Hope Island Golf Club

Course Data
Location Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Yardage 7061 yards Par 72
Course Rating 74.0
Playing Date 8 Jan. 2006
Desingner Peter Thomson (Thomson, Wolveridge and Perrett)
Opened 1992
Caddy No
Golf Cart Yes
Rating
Overall Rating
4.50
Course Layout
4
Difficulty Level
4
Greens Conditions
5
Fairways Conditions
5
Landscaping & Views
5
 

It is a flat links course with strategically placed, 128 pot bunkers across the course, hidden mounds, and water hazards, which makes the layout really challenging. This kind of links course is unique to Australia. All greens are raised and skilled approach shots are required. The course layout is excellent, which will attract serious golfers a lot.



A view from the clubhouse

A view from the clubhouse

A view from the clubhouse

 

2nd  Par 5 548 yards

A dogleg to the left along around a pond. The fairway is tight with the pond coming into play when you hit the tee as well as the second shots, so accuracy is more important than distance on this hole. The green is elevated with complex undulations, which makes putting difficult when your ball is far away from the pin.

 

2nd  Par 5 548 yards (3)

2nd  Par 5 548 yards (2)

2nd  Par 5 548 yards (1)
 
3rd  Par 3 193 yards

3rd  Par 3 193 yards
A wonderfully designed par 3 with the great bunkering. The bunkers are deep and imposing. You need to get on the green in one shot and avoid the bunkers guarding the front of the green. Be careful of the deceptive pair of bunkers to the front right, about 60 yards short of the green, as it gives the appearance of the green being closer than it is.
 
8th  Par 5 549 yards
This hole is straight at first and then curves slight to the right for the last 100 yards. The fairway is narrow with well-positioned pot bunkers, so the accurate tee shot is needed. 4 pot bunkers are well positioned in the landing area of the second shot when you use a 3 wood, so you need to make a decision if you lay up with an iron in front of the bunkers or bring the ball close to the green with the fairway wood.
 

8th  Par 5 549 yards (3)

8th  Par 5 549 yards (2)

8th  Par 5 549 yards (1)
 
9th  Par 4 402 yards

An almost straight hole. The longer your tee shot is, the narrower the landing area becomes because it is squeezed by bunkers on both sides. The view of the green and the clubhouse in the backdrop is beautiful.


9th green

9th  Par 4 402 yards (2)

9th  Par 4 402 yards (1)
 
13th  Par 4 425 yards

A challenging dogleg to the left. A lake and 3 pot bunkers on the left on the fairway come into play on the tee shot. When you play shot from the tee, the second shot is really difficult.

 

13th  Par 4 425 yards (3)

13th  Par 4 425 yards (2)

13th  Par 4 425 yards (1)
 
15th  Par 4 448 yards

15th  Par 4 448 yards (2)

15th  Par 4 448 yards (1)
A slight dogleg to the left, long & difficult par 4. An accurate tee shot is needed as the landing area is squeezed by bunkers on both sides on this hole, too. The second shot is demanding because of bushes around the green, even though no bunkers guard it, so the errant second shot will lead to a double or triple boggy.
 
17th  Par 3 213 yards

17th  Par 3 213 yards (2)

17th  Par 3 213 yards (1)
A very beautiful as well as difficult hole. This monster par 3 is actually 252 yards long However the strong head wind prevailed on the day I played, so it was 40 yards shorter, otherwise, even many pros won’t reach the green. This shorter 213 yards par 3 still requires a full carry of 180 yards over a pond and 200 yards over 3 bunkers protecting the green. Par is a good number here.
 
18th Par 5 563 yards
A neat dogleg to the left with a lake on the left. Because there are hazards such as water or pot bunkers on the left, you should keep right on the tee and second shots in order to avoid troubles. The third shot need to pe accurate as the small green is well protected by bunkers.
 

18th  Par 5 563 yards (3)

18th  Par 5 563 yards (2)

18th  Par 5 563 yards (1)
 
19th hole

Restaurant

It takes 50 minutes from Brisbane Airport and 25 minutes from Suffers Paradise by car. Accommodation is available. Yardage sticks are in meters. Everyone can play from the back tees. A GPS golf cart is very convenient to show distance and your exact position with respect to greens, bunkers and water hazards. This is a home course of Peter Senior who has great success not only in Australia but also in the USA.

The course was ranked 24th in Australia by Golf Digest 2006. The works of Peter Thomson (Thomson, Wolveridge & Perret) in Australia include the following: Moonah Links - Open Course (ranked 14th) & Legends Course (ranked 37th), The National GC - Ocean Course (ranked 46th), Alice Springs GC (ranked 62nd), Twin Waters GC (ranked 68th), Camden Lakeside GC (ranked 72nd), Sea Temple G&CC (ranked 94th), Riverside Oaks GC, etc.

Their works in Asia include the following: Hong Kong GC - Eden Course, Clearwater Bay G&CC (remodelled), Beijing Links CC, Beijing Yaoshang GC, Shanghai Golfking GC, Shanghai Binhai GC, Changsha Quingzhuhu GC in China, Tanah Merah CC - Garden Course in Singapore, Bali Handara Kosaido CC, Lombok Golf Kosaido CC in Indonesia, Kelab Golf Sultan Abdual Aziz Shah (KGSAAS) in Malaysia, Noble Place GR&CC, Rayong Green Valley CC, Royal Chiang Mai GC in Thailand, and Kosaido Thomson, Nanbufuji CC, Zen CC, Thomson National CC, Three Lakes CC in Japan.