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The Australian PGA Championship has been played at the Hyatt Regency Coolum for the past eight years. But as Jon Underwood found out, the chance to tackle a tournament course is just part of the resort’s appeal.
There used to be a sign hanging in the pro shop at the Hyatt Regency Coolum. It said that the average number of balls lost per round was nine.
After my first round at this challenging championship course, I can proudly report that I am a very average golfer.
Sadly, like most of the balls in my golf bag, the aforementioned sign no longer exists.
“I took it down because I didn’t think it sent out a very positive message before players went out for a round,” explains Paul Crangle, the extremely affable Golf Manager.
Truth be told, he has done golfers a great service because this course is hard enough without starting the mind games before you’ve struck ball one. As course designer Robert Trent Jones Jr puts it so succinctly: “This course is not designed to punish champions, just find out who they are.”
That premise is tested every December when the Australian PGA Championship is staged here, making Coolum something of a rarity in that it is one of the few courses used for major tournaments that the public can actually play. And play it they do. The course sees between 25,000 and 30,000 rounds a year.
“Players get a great experience because obviously they are tackling a championship golf course. People want to play the course because they’ve seen it on TV and they know its history,” explains Crangle.
Now most ‘resort’ courses are extremely generous in the driving areas, allowing golfers to blaze away with the driver from most tees without fear of punishment. This serves two purposes: it helps the speed of play and fewer lost balls means better enjoyment factor.
Coolum is not one of those courses.
At 5,638 metres off the socially-acceptable blue tees (6,137 off the black), it’s not long by modern standards. But what it lacks in length it more than makes up for in exercising the oft-neglected 15th club. Yep, you’ll have to use your brain around this track with straight hitting at a premium.
That’s because the fairways are treacherously narrow in places, with water often guarding one side and dense, snake-inhabited woodland on the other. Choose your poison.
“Its major defence is the toughness of the tee shot. On most holes you are seeing water. There are no real bail out areas so it really is positional golf. It’s not length. Accuracy off the tee is essential here,” says Crangle.
Three par fives in the opening five holes sets the challenge early but it’s here that the pros look to build a score before consolidating on the back nine. The front nine is a little shorter and has less water than the back side, which has four of the five hardest holes according to the stroke index.
While Trent Jones Jr was reluctant to nominate a signature hole, several stand out. The fourth is a particularly cheeky par-4, while the dog-leg seventh is typical of the risk-and-reward nature of the course. Big hitters can try and bite off the corner but the sensible play is to hit 3-wood or long iron to the elbow, leaving a short iron to the green.
If Coolum does have a signature hole, the par-3 11th is probably it and features prominently in the TV coverage of the PGA. It’s a little gem with a downhill tee shot to a green that is protected by water...lots of water. Anything short or right is wet so most amateurs end up aiming left and hoping to get up and down. But that’s easier written than done on a long, thin green with a ridge running through the middle of it and that cursed water waiting for anything overhit.
But possibly the most famous hole is the 18th, where John Daly threw his putter into the lake in the 2002 PGA Championship. It’s rated one on the card (although I think 15 is harder) with water dominating the left hand side and bunkers and trees guarding the right. Finding the narrow fairway is just part of the equation, however, with the green protected on the left hand side by water. It’s a great finishing hole for a tournament and one that has produced a fair share of drama over the years.
One of the great attractions of Coolum is that if the course does get the better of you, expert help is right on hand.
Head teaching professional Peter Heiniger has been at Coolum for more than 20 years. A two-time Queensland PGA teaching professional of the year, Heiniger coaches several Australian pros, including Wayne Perske and Tony Carolan.
But despite having a state-of-the-art teaching facility with video cameras and computer analysis, Heiniger doesn’t blind you with science but explains simply and effectively just where you might be going wrong. After just half a dozen balls on the range, he had spotted my problem. Half an hour later, I was already seeing results.
“We have a lot of golfers who like to come here for a week and really work on their game. It’s the perfect set up for that because they can have a lesson and then practice on the range or head out and play,” explains Heiniger.
While golf is clearly the number one drawcard, Coolum has lots more to offer. The resort is ‘Family Friendly’ with a capital F...actually, make that two F’s. There’s small people everywhere, having the time of their lives. With nine pools, tennis, archery, canoeing, fishing and daily activities at Camp Hyatt, they really are spoilt for choice.
“One of the main reasons we get some of the big names coming to play the tournament is because their families can come too and they can all kick back and relax together,” explains Crangle.
So if you’re looking for a vacation offering nothing but peace and quiet, Coolum may not be the place for you. But that’s not to say you can’t escape the hoi polloi for a few hours.
The resort is set amid 150 hectares of natural bushland and manicured gardens so there’s plenty of space. One of the more popular pastimes is to hire a bike and head off to explore the resort, or even take the two hour walk to the top of Mount Coolum. And the magnificent private beach stretches for more than two kilometres, offering plenty of scenic spots to escape the masses.
But probably the best oasis of calm and tranquillity is The Spa. It’s located right in the heart of the resort and is only open to those aged 16 and over.
To call it impressive is like calling Rembrandt just a painter. It’s the biggest spa in the southern hemisphere, with 18 treatment rooms, including five multi-purpose Spa Suites, a 25-metre heated outdoor lap pool, fully-equipped gym and aqua-aerobics pool. It was refurbished two years ago at a cost of $AU4.5million.
“Being a spa and golf resort, we need to be leaders in the market and in order to do so we need to have a state of the art facility,” says spa director Kyle LaMonica.
Split into men’s and women’s sections, it offers everything you’d expect: facials, massages, body treatments, saunas and steam rooms. It’s also the only spa in Australia to have a sound therapy room where the specially-designed bed vibrates in time with specially-selected music. I just hope the operator doesn’t plug in AC/DC by mistake.
Ever the adventurer, I deputised my wife to sample the spa’s delights. She reported back that the core facial ($175 for 75 minutes) was the most enjoyable spa treatment she’d ever had.
“We are a very family friendly resort but at the end of the day we need a place where the parents can come and unwind and relax,”adds LaMonica.
The Hyatt Regency Coolum has 324 rooms, suites and villas offering golf course, lake or garden views. We stayed in a two-bedroom golf villa with a view of the 18th tee and it was both comfortable and well maintained. Although the accommodation is spread around the resort, regular shuttle buses ferry guests to and from the various attractions so you never feel isolated from the action.
And most of that action takes place at The Village Square. As the name suggests, it’s a mini-town square with a selection of restaurants offering Australian, Asian and Italian cuisine, a boutique, gift shop and games room. I particularly liked the stand – alone wine store where those who like to quaff of an evening can purchase a particularly cheeky Sauvignon Blanc and take it to the restaurant where they will be dining that evening.
And the dining choices are extensive and impressive. From the informality of a drink and a snack post-round at Spikes bar to the fine dining of the modern Australian restaurant Eliza’s, there’s something for everybody. Just remember, Hyatt Regency Coolum is a five-star resort so you will pay five-star prices but every meal we had was top class.
at a glance
Getting there: Jetstar and Virgin Blue provide daily direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast Airport.
Jetstar. Phone 131 538 or visit www.jetstar.com
Virgin Blue. Phone 13 67 89 or visit www.virginblue.com.au
Accommodation: The Hyatt has 324 rooms, suites and villas offering golf course, lake or garden views. Golf Villas are available from $AU455 per night (subject to seasonal rates), sleeping up to four people on existing bedding.
Green fees: For in-house guests. $AU110 for 18 holes, $AU72 for nine. Carts $AU40 (18 holes for two players). Note: major course work is due in February.
Stay & Play package: The Golf Escape Package is available until Dec 24, excluding public holidays and PGA block out dates. It’s priced from $AU380 in a King room for two adults and includes (*) continental breakfast, complimentary adult entry to The Spa, tennis court hire, golf clinics (Mon – Fri) and daily shuttle to Noosa, plus unlimited green fees per person, per night for up to two adults (can be used any day, subject to availability), shared cart and a bucket of range balls per adult, per night. (*)Subject to availability. Two nights minimum stay. Conditions and some block out dates apply.
For more information or bookings, call 1800 266 586 or visit coolum.regency.hyatt.com.
For information on Queensland holidays, visit www.queenslandholidays.com.au
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