Observatory Golf Club
Par: 72
Lengths:
Club: 6131m (6704 yards)
Ladies: 5554m (6074 yards)
Championship: 6425m (7026 yards)
Another Course based in the Eastern parts of Johannesburg, Observatory Golf Club is an old parklands style course that plays slightly below handicap. It is a very narrow track that requires either a very well struck straight drive, or a way off drive which will find the safety of the adjacent fairways. So narrow is Observatory that a continual echo of “four!” can be heard bellowing across the course for nearly your entire round.
There is plenty to challenge every kind of golfer at the Observatory Golf Club, with long holes mixed in with some really beautiful shorter holes. The well protected fairways are riddled with old and established trees and bunkers set in all the right places. Clever golf will give you a low round, and short par fives offer really nice scoring opportunities. Observatory Golf Club or Obgusta as it is known on the Sultans of Swing Golf Tour offers many weekday specials and all golfers are welcome. It is a great course for beginners and seasoned golfers alike.
Featured Holes:
Front 9:
7th Hole
The Par 5 7th hole is a really beautiful looking par five that offers the bigger hitters a go for broke option of clearing a large expanse of water protecting the green. At 507m, the par 5 is of average length, but because the green is protected in front and on the right by a large body of water, a sloot down the left and trees at the back, attacking the green in two is very risky. Clearing the water in two is no easy task with a fairway that slopes heavily from tee down to the water, so most golfers choose to lay up and play for par with a well placed pitching wedge into the large green. Hitting the green in two makes birdie a realistic score on this hole, but with a high stroke of 16, points in Stableford are not so easy to come by.
Back 9:
10th Hole
The Par 4 stroke 1 opens up the back nine with a real challenge. It is long, straight and well protected by trees on the left and out of bounds on the right. The fairway narrows at about driving distance, and a long iron is more often than not the club you will need to take into this long and narrow green. The green itself is protected front and left by large bunkers, and all along the right by out of bounds, so control of your medium to long irons can make or break this hole. Par is a fantastic achievement on the stroke one, but walking away from this hole with your morale high can make the difference between a long back nine, or a pleasant one.