Aussie course 17 for 2026, all-time #485. Proserpine
Looking back down the 153m par3 16th across late afternoon’s long shadows
Nomadic_golfer : July 2026 – Proserpine, Qld, review
Par 70 5717m Slope112 $40
4 par3s 133-186m, 12 par4s 282-410m, 2 par5s 448-516m
Half an hour inland from the iconic Airlie Beach, lies a very interesting golfing experience in Proserpine. Located inside the town limits, it really is a tale of 2 different designs. The first 7 holes go back and forth on a flat parcel of land, don’t move off the straight, but are augmented by a shallow spoon drain and a number of ponds, that are quite well placed in the main. There are some good golf holes in there, but they don’t really inspire. The 146m 2nd with water abutting the front, left sides of a green that is very narrow at the front and widens at the back, is my favourite.
You complete the tough 410m par4 7th, which plays into the prevailing wind, then are asked to walk behind the 10th tee and across the 18th fairway to the 8th tee. It all changes from here in. While this 330m par 4 is no road hole, it moves gently right to left and slightly uphill to a long, elevated, lumpy green with left-hand tilt, surrounded by large mounds, stationed in front of the town tennis courts. It has some spunk. And this spunk carries on all the way through to 17, that’s 10 holes full of character. 18 was a slight letdown on the character front but it is the supporting half of a double green with 9, if that counts!!
This 10 hole stretch occupies the South-Western side of the course, has some subtle elevation changes, majority are elevated greens of various sizes, shapes and contours, all with some degree of drop-off, a creek snaking around a few holes, sugar cane plantations flanking the Western boundary, and some towering gums on and outside the southern boundary.
Each hole has its own distinguishing features and there are plenty of highlights. The stretch of 12 through 14 did it for me. Not only are they feature-filled holes, they capture what this region is about, with the cane plantation and Lagoon Creek playing leading roles. 12 is 516m with the cane riding shotgun on the right side for its entirety which is straight for about 490m, before turning 90 degress left for the finish. 13 is a 130m pitch across Lagoon Creek to a small green with drop-offs left, right & long, while the tough 382m 14th might also be the aesthetic highlight – 380m with the cane all the way down the right, and a superb green setting amongst towering snow gums.
There is a nice blend of hazards defending the course here, numerous and varied water hazards, small number of bunkers, couple of OB fences, varied involvement of many different genre of trees, and a number of small or narrow greens with drop-offs. I reckon its a good, honest challenge where your score will really reflect how you’ve played. There are some good scoring opportunities, combined with a number of holes where you are playing defence, and could make a big number.
Surfaces were well short of pristine, greens had quite a few bare/ dead patches, surrounds a bit sketchy too, while fairways (predominantly kikuyu) were ok.
My take: early on this place gets you thinking about strategy and placement, while you try to decide whether this is interesting golf, or if it is just some decent golf holes, blandly combined without much variety. Then bang, it jumps out from behind it’s bunched cloke and reveals it’s character. And that character has multiple personalities. This is a cool golf course, it’s fun and scruffy. And there are curlews everywhere!!.
