Golf heaven for nature lovers

Nature loving golfers and travellers will be excited to hear that the world class Peter Thomson designed 18-hole Hamilton Island Golf Course is on track for a mid 2009 opening in Queensland’s beautiful Whitsundays.

Nearing completion on neighbouring Dent Island and affording uninterrupted panoramic views of the Whitsunday Islands from all 18 holes, the 6,083 meter, par 71 course designed by five times British Open winner Peter Thomson AO CBE and partner, planner and landscape architect, Ross Perrett.

With over 40 years experience in golf course design, Thomson and Perrett, have established a reputation for designing high quality golf developments throughout the world including Asia, the UK and Australia.

Peter Thomson has already predicted that this course will sit alongside the world’s best as it was designed not only for resort guests but also to challenge professionals. Commenting on the course, Peter Thompson said “We designed this course for all golfers - everyone from experts to beginners will be extremely happy playing this course.

“Dent Island is an exquisite site as it has an unsurpassed WOW factor. Each of the 18 holes is different from any other, whilst the course itself is different from any other we have designed.”

The tee complexes have been positioned to take into account big hitters as well as club and resort golfers, and the tees that produce shorter distances to the greens have been carefully positioned so that they preserve the challenges of each hole, making them as enjoyable as the long tees to play.

One of the features of the course, over and above the five-minute boat ride from Hamilton Island to get to the course, is the assimilation of the playing area with the native vegetation which is also a requirement of the environmental planning regulations. As a result, the fully manicured greens and fairways will be in stark contrast to the hardy and sometimes harsh natural terrain.

To date, irrigation has now been installed on 15 holes, with turfing to greens and bunker surrounds completed on 12 holes. Seeding (stolonising) of the fairways has also been completed on nine holes and it is anticipated by the end of February that 16 holes will be completed and ‘growing in’.

The golf course clubhouse is finished and, once operational, will feature a restaurant and pro shop. Six of the ten kilometres of buggy paths have also been completed. The construction of the Hamilton Island Golf Course jetty, where guests and golfers will arrive on Dent Island, has commenced and will be ready for use by late March.

For more information, log on to Hamiltonisland.com.au.