History
The Claremont Golf Club site was previously farmland worked by local residents.
It was subsequently used as a training ground for personnel of the Lighthorse and Infantry during World War 1 between 1914 and 1918.
The site subsequently became the property of English Company Cadbury Bros. Ltd., when the company decided to establish it’s southern hemisphere operations in Tasmania in 1921.
This superb area comprising of 99 acres is now owned by the Claremont Golf Club Inc. The Club having purchased the area in 1973 from the Cadbury organisation.
The Claremont Golf Course is situated on a peninsular predominantly surrounded by the River Derwent and a picturesque mountain range known as Dogshear. The course is located on an exclusive site, with stunning views in all directions.
From the humble beginning of the Claremont Golf Club, which started as a lunch time gathering of Cadbury employees in the early 1920s, the site grew into a fully developed 18 hole course which was officially opened in 1959. Up until this time, the course comprised a nine hole layout which was developed following the formation of the club in 1928.
The course has developed from its early years - that of a rough, stony area, complete with a galvanised iron structure for a clubhouse and large open fireplace, to one of the four major metropolitan courses around Hobart. It is considered one of the best courses in Tasmania with a well appointed clubhouse built following a fire in 1982 that destroyed the original structure.
In the early days of the development of the course one man was employed to care for the layout and much of the maintenance work was undertaken purely on a voluntarily basis.
To cut the fairways the first mower which can be recalled in early 1930 had iron wheels of approximately 3 feet in diameter, which consisted of a 3 to 4 foot long blade that shuttled back and forth as it was propelled along by a horse.
That graduated in the late 1930's to a 4 foot wide barrel type mower, still horse drawn but a big step forward in grass cutting and fairway mowing technology.
The greenkeepers in the early days cut the greens with a hand mower, which were prepared on Saturday morning in readiness for the competition which started at 12.30pm.
During the early 1930's Cadbury’s undertook a pine planning program, the products of which were to be used for its own purposes. However, the pine tress remain today and line many of the existing fairways and play a significant part in the course layout.
A feature of the course layout is the water storage facility sited at the 9th tee.
The dam site was formed following the removal of blue stone for use in factory construction and later factory extensions to Cadbury’s.
The crushed rock was conveyed on a railway line from the quarry to the factory and the embankment for the railway line is still evident today.
Subsequently the dam, or quarry site, was used by the Club as a gear storage area and stable facility before being converted to its current use as water storage for course irrigation.
In the existing 18 hole layout, 6 of the original 9 holes have been incorporated. However, they have been modified and varied to conform with the present course design which has been developed to produce additional length to approach standards laid down for championships events.
During the last three years the Club has embarked on a watering program at a cost of $100,000. This in the latest step in a series of tasks that will be undertaken by the club in the near future to ensure alighnment with strategic objectives.