular parkland scenery, strategically crafted fairways and signature water features, the initial nine holes delivered a compelling preview of what is set to become one of Australia&#8217;s most exciting new golf destinations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Designed by acclaimed architect Robin Gibson, the Championship Golf Course draws on inspiration from iconic layouts across North America and the UK while celebrating the natural Tassie landscape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">&#8220;Watching Ricky and his guests test out the first half of the course showed just how engaging these holes and the course really is. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Robin and the team have created a design that rewards strategy and precision. Every shot matters, and every hole offers something memorable,&#8221; Head of Golf at Country Club Tasmania, Bryce Gorham said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Located just ten minutes from Launceston&#8217;s CBD in Prospect Vale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Ocean Dunes Golf Course King Island<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Barnbougle Lost Farm Golf Resort<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">Riverside Golf Club Tasmania<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-lg font-normal leading-9 text-gray-800 md:text-xl md:leading-8 [&amp;_a]:text-gray-800 [&amp;_a]:underline [&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-500 hover:[&amp;_a]:decoration-gray-800\">For up to date information, go to golf.com.au\/tasmania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Check out the full magazine, Tasmanian Travelways, here. Golf may seem intimidating, but it&#8217;s deceivingly beginner-friendly &#8211; whether&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-624673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}