1 · POSITION
Ratho Farm Golf Links at Bothwell preserves an unusually close relationship between golf and a working agricultural landscape. The University of Tasmania’s Companion to Tasmanian History identifies it as Australia’s oldest golf course and dates it to 1840. Its significance lies in the survival of an early setting for the game, not simply in a modern resort’s claim to heritage. [1]
2 · FARM BEFORE FOUNDING DATE
The Reid family settled Ratho in 1822 after leaving Scotland. The farm’s account connects their background with the introduction of golf to the property. Settlement, however, supplies the beginning of the family’s occupation, not a securely documented opening day for a course. The distinction matters when a date on the gate becomes shorthand for several different beginnings. [2]
3 · SHEEP AND SQUARE GREENS
Ratho’s own history describes sheep grazing the playing areas, with fences protecting the square greens. These arrangements make the relationship between farming and golf visible. The course retains features associated with an earlier form of play, in which the ground could support recreation without being given over exclusively to it. [2]
4 · A LATER CUSTODIAN
Golf Australia’s account identifies Greg Ramsay’s work renovating the homestead and restoring the course. His contribution is the renewal of an inherited place, rather than authorship of its original layout. The nearby Australasian Golf Museum adds another means of interpreting the setting, connecting a visit to objects and records from the game’s wider history. [3]
5 · ⚑ CANDOUR
The strongest simple claim is early survival. Published chronologies differ: the university gives 1840, while modern promotional accounts foreground the farm’s 1822 settlement. Neither should be silently substituted for the other. The present course also reflects restoration and continued use; age does not mean that every feature survives unchanged from the first games played here. [1–3]
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Sources & Further Reading
Sources checked 24 September 2026.