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.

Half Moon Bay Golf Club. PHOTO: Brendan James.

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.

Cairns Golf Club. PHOTO: Brendan James.

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.

Innisfail Golf Club. PHOTO: Brendan James.

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.