Golf at Hamilton Island - 21st June 2010

When we first booked our Whitsunday Island Golf Cruise I did not put a lot of thought into the logistics of getting off a ship and onto the land to play golf. The idea of cruising/golf was very appealing and is a great idea if all goes well.

Unfortunately we did have some rough seas when we reached the Whitsundays. The Ship's Captain made a decision to moor the ship at Airlie Beach to enable the passengers wishing to take tours to the Barrier Reef to leave from Airlie Beach. What that meant was that our golf tour was the last to leave the ship and we required a 45 minute catamaran & then barge trip to reach Dent Island where the Hamilton Island Golf Course is situated. Another logistical problem was that the ship could not find separate storage room for our golf clubs which meant we had to store them in our cabins (not really a problem as there was plenty of room in the cabin) but then we had to carry them off and back onto the ship/catamaran & barge which was a problem for the less agile of us. We had 120 golfers on our tour & that was another logistical problem when needing to move a lot of people in a hurry.

The end result was that we could only fit in 12 holes of golf as the return trip had a very tight schedule as we had to be back before sailing time. That was disappointing, but it was worth the effort to get there and back as the course is very unique. It is in it's early stages of development but there were beautiful concrete paths all around the course & a lot of work has been put into making the holes appealing. The backdrop is just gorgeous with ocean views at just about every hole. It is a difficult course & some of the holes are very challenging. My highlight was finishing with the same ball I started with which is quite a feat at this course. We were lucky with the weather that day & enjoyed some sunshine & blue skies even if the wind was a little strong at times. Bad weather is an issue on these tours as rough seas cause problems with the tender boats that are required to get us to/from land.

We did not have time to enjoy the clubhouse as our schedule was too tight. I would like to revisit one day & play the whole 18 holes.