Tropical North Queensland is a special part of the world.
There are the iconic landscapes featuring some of the planet’s oldest rainforest to the incredible kaleidoscope of colours to be found on the greatest reef on earth. In fact, this region is the only place in the world where two natural World Heritage areas lay side-by-side.
While these and other amazing natural attractions are the stars of the tourism show, the tropical north is also a playground for wildlife watchers, foodies, market crawlers, cyclists, hikers and those just looking to relax in luxury surrounds. And, of course, there is plenty of good golf to be found between the picturesque township of Mossman in the north and the unofficial North Queensland capital, Townsville, to the south.
My journey began by flying into the tourism mecca of the far north, Cairns. Having escaped the cold and rain of Sydney, I ditched the jumper en route to the Avis car park and smiled when I had to turn the air conditioning on full tilt as soon as I jumped in the hire car.
Within minutes I had the car pointed north on the Captain Cook Highway headed for that little slice of paradise wedged between the reef and rainforest, Port Douglas, about a 60-minute drive from the airport.
Back in the early 1980s, Port Douglas was little more than a sleepy seaside village. When then high-flying businessman Christopher Skase arrived in town with plans to build the ultra-luxurious Sheraton Mirage Resort, it changed the town forever.
Today, Port Douglas is a high-end resort town but still exudes that typical laidback Queensland feel. Anything more than a T-shirt, boardies and thongs as you head for a coffee in the main street might feel overdressed.
Along with the Sheraton Mirage, Skase built the adjoining Mirage Country Club, both of which celebrate 35 years this year since they opened with incredible fanfare.
Peter Thomson and Mike Wolveridge were commissioned to design the layout as the grand accompaniment to the five-star resort development, with the front nine stretched out alongside Four Mile Beach and the resort, and the back nine weaving between water hazards on the western side of Port Douglas Rd.
Less than 12 months after the course was finished, it hosted the then world’s richest Skins game with Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Curtis Strange and Isao Aoki playing for $2.2 million over 36 holes. With world television coverage and Skase sparing no expense, Port Douglas and the Mirage Country Club were thrust onto the golf tourist’s map.
Fast forward 25 years and the course had fallen into decline but new owners, Full Share, vowed to upgrade the layout. That process began with the return of Wolveridge in 2019 to oversee the redesign of all 18 greens. Sadly, he passed away in 2020 shortly before the reopening of the 1st, 5th and 18th greens, which were the first to be remodelled.
The conditioning of the Mirage course has improved markedly in recent times and acclaimed course designer Graham Marsh is now consulting to the club on the upgrade program, which promises to transform the Mirage layout as the remaining 35-year-old greens are resurfaced and shaped. These proposed developments will add significantly to the overall golfing experience that includes winding through tropical rainforest, playing holes framed by massive fig trees or palms and, perhaps, spotting a croc sunning itself beside one of the water hazards.
Wolveridge fell in love with Port Douglas whilst overseeing the construction of Mirage and when the opportunity came to create another layout, just a few minutes’ drive down the road, he decided to make it his home.
The Englishman was the lead designer for Thomson Wolveridge and Ross Perrett on the creation of what was originally called Links Port Douglas, but is known today as Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course.
Covering 73 hectares of land once covered by sugar cane fields, just south of Port Douglas, Sea Reef has all the elements of a links course – large greens, pot bunkering, devilish mounding, humps and hollows. What sets this place apart is the rainforest that cuts through the middle of the property, not to mention the signs warning of estuarine crocodiles near several of the course’s water hazards.
The course opens with an imposing par-4 that stretches to 380 metres from the blue back markers. The prevailing breeze is into your face standing on the tee where you can see the fairway winding right around a bunker, a pond and a clump of rainforest. The slightly elevated green is typical for Sea Reef – protected on most sides by hillocks and at least one bunker. However, being true to all links courses, there is a sufficient opening at the front of the green to play a bump shot in underneath the wind.
The large, inviting greens at Sea Reef are one of its starring features.
“Players of all abilities should be able to fashion approach shots into greens that don’t require the ball to hit and spin,” Wolveridge told me back in 2001 when the course opened for play. “The links style is for greens to allow for a pitch and run shot to be played ... that’s what has been created here.”
In stark contrast to the relatively wide playing corridors at Sea Reef is the tight driving challenge Mossman Golf Club presents.
Mossman, about 20 minutes’ drive north of Port Douglas, is the last stop before reaching the wet tropical mountains and famed Daintree Rainforest.
Measuring 5,879 metres from the tips, Mossman is a relatively flat but tight excursion and has gained a reputation in the region for presenting well-groomed playing surfaces and providing a fun round of golf. An 18-hole round here will set you back just $40, which is great value for money for the experience.
The course opens with its hardest hole – a 406-metre par-4 – but some will testify that many of the shorter holes, like the dogleg right 303-metre par-4 16th demand greater attention. For mine, any course that boasts five par-5s – with the reachable 7th being the best of them – and as many par-3s, is worth having a look at.
While playing the Mossman course, take your time walking the paths between most of the back nine greens and tees, so you can soak in the beauty of the rainforest landscape and its wildlife.
Heading south, the next stop in days gone by would have been Paradise Palms but, sadly, it closed in mid-2019 as its owners look to redevelop the site into a multi-million-dollar residential estate.
So, on this trip I stuck to the highway and took the turn off to Yorkey’s Knob – about halfway between Cairns and Palm Cove – en route to Half Moon Bay Golf Club.
This is a beautiful layout and is not long by modern standard. But the demand here is on accuracy with most holes being densely tree-lined and water coming into play on 11 of its 18 holes.
There is no greater example of this than what you face standing on the tee of the par-3 3rd hole. The tee extends like a catwalk into the middle of a wetland hazard, which is surrounded by trees. You must carry the water and weave your tee shot of 150-odd metres through the narrow tree-lined chute to reach the green.
The glistening waters of the Coral Sea come into view on the north side of the layout, especially on the par-5 14th hole featuring out-of-bounds all the way along the right edge of the narrow fairway and behind the green. Water can also be found to the left of the fairway. Longer hitters can easily reach the green with two solid blows but the risk is great.
Half Moon Bay is not the only fun, well-presented layout in town, with the Cairns Golf Club just a 30-minute drive south.
Established on its present site in 1930, Cairns began as a humble nine-hole course before being extended to 18 holes after World War II. It remained relatively unchanged until 1992 when renowned course architect Ross Watson was commissioned to redesign the layout.
From the back tees, the course measures 6,159 metres, which is not overly long but there are enough testing shots to push the best players to make par. With the tees back and the pins set in tricky spots, the Cairns layout can really bare its teeth.
Watson’s changes dramatically improved the variety of holes on the course, which is laid out amidst tropical and native landscaping against an ever-present Great Dividing Range backdrop. Watson created fairways, for the most part, with plenty of width, which plays into the hands of the player who likes to give his driver a rip whenever possible. But the key to good scoring here is to find the correct side of the fairway to leave the best approach into the sizeable, angled greens, most of which feature bunkers and mounds around their surrounds.
The overall presentation of the layout has always been pretty good, but it is set to get even better with the club having just completed a $1.4 million replacement of its irrigation system.
An impressive feature of the Cairns layout is the quality of its par-3s, with the 2nd hole being the most challenging of them all. Water plays a starring role on the 151-metre one-shotter, with a lake lying between the tee and the front edge of the green, which is about 35-metres wide. There is a narrow ‘good miss’ area near the right edge of the putting surface, but tee shots must fly all or part of the lake depending on the pin position. The club’s signature pandanus palms form a typically tropical backdrop to a memorable hole.
There are few better discoveries on a golfing road trip than an old-school country bakery. I was about 40 minutes into the 70-minute drive south to Innisfail when I spotted the highway billboard – Babinda Bakery, next turn. I couldn’t help myself. What I found was an Aladdin’s Cave of bakery delights, highlighted by shelves of perfectly created cream buns. These cream buns are so good they don’t get presented to you in a paper bag, they are carefully wrapped in butcher’s paper.
One tasty discovery followed another.
Innisfail Golf Club boasts a picturesque and challenging nine-hole course that has covered the same land next to the town’s racecourse for the past 97 years.
Perhaps the most significant change to the layout in that time came in 2006 when Cyclone Larry ripped through the town. The course lost hundreds of Kauri pines and gum trees but the member volunteers – who still maintain the course beautifully today – had the layout back in play within three weeks.
The opening hole – a 344-metre par-4 – leads straight way from the clubhouse, with the outside running rail of the racecourse to the right of the fairway, being out-of-bounds for the length of the hole.
Water comes into play for the first time at the par-3 2nd hole as you try to find one of the largest greens on the course, which lies just beyond the meandering and tree-lined Bamboo Creek. Played as the 2nd, the hole measures 119 metres. On the second loop, the alternate tee for the 11th changes the angle of approach significantly and adds 11 metres to the distance. When the south easterly wind picks up, the tee shot through the gap in the trees along the creek bank gets even harder.
The alternate tees on each hole offer a different length and playing line, adding to the variety of interesting holes you can play across 18 holes.
Luckily, I still had ample stocks of Babinda baked goods for the three-hour drive south to Townsville, home to three 18-hole courses worthy of playing during a visit.
Townsville Golf Club was the first golf club in Queensland, having been established in 1893 making it the fourth oldest in Australia. The club has been on its present site since 1924.
It is situated in a tranquil setting along the banks of the Ross River, just a short drive from the CBD, and features large undulating greens, well-grassed fairways and spectacular century old rain trees on many holes.
Seven-time major winner and North Queenslander Karrie Webb has teamed up with acclaimed course designer Bob Harrison to oversee the upgrade of all 18 holes, a redevelopment that began in 2018.
Easily the most daunting of the new holes are either side of the halfway turn. The par-4 9th is only short at 304-metres from the tips, which tempts most to take a driver from the tee and get as close to the green as possible. The risk, particularly for right-handers, is slicing a ball into the lake that lines the second half of the fairway.
The same slice might work in your favour at the next, especially if you start your tee shot well left of the water that lies between the tee and green on the 160-metre par-3. The green is angled to be receptive to the left-to-right shot shape, as long as you have enough club in your hand to clear the lake.
It’s an easy 20-minute drive north to reach Rowes Bay Golf Club – a 27-hole complex, complete with a Par-3 Course alongside and 18-hole layout, that lies within Townsville’s conservation parklands. It’s also just a short iron from the waters in the bay of the same name.
A round here is a walk with nature as the fairways are lined with palm trees, melaleuca and the odd flame tree, while hawks, goannas, kangaroos and pelicans call the layout home.
Rowes Bay is an easy-walking course with only slight elevation changes across the 18 holes. Bunkers and water hazards (several only come into play during the wettest times of the year) provide the defences of what is an enjoyable course, especially if you are hitting your irons well.
I particularly liked the par-3 offerings at Rowes Bay. The variety of clubs and shots required on the one-shotters made each hole stand alone as a good hole. There are three par-3s on the front side, with the 138-metre 9th being the pick of them as the tee shot needs to carry a water hazard to reach the large green protected by bunkers left and right. Don’t overclub or you might be retrieving your ball from the club’s car park.
There’s only one par-3 on the inward nine – the 171-metre 13th – and it is the most difficult of the four one-shotters at Rowes Bay simply because it requires good club selection as well as accuracy to make par. A mis-hit tee shot short here will leave a testing chip onto the slightly raised putting surface, while finishing long of the green will require a bunker escape for the second shot, onto a green that is sloping away from you.
The golf at Rowes Bay is challenging without being brutal and when you’ve finished on the championship course, you can test your short game on the adjoining Par-3 course.
My last stop before heading home was Tropics Golf Club, which is about 20 minutes’ drive west of the CBD and right next door to Queensland Country Bank Stadium, where the North Queensland Cowboys NRL team call home.
Tropics travelled a rocky road for most of its first three decades, but since the current owners took over in 2017 the course has improved dramatically year-on-year with more than $2 million being invested in the quality of the course’s presentation and
its waterways.
The greens and fairways looked healthy and the renovated bunkering is very good, while dozens of birdlife varieties – including pelicans and red-tailed black cockatoos – now call the layout home.
With the exception of the four par-3s, Tropics does not have any straight holes, which makes it a challenge for the longer hitter who is forced into thinking strategically instead of blindly bombing away with the driver. Doglegs left and right feature throughout, with water and bunkers tightening the driving lines on several holes and offer tremendous variety to players of all abilities. No round here is ever boring.
But for mine, the best holes at Tropics close out the round with the 187-metre par-3 17th being the best of them. The one-shotter demands your tee shot carries water all the way to the huge, deep putting surface that lies on the edge of the lake. Bunkers short, right and left complicate matters but are relatively easy to escape from. The area short and right of the green is large enough to find even with a slight mis-hit.
The 502-metre par-5 18th hole is a very good finishing hole and has proven to be a dramatic closer for tournaments. Long hitters can reach the water flanked green in two blows, but it is still no guarantee of making a birdie. If you can make a four here, it will be a great way to end your time in the tropical north.
PACKAGE DEALS
PORT DOUGLAS GOLF TOURS
Owned and operated by local golfers Paul and Maya Bridges, Port Douglas Golf Tours can organise your golfing holiday to Queensland’s tropical north.
The company, with access to all the courses in the region, are the local golf tour specialists.
All tours are personally tailored to your individual requirements and packages include airport and daily transfers, accommodation to suit your needs and all green fees, with motorised carts as required. They can also arrange golf only packages if required.
For any non-golfers, there are any number of alternative day tours to the Great Barrier Reef, or a day in the Rainforest, to choose from.
Port Douglas Golf Tour offer a choice of several high-quality accommodation options in Port Douglas. There are hotel style properties, fully serviced apartments with their own cooking facilities as well as quality private homes catering for between six and eight people.
The most popular golf package is the three-course special – with rounds at Mirage CC, Palmer Sea Reef and Mossman GC –starting from $380 per person and includes green fees, carts and transfers.
To book, or for more information, visit the website www.portdouglasgolftours.com.au
WHERE TO PLAY
MIRAGE CC
Green fees: $95 (18 holes, with cart); $85 (Mirage resort guest).
PALMER SEA REEF
Green fees: $160 (18 holes, with cart); Early bird ($125) and twilight ($115)
rates available.
MOSSMAN GC
Green fees: $40 (18 holes).
HALF MOON BAY GC
Green fees: $49 (18 holes).
CAIRNS GC
Green fees: $40 (18 holes).
INNISFAIL GC
Green fee: $20 (unlimited daily golf).
TOWNSVILLE GC
Green fees: $45 (18 holes); $28 (Mon-Wed, unlimited golf).
ROWES BAY GC
Green fee: $35 (18 holes).
TROPICS GC
Green fees: $39 (18 holes, Mon-Thu); $45 (Fri-Sun). $25 (twilight after 3pm).
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