Mount Coolum

Mount Coolum Golf Club started out in 1976 as Suncoast Beach Golf, with a 9-hole course in operation. Another nine holes were added in 1992, by which time the club’s name had been changed to Mount Coolum.

Today, the course extends to 5,900 metres from the championship tees, with par set at 72 and holes arranged as two returning nines. The Maroochy River cuts through the property and holes 4 to 6 are played in a little triangle on the east side of the river. Water – in the form of small ponds and lakes – comes into play at half the holes on the scorecard.

Interestingly, after the opening three par four holes, the same par is never played consecutively for the rest of the round – and the back nine is configured with four par threes and four par fives. The only par four on the inward half is encountered at the short par four 18th, where the tee shot carries an ornamental pond then the approach is played to an offset home green.

Highlight holes include both the par threes on the front nine at the 5th and 8th along with the slightly left doglegging par four 9th. On the back nine, the shortest of the par fives might appear benign on the scorecard but the fairway kinks right past a lake on the right to a heavily sand-protected green so birdie expectations should be held in check here.