15 reasons why you will love teeing off at HIGC

This year (2025) marks the 15th anniversary of the opening of Hamilton Island Golf Club, a course now considered one of Australia’s finest and on the bucket lists of golfers worldwide. Here’s 15 reasons why you will love teeing off at this incredible place. By Brendan James. 

1. Getting There 

The travel maxim of the journey being as, if not more, important than the destination rings particularly true here. While the destination in this instance is to one of Australia’s finest golf courses, the short ferry ride across Dent Passage from Hamilton Island Marina to neighbouring Dent Island is stunning. 

2. No Disappointments

So, you forgot to bring your golf clubs on holiday? Don’t worry about it. The golf club staff can set you up with premium hire clubs. No room in your luggage for golf shoes? Fret not. These can also be hired. 

3. The Opening Gambit

On the 1st tee at Hamilton Island, look out to the beautifully clipped strip of fairway surrounded by scrub. Take a deep breath and swing. Finding the fairway or not is inconsequential. Remember, it’s about enjoying the journey ... 

4. Thomson's Gambit

Peter Thomson was a titan of Australian golf. As a player he is best known as a five-time winner of the British Open Championship. As a world-renowned golf course architect, he designed more than 180 courses across the globe. Hamilton Island Golf Club rates as one of his finest creations. 

5. Bring the A-Game

Hamilton Island is highly ranked among Australia’s best courses on the back of Thomson’s design, which is challenging, but fair for all players. The course tests every facest of your game, no matter your ability. But above all, it’s a lot of fun to play.  

6. Beautifully Manicured

Complimenting the course design by Thomson with fellow architect Ross Perrett are impeccably manicured fairways and greens. The putting surfaces are some of the best TifEagle Bermuda greens in the country, while the carpet-like fairways are a dream from which to hit off. 

7. Four Aces 

Hamilton Island has four amazing par-3s. All require keen attention for club and shot selection, but each has its own memorable traits. At the 8th hole it is the green complex, with seemingly no ground to be found beyond the putting surface and the cliffs that drop to Whitsunday waters beyond. Likewise, the diminutive 14th green, with bunkers all around, looks near impossible to hit (especially in the wind) on its ridge-top location. Make a hole-in-one here and the drinks are on you. 

8. Into Space

The 5th tee is perched high above the fairway, so when launching your drive into the stratosphere here, there is a great deal of satisfaction in the hang time the ball gets before crashing back to Earth. 

9. How did they build that?

It is easy to be in awe of how it was even possible to build a golf course here, given the rugged and inhospitable nature of the site before the Hamilton Island Golf Club was developed. During construction, massive sandstone boulders the size of small cars were extracted from the site and crushed into sand which was used to create the bunkers. 

10. Thank goodness for carts

The steep ridges and deep valleys across the course provide the bones of one of the most challenging golfing landscapes in Australia, which is why this is a “carts-only” course. 

11. Finchy's Favourite

Former British Open Champion and proud Queenslander Ian Baker-Finch can’t speak highly enough of the Hamilton Island course. “Hamilton Island Golf Club is one of the most beautiful golfing venues in the world. The Whitsundays are the Greek Islands of Australia, with better weather, spectacular beaches and an easygoing lifestyle, and Hamilton Island lies right in the middle of it all. I love it.” 

12. Wow factor

By the time you reach the 15th tee, you may feel completely gobsmacked by the views accompanying every shot. Prepare yourself. This hole is on the southernmost tip of the course and plays along a narrow ridge with steep cliffs left and right, down to the aquamarine waters below. If there is one spot on this course that will leave you breathless, it is here. 

13. Snap happy

There are so many places on this course to photograph or be photographed but one of the most picturesque is the 16th tee with the green and Hamilton Island in the background. 

14. The last chance

The opening drive of any round of golf is usually the hardest. Here, the toughest drive might be on the steep downhill 18th played against the backdrop of the Clubhouse and Dent Passage. 

15. Eat, Drink, Stay

Go for the golf and definitely stay for lunch in the Clubhouse. This is one of the best dining experiences on Hamilton Island. Panoramic views combined with seared scallops in saffron butter sauce; slow-cooked wagyu steak; a sweet offering of a chocolate brownie and crème fraîche gelato – sublime – and paired with one of the carefully selected wines from the cellar, equals died-and-gone-to-holiday-heaven. 

"Hamilton Island Golf Club is one of the most beautiful golfing venues in the world." - Brendan James