Aussie course 15 for 2026, 483 all-time. El Arish, Qld
Sneaking a look around the corner of the par4 1st
Nomadic_golfer : July 2026 – El Arish, Qld, review
Par 64 4517m Slope91 $22
8 par3s 100-171m, 10 par4s 275-403m, 0 par5s
This is a short, but sweet, 9-holer on flat land amid tropical surrounds sitting alongside the Bruce Hwy in FNQ, with great views up into Japoon National Park’s mountain ranges. A curious routing groups the like holes together and involves a long walk from the near southern extremity to the northern end in getting from 2 to 3.
A creek runs through the property and while not really in play for the better player (it gets within 20m of the green on the 154m 4th, and again over the back of the 350m 7th), it cuts across in front of numerous tees which is aesthetically nice and would terrorise the beginner!!
It looks like a real effort has been made to make the greens interesting. All are elevated due to the high rainfall but there are varied, imaginative shapes & sizes, and lots of lumps, bumps, trenches, as well as the run-offs being mowed short and predominantly cleared of the soft, broad-leaf grasses that adorn the fairways. A couple of greens which really appealed to me were on: 6 (154m par3 green, almost rectangular in shape, with a furrow running diagonally from short left to long right, with large drop-offs left, right and back); 7 (360m par4 that snakes toward the creek and finishes with a very elaborate, redan-shaped green in a biaritz style, with massive trench across the middle of the green).
Thick tropical growth borders the majority of the course but as the course’s major defence, it is not that thick beside the playing corridors. There is only one bunker on the course, which interestingly, sits over the back of the par4 3rd and looks like it is there to stop any long approaches from running down into the creek.
Most memorable holes for me are the very scenic par3 2nd, emerging from thick tropical growth, and two of the longer 4s in 7 (per above); and 8 (400m right to left par4 turning around a row of 10-20m tall trees, to a large, elevated green with steep drop offs all sides and a shallow furrow running across it).
Overall, my take is that while they haven’t used the natural assets to the best effect, the green constructs are the highlight here. There are a couple of cool stories on the hole signs: one of ‘Dot’ , a lady member who had 2 holes in one on the 5th, both with mishits, one bouncing off a palm, the other rolling across the bridge; and the other of Duff who drove it to within 20m of the 360m 7th green in the club championship final. Oh, and for the second course in a row, I discover an abandoned cricket pitch on the course. In this case, at the edge of the 9th fairway. The actual concrete had been removed in the weeks leading up to my visit but its position was still very clear.
