Golfing in Whitsunday Regional Council
Around the 74 Whitsunday Islands and the cane fields of Proserpine, the golf runs from a bucket-list island course to country rounds, and all four courses are public. The headline is Hamilton Island Golf Club on neighbouring Dent Island, a Peter Thomson design and the only championship course in Australia on its own island; Golf Australia ranked it the country's No. 13 public-access course in 2023. Reached by ferry, it is a demanding test of tight fairways, heavy rough and steep slopes, with Coral Sea views and a 14th known as the 'Valley of Death'. On the mainland, Bowen's coastal nine-holer dates from 1928 and runs close to the beach, with wind, water crossings and bunkers to handle. Proserpine is a flat, walkable parkland among the cane with a creek through the back nine, and Collinsville is a volunteer-kept 18.