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Peter Thomson is regarded by many as the greatest player Australia has ever produced, winning the British Open five times. In this exclusive article, Thomson picks some of his favourite courses and golfing destinations in Australia.
They say a change is as good as a rest. If you are a golfer of steady habits who enjoys a weekly round on your home course, a visit to another venue can be the refresher you have been looking for. Australia is rich in golf resorts, from Tasmania to Far North Queensland. All are accessible by road, rail or airline, and generally the costs are very affordable. In any case, there are courses to suit all tastes.
I have tried to put together a list that will be some help in the choosing, with a tidy number of resorts, each of which makes for an enjoyable break with hospitable accommodation and a welcoming course.
In my view, a stay at a golf resort needs comfortable wining, dining and sleeping. This you can find either attached to the course or within a short run down the road. Without such access, there is too much travel and much less golf.
Courses have been selected for their interest and playing condition, which naturally may vary somewhat through the seasons, yet on a year round basis present a joyous prospect for a happy stay.
Golf resorts go back a long way. It is recorded that St Andrews, with its links-land, has been a golfing destination for hundreds of years. Nowadays, St Andrews has many resort rivals in the UK but The Old Course still wins hands down.
In Australia we also have healthy competition for the golfing dollar and it is hard to pick the best. So here is my preference of those eager to roll out the welcome mat. A bag of golf clubs is, as ever, a special passport to a great vacation.
HAMILTON ISLAND
QUEENSLAND
The Hamilton Island Golf Club is quite unique. When I mentioned that it was built on a hog's back I was corrected by Bob Oatley, the chairman and inspirer of the course, who said quite firmly that it was a whale’s back. Being a seafaring man, he would know.
This course is based on what could never be called golfing links-land. It is not an easy walking course, being as long as 7,500 metres by Shanks' pony. It is therefore best played with the use of an electric cart, with well-prepared paths making the journey much easier and thus allowing more time for the views, which are most spectacular.
Yet looking downward and forward as good golfers should, the 18 holes are each and all such as one might see in Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide. It is not an easy course to beat. There is plenty of rough to hide one's ball if it might be prone to go astray. It is easy to lose balls but just as easy to find some. The course is ever well groomed and altogether the most spectacular in Australia. And the accommodation offers a choice of standards to suit all pockets. Playing at the Hamilton Island Golf Club is a unique and satisfying experience. Bring your camera.
THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA VICTORIA
The Mornington Peninsula is a Tuscan-like area south east of Melbourne stretching down to the Bass Strait. It has nearly Tuscany's expanse of vineyards and olive groves plus 20 or so golf courses of various size and quality. The cream of these are grouped together behind sand dunes that rise to great heights to obscure sea views in an area of land called The Cups. It is as spectacular as any comparable golf land that I know of anywhere in the world.
Land at The Cups is quite violent in its contortions of hollows and ridges. Scrape the surface and all is sand to a depth of…who knows? There are seven courses in all that qualify as genuine links-style, the definition of which is "sand-based, natural", and on a scale that invites playing golf at its very highest level. Because of the area's proximity to the sea, there is ever-present wind from the four compass points – enough to earn solid praise from a respected R&A captain on a recent visit.
These courses were put together between the 1970s and 1990s and are of such quality and dimension to host an Australian Open Championship plus events on the USPGA’s Nationwide Tour. If you want to test your skills to the utmost these holes in a normal wind will set your head spinning. There is ever the suggestion of St Andrews (only bigger), Royal St Georges and Turnberry. No earth (sand) was moved to create these courses. They formed themselves by spreading and following the golfers' least line of resistance.
The Open course at Moonah Links I have christened ‘The Leviathan,’ a word that suggests size and ferocity. You can soften the torment by playing the ‘short’ tees, as I do…we are not all Ogilvys or Applebys.
Apart from Moonah Links (Open and Legends courses), RACV Cape Schanck Resort, The Dunes and St Andrews Beach all await you (and the National Golf Club if you have a friend there).
Golfers can either choose accommodation stretching all the way back north to Melbourne or on site at Moonah Links or Cape Schanck to enjoy the après golf.
SEA TEMPLE, PORT DOUGLAS
QUEENSLAND
There are more golf courses per head of population in Port Douglas than anywhere else that I know. First was the course at the Sheraton Mirage that set up the real estate project right along the beach, but this was followed by a more exciting course at the front gate of town, exotically named Sea Temple. This course was created with much affection by Michael Wolveridge, who loved it so much he took up residence on its edge.
Golfers, therefore, have the choice of two completely different golf experiences as they dodge the sunburn of the beach with Sea Temple winning the contest. It is a tight layout, fitting into all the available space that allows for an 18-hole, par-72 course of attractive holes and an occasional crocodile!
Wolveridge has used all his experience of designing and building hundreds of greens, tees and bunkers. Sea Temple lacks for nothing. It is easy on the walking, or driving if you prefer, and all round you there is the breath of the tropics. Landscaping is a natural consequence since the golf is set amid the local greenness.
Still, even for those of special skill at the game, 72 is a capital score. The small, attractive clubhouse has a cool charm. Accommodation is all around you, so take your pick. Port Douglas has much to offer, but for a game of golf in a special place, it is hard to beat.
YARRAWONGA & BORDER
NEW SOUTH WALES
There was a time when Yarrawonga & Border on the Murray River stood alone. Back in the day, when the state of Victoria wouldn’t license poker machines, NSW was the ‘pokies’ state. Investment followed into clubs of various kinds that could fund themselves in lavish style from the revenue of visitors from the south.
Yarrawonga was one such club that moved across the river onto land that seemed made for pleasurable golf. The club hired Michael Wolveridge to build a golf course down among the magnificent river gums calling it, logically, the Murray course. It is one of two, 18-hole courses here with another nine-holer thrown in for good measure.
The Murray course has grown in stature as time has passed. Because it is sited on possible floodland, all the greens and most of the tees are built up as ‘table tops’ to hopefully survive an inundation. The holes are full size and seem in harmony with the surroundings. It is kept clean of rough so trees do the job, and thus presents a pleasurable challenge for golfers of all standards. Club accommodation is cosy and comfortable. For golfers who enjoy a gamble on the machines, Yarrawonga spreads a big welcome mat (as does Rich River at Moama, just along the river).
LINKS HOPE ISLAND
QUEENSLAND
The Gold Coast is a vast playground and naturally golf looms large and the Links Hope Island golf club is the largest in the area. This award-winning course is part of a huge development that sits on what was there before – a low-level flood plain. The entire construction lifted the golf holes and real estate by four-and-a-half metres above the natural level. Everything one can see is planned and manmade.
The course is links-style yet the construction saved some trees while plenty that were planted have now reached maturity. The bunkering is Royal Birkdale-style – what is called "two step", meaning it takes just two strides into the bunker to address your ball. This is a popular British style appropriate for the sand-built site. Greens are varied in size for added interest yet mostly built for flat putting.
Hybrid grasses that enjoy the climate of South East Queensland make for crispy fairways and smooth greens. The whole course wanders over two distinct nines making for an easy walk. The course hosted the 1997 Johnnie Walker Classic, won by South Africa’s British and US Open champion Ernie Els, who conquered all and spoke generously about the course (winners usually do!).
Hope Island is typically Queensland by character and nature, quite different to rivals in other states, yet arguably rates among the top 10 courses nationally. Typical Gold Coast hospitality is just a drive and pitch away, with a wide selection of hotels and motels. Not to be missed.
THE SANDHURST CLUB
VICTORIA
If you journey to Melbourne from afar (or even from near), and you would like to include some classic golf, there is hardly a better destination than the Sandhurst Club, within easy reach of the metropolis. It takes just 35 minutes by freeway travel and a 36-hole welcome awaits you.
It is managed and operated by the PGA of Australia from their headquarters next to the spacious clubhouse. From time to time the PGA mounts its own competitions and pro-ams, and there may be more in the future. The two separate courses are both championship size and quality, with plenty of championship features. The two are walkable but there are usually plenty of carts for the leg weary.
The North Course was opened first, with a design that was destined to host big events. It has a solid par-72, which can withstand the onslaught of even the best professional players. The Legends Course has holes named after past PGA champions, such as Kel Nagle and Norman von Nida. One can imagine the old masters playing their best on these holes. It is a unique idea.
Many holes on the Legends layout are bordered by fine houses and a lake or two. These by no means detract from the status of the Sandhurst courses. In the future, Sandhurst may have its own hotel. For the time being, enjoy the sights and tastes of marvelous Melbourne, and reserve a game at Sandhurst in the care of the Australian PGA management. Resort golf at a high level.
ROYAL PINES
QUEENSLAND
As the name suggests, there are plenty of pines here. But in fact, pines are just about your only worry. The three nines at Royal Pines are very pleasant holes, made up of generous fairways, large shallow bunkers and mostly outsized greens. The professionals tackle it with enthusiasm every year during the ANZ Ladies Masters and turn in plenty of low scores. If an easy walking round or buggy ride is your pleasure, it is there ready and waiting and usually in superb condition.
Yet the ‘easy’ tag is not the whole truth. For golfers with high handicaps it can be a serious examination of skills and a high score is not to be despised. It is, I suppose, in every other way a ladies course.
Accommodation is superb and comes as part of the territory. You won’t need to start the car for days! Other facilities include just about everything a hotel on a golf resort can supply. But let's wait and see. You might be spoilt.
BARNBOUGLE DUNES
TASMANIA
Tasmania has made a significant move to grasp some of Australia's golf tourism dollars with two courses on its rugged northern coast. An expanse of wild duneland provides the basic ingredient for some unique golf of the links variety.
For me, the first course at Barnbougle was a disappointment. It never did measure up to the likes of the UK’s seaside classic links and bears little comfort for those who can’t keep absolutely straight. But that is still an adventure in itself. You just need plenty of balls.
A second course has just been opened named Lost Farm. This course corrects the obvious mistakes of the first, offering generously wide fairways and flat greens. This is a happier arrangement, especially for first timers who are sometimes flying blind.
Links golf has a mystique about it, even a snobbishness, but it has to tread a careful track between wild nature and practicality. After all, golf is played on a clean surface or it can’t be played at all. Barnbougle is about a 90-minute drive from Launceston. Accommodation is available on course.
TWIN WATERS
QUEENSLAND
Twin Waters Golf Club sits on the estuary of the Maroochydore River with a waft of sea air coming from the Queensland coast. Its holes have been raised four metres above the river level but one would never know that just playing golf. The course belongs to the big resort that’s just a golf buggy ride away amongst the indigenous forest and associated real estate. As golf resorts go, it is a gem.
The course earned great popularity soon after it opened and has kept it up since. I describe it as Queensland’s Kingston Heath, more for the difficulty factor than anything else. Both courses are kind to strangers of good and bad standard. Both offer a gentle flat walk, and those players with minimum skills are not destroyed altogether.
There is ever a gentle sympathy here, as if the course can detect a new player. There’s great variety in the holes: four championship standard par-threes and four lesser threatening par-fives.
Greens are of subtropical strain because of the course’s latitude and are mostly flat, at least in the putting out area. But for good measure they’re also on the slow side. Contrary to common belief, slow greens are always more difficult to putt on than fast ones. Anyway, putting in the tropics is an interesting challenge for all.
The resort is full of comfort and class, which goes hand in hand with the golf. As a whole, this is one of Australia's top golf resorts.
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