Australia’s quirkiest golf courses
Golf can be a quirky game with its finicky rules and etiquette, bird names for scores and crazy dresswear – we’re looking at you John Daly.
Another aspect that makes the game of golf different to many other sports is the individuality of each golf course.
It doesn’t matter where you’re playing, each course and hole are unique – there probably isn’t another one quite the same anywhere else in the world.
Then there are golf courses that have peculiarities that make them stand out even more. Australia has a few which have made our list.
1. Nullarbor Links
No need for a golf cart here. Instead, you’ll need your car as you navigate the world’s longest golf course.
Spanning 1365km, the 18 holes are dotted at existing golf courses, roadhouses and towns between Ceduna and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The Nullarbor Links can be played either way and gives drivers a regular rest along the route between Adelaide and Perth.
Each hole has its unique challenges and even some curious wildlife that make themselves at home. Watch out for any deadly snakes sunning themselves on the fairway.
2. Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Course
Established in 1976, the Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club is completely grassless. Instead, the fairways are sandstone, and the greens are quarry dust mixed with waste oil.
Golfers carry a small patch of artificial turf around the course and use it to hit fairway shots.
With day-time temperatures regularly hitting 40 degrees Celsius in Coober Pedy, golf is often played at night using glow-in-the-dark balls.
3. Carbrook Golf Club
Carbrook Golf Club’s water hazards really were hazardous for about 17 years. Why? The course’s lake boasted six resident bull sharks after a flood in 1996.
Despite reports of shark sightings, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that a photo was snapped of these marine creatures.
Media interest boomed and a bull shark was added to Carbrook’s logo. The club even named its youth program the Junior Shark Academy.
In 2013, the course flooded again, and the club’s unofficial mascots haven’t been seen since.
4. Royal Adelaide Golf Course
It’s not uncommon for train tracks to run past golf courses. Hole 11 at Royal Troon – the 2024 Open Championship host – in Scotland is even named The Railway thanks to the train line running parallel to the hole.
Closer to home, the Royal Adelaide Golf Club at Seaton has the unusual feature of a trainline bisecting the course.
Despite the Adelaide to Grange line splitting the course in half, the Royal Adelaide Golf Club has regularly been voted one of Australia’s best golf courses by Golf Australia magazine.
5. Christmas Island
The nine-hole Christmas Island Golf Course (main picture, Getty Images) might look like any other course around the world. Set in a tropical paradise, Australia’s northernmost golf course has stunning ocean views, palm-tree-lined fairways and rolling greens.
It’s also probably the only course in the world where a giant coconut crab might steal your ball or snap your club in half.
As a result, the club has created special rules for when players meet the large crustaceans on the course.