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HAMILTON ISLAND GOLF CLUB QLD
It was during a media function on Hamilton Island in 1990 that I first heard of the proposal for a golf course to be built on or near the most famous of Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands.
During the dinner – marking the completion and opening of the then named Hamilton Towers hotel – conversation turned to one of my favourite subjects, golf. I suggested to one of the hotel’s marketing people that despite all the great attractions Hamilton Island possessed it would be great if there was a golf course to complement the proposed layout to open at Laguna Quays, some
35 kilometres, as the crow flies, away on the mainland.
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| The difficult par-4 15th stretches to the southernmost point of the course (main) |
Apparently, I was then told, it was a view shared by Hamilton Island’s then owner, Keith Williams. The self-made Queensland developer knew a golf course would add to the tourism value of his resort island but in the ensuing years the logistics, cost and politics of constructing a course kept the proposal on the back-burner.
Some may have felt the prospect of a course being built would have died with the sale of Hamilton Island in 2003 to wine export pioneer and renowned yachtsman, Bob Oatley. Having sold his Rosemount Wines to Southcorp for $1 billion a year earlier, Oatley purchased Hamilton Island for $200 million and in the six years since he has poured another $300 million into the upgrade of the resort.
Part of that massive spend also included the construction of the Hamilton Island Golf Club. After submitting dozens of environmental management plans and overcoming the massive logistical nightmare of getting construction equipment onto the island, the course opened for play last September.
The Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett-designed layout is not actually on Hamilton Island but can be found on Dent Island – a tropical tree and scrub-covered monolith that rises steeply, to about 150 metres at its highest point, from the aquamarine waters of the Coral Sea below.
The club can only be reached by ferry from the Hamilton Island marina and as you cross the passage there is little to suggest a golf course lies on the ridges and cliff-tops high above. It only takes a few holes into the round to really appreciate what an incredible feat of engineering, course design and construction it was to realise in creating a layout across such dramatic and rugged terrain. All the heavy machinery and equipment had to be brought to the island on a barge (and unloaded only at high tide), while hundreds of tons of rock were carved from the landscape to facilitate the positioning of tees, greens and fairways. This rock was then crushed on site to make all of the sand that was then crafted and shaped into the course foundation on which the Bermuda and Couch playing surfaces would grow.
Thomson and Perrett designed the par-71 to be played along
a series of ridges and across steep valleys with only minimal clearing of the island’s dense native vegetation. The mountainous aspect of the design presents elevated tees on most holes, which
not only leaves little to a golfer’s imagination of what lies between tee and green but they also offer stunning sea and island views.
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| The long par-3 4th is a brutish hole but it is a highlight of the front nine. |
The terrain even dictated that, in some instances, there is a fair distance between a green and the next tee. For example, it is more than a kilometre from the 17th green to the 18th tee, along a path that winds its way along a narrow ridge and then climbs to one of the highest points on the layout. Sounds ominous but have no fear, carts are compulsory here.
At 6,130 metres from the back markers, this is not a long layout by modern standards and despite elevation changes on most holes and some narrow driving zones, the scoring here can be good on a still day. But windless days are rare across the top of Dent Island and the design team has taken that into account with their creation, by offering generous, wide fairways and enormous greens.
As this is a resort course, there are three teeing grounds per hole with 30 or 40 metres difference between the back and middle tees. This ensures good players will be challenged by the back ‘Hoop Pine’ markers and casual players won’t be overawed by the experience by playing from either the middle ‘Pandanus’ tees or the front ‘Grass Tree’ tees.
The opening trio of holes – all cut into a ridge on the north side of the clubhouse – eases you into the round. Then it is most definitely game on when you reach the par-3 4th. From the tips, this monster measures 175 metres and is played across a scrub-filled valley to an large, undulating green that is more exposed to the wind than any other hole on the front nine. The putting surface lies on a ridge where shots long and short left are gone for good. Played against the backdrop of distant Long Island and the mainland as well as being beautifully framed by rocky outcrops, this is a hell of good hole.
See the March 2010 issue of Golf Australia for the complete review on Hamitlon Island GC
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The shortest of the par-3s, the
7th is a ‘sleeper’ hole and
requires good club selection. |
fact file
LOCATION: Dent Island, near Hamilton Island, Whitsunday Islands, Queensland. A ferry connection runs between Hamilton and Dent Island.
CONTACT: (07) 4948 9760.
WEBSITE: www.hamiltonislandgolfclub.com.au
designer: Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett.
PLAYING SURFACES: Bermuda Tifeagle (greens), Greenless Park Couch (fairways, tees and rough).
BUNKERS: 45.
ALPG & PGA PRO: Cherie Byrnes.
GREEN FEES: $150 (18 holes in including ferry transfers from Hamilton Island and electric cart); $100 (nine holes).
THE CLUB: memberships: The club does not currently
offer memberships.
CORPORATE DAYS: Professional staff on hand to assist with all group bookings.
FACILITIES: The stunning Chris Beckingham-designed clubhouse is ideally perched to catch the soft sea breeze and to take in the stunning views of Passage Peak and the sparking Coral Sea. The clubhouse offers a stylishly relaxed restaurant and bar as well as locker rooms for guests. There is an aquatic driving range overlooking Lake Melaleuca, which is perfect to have a hit and giggle or some serious practice time. Chipping and putting greens are also available.
recommended 19th hole fare: The menu is changed regularly to suit the seasons but we recommend you try a dozen, or two, of fresh local oysters.
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