NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Northern Exposure - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Northern Exposure | |||||
| By: John Digby, Issue 15 – Winter 2003 | |||||
| (The Mirage Country Club, The Links, Paradise Palms and Palm Cove (Novotel) Country Club and Half Moon Bay Golf Club – Tropical North Queensland, Australia) | |||||
| SAVVY GOLFERS DON’T RUG UP DURING WINTER, THEY HEAD FOR FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND’S SUN-DRENCHED RESORT COURSES. | |||||
| While those of us who live in the southern reaches of Australia switch to long trousers and rug up for winter golf, it’s still T-shirt-and-shorts weather in Far North Queensland. The generally dry season with warm, sunny days is an ideal time for visiting Cairns and the terrific golf courses it, and nearby Port Douglas, have to offer enthusiasts. There are several good tracks, including two in Australia’s top 20 resort courses, all within a short drive of each other. There’s also a great range of luxury accommodation in the area, from sprawling resorts and hotels to more intimate lodges and villas tucked away in the surrounding lush rainforest. Port Douglas, only an hour’s drive north of Cairns Airport, has two of the most challenging resort courses you could hope to find anywhere. The Mirage Country Club was the first course of its type to be built in the area about 14 years ago. The dream of the late, disgraced entrepreneur Christopher Skase, the Mirage is now run by the Sheraton group and is a complete resort with all the usual features like swimming pools, gymnasium and tennis courts. The course, a par-72 and more than 6,250 metres long from the tournament tees, was designed by Australian champion Peter Thomson and has two differing nines. I’ve not played the course, but friends who have say it’s a good challenge with several long par 4s,three of them more than 400 metres, but it has generously wide and undulating fairways. The front, or reef nine winds through the resort with some stunning holes next to Four Mile Beach, while the back, or mountain nine is more open with several palm-fringed lakes. The green fees are $145,including a cart. Close by is the recently built The Links, another Thomson, Wolveridge & Perrett design, which is also home to the five-star Peppers resort, offering fully-appointed luxury villas with a health club, pool and tennis courts. It’s also possible to become a resident by buying into the course’s real estate development. Just six months after it was completed three years ago, this true links layout (the world’s only tropical links course, according to Mike Wolveridge), was rated 18th in Australia’s top 25 resort courses and seems certain to climb the list in years to come. It has a beautiful Queenslander-style clubhouse complete with comprehensive pro shop as well as restaurant and bar facilities. The course is set against a backdrop of rainforest and mountains and its couch fairways offer plenty of run between the many small bunkers that guard the firm greens and their approaches. At par 71,it’s a challenging 6,125 metres long and the green fees are $99,including a cart. The trifecta of major courses in the area is completed by Paradise Palms, about 20 minutes’ drive north of Cairns, just south of Palm Cove. It’s the longest, at 6,592 metres, and arguably the toughest of the three, with a course rating of 76, and is a true championship course. Set in between the rainforests of the Great Dividing Range and the Coral Sea, its developers – Japanese conglomerate Daikyo – hired Graham Marsh and Ross Watson to design a golf course that would attract major tournaments and challenge top players. Again it’s in the top 20 of Australia’s resort courses. Along the way, they built a magnificent clubhouse and recreation centre, which houses a lap pool and tennis courts. Although tough, the course can be enjoyed by players of all standards with each hole having four tees. There’s plenty of water to contend with alongside the undulating fairways, with six lakes and wandering creeks bringing it into play on several holes; masses of tropical vegetation (rainforest, palms and bougainvilleas) abound. Paradise Palms charges $110 with a cart, but visitors can get a discount if it is played in conjunction with other courses in the area (see right). Close by are two other courses, Palm Cove (Novotel) Country Club and Half Moon Bay Golf Club, worth visiting if you have time while in the area. The Palm Cove Country Club is a nine-hole course with 18 tees, costs $27.50 a round, and its hilly layout is a demanding walk. Although not long, its tight fairways need straight and careful shot-making to the well-kept greens; again, it’s a scenic course with plenty of water hazards. Half Moon Bay, at Yorkeys Knob, just 10 minutes north of Cairns, is also short, but again puts a premium on accuracy with tight fairways and plenty of water. It costs $35 a round, $62.50 with a cart. Having played all courses except the Mirage, two features combining them is the friendliness of the welcome given to visitors and the laid-back nature of the area. | |||||
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