On The Tee

 

Clovelly: The Osprey Course

Shot Making in St. John's

Posted by Alistair Orr

 

The Clovelly Golf Club is a two course private facility situated on a beautifully rolling park like setting that is located in northeast St. Johns just minutes from downtown and the airport. Both courses were created by Graham Cooke with The Osprey Course offering a par 72 championship layout and The Black Duck offering a par 62 executive experience.

 

Ranging from 5082 to 6581 yards the Osprey Course’s four sets of tees are accompanied by two additional hybrid combinations making for a design set to appeal to players of all skill levels. The routing presents numerous challenging holes with many requiring strategically placed drives and special care must be taken with approach shot distance control for many of the green complexes contain subtle, and some not so subtle, breaking slopes and tiers.

 

Those of novice and intermediate playing ability will find this routing enjoyable if played from the appropriate tees while the skilled low handicapper will face a stern shot-making test from the back. Always well conditioned, the course flows naturally over rolling terrain with tree lined corridors, mounding and wetlands. A meandering creek also winds through the property and influences club selection on many holes. If you find yourself in St. Johns make an effort to add the Osprey Course at Clovelly to your itinerary –you will not be disappointed.

 

Editor's Shot Maker's Picks at The Osprey Course

Featured Holes	Hole 2	Hole 7	Hole 16	Hole 18
Par	Par 4	Par 4	Par 3	Par 4
Blue	394	371	172	310
White	375	358	151	269
Red	357	340	126	237
Yellow	334	307	104	205
HCP-Men	1	11	16	14
HCP-Women	1	13	16	6

 

Feature Holes Descriptions:

The difficult second has earned its status as the number 1 stroke hole offering a different challenge for both long and short hitters. This sharp dogleg right requires short hitters to pure a drive over a crossing creek to reach the fairway and the corner to open up a view to the green. The long bombers risk driving through the fairway with the straight ball and are tempted to try to cut the corner setting up a short iron to the green, however, cut off too much of the dogleg and the hazard and right side trees come in to play. The green is of the slanting nature so be sure to keep the ball below the hole.

 

Hole # 7

 

Hole number seven is a wonderful short dogleg left par 4 that rises from the tee up to the corner of the dogleg the flows back down hill before rising again to an elevated green site. This hole calls for finesse over brute force. Taking a reasonably aggressive line tight to the bunker at the inside corner of the dogleg, with something less than a driver, will see your ball come to rest on a flat area shy of a crossing waste area. A birdie is within grasp if your approach finds the correct portion of this devilish three tiered green site.

 

Hole #16

 

At 172 yards from the tips the visually stunning 16th hole is the longest par 3 on the routing. A waste land and pond dominates the left hand side from tee to green and with two green side bunkers on the same side left are to be avoided. The prudent play here is to take dead aim at the green centre and put towards the edges. 

 

The home hole presents a great grip-it-and-rip-it risk reward opportunity and a fun way to finish up the round. Short hitters will be challenged by a long carry over a hazard to find the fairway while the longest of hitters can reach back give it a good wallop in an attempt to reach the green. However, the ball missed left will bound down a hill towards trouble while the right side miss will leave a side hill hanging approach. The green as another three tiered complex so finding the right level is a must if a birdie finish is the wish.

 

Course Stats: The Osprey Course at Clovelly

Par 70	Yardage	Rating/Slope-M	Rating/Slope-F
Blue	6581	71.8 / 125	-
White	6100	70.0 / 125	76.6 / 138
Red	5593	67.6 / 114	73.1 / 122
Yellow	5082	-	68.7 / 117

Contact:

Clovelly Golf Club
1100 Golf Course Rd,
St. John's, Nl

709-722-7170

[website]‎