Some of the world’s best golfers have tread the Coast’s fairways

When the old Hyatt Regency Coolum hosted its first Australian PGA Championship in 2002 the eyes of the golfing world turned to the Sunshine Coast.

ON COURSE: The Australian PGA Championships at Hyatt Regency Coolum in 2011. Large crowds followed Greg Norman's group on the seventh hole.Photo: Nicholas Falconer / Sunshine Coast Daily

GOLF: When the old Hyatt Regency Coolum hosted its first Australian PGA Championship in 2002 the eyes of the golfing world turned to the Sunshine Coast, and stayed there for the next decade as some of the world’s best golfers tread the scenic fairways of that once remarkable golf course.

The decision of the Queensland Events Corporation – an organisation I had the privilege of serving as a board member for 14 years – to invest millions in the event provided unprecedented exposure to our region and stamped the Sunshine Coast as an international golf tourism destination.

The highlights of that series of Australian PGAs were Peter Lonard’s three wins (2002, 2004, 2007), Robert Allenby’s double (2005, 2009), Peter Senior’s extraordinary all-the-way win in 2010, Greg Norman’s regular appearances and, of course, John Daly’s famous meltdown in 2002 when he hurled his putter into the lake on the 18th hole and stormed off the course.

For the game of golf, and for the region’s economy, hosting the Australian PGA was of enormous benefit. It brought thousands of golfers here for holidays and inspired generations of kids to swing a club.

Chances are we’d still be hosting the PGA had it not been for the petulance of Clive Palmer, who figured his newly-purchased resort was more suited to showing off toy dinosaurs and old cars than welcoming cashed-up golfers.

BIG PRESENCE: The 2012 Australian PGA Championship at Palmer Resort and Jeff the dinosaur. Photo: Brett Wortman / Sunshine Coast Daily

The Sunshine Coast is blessed with some great golf courses – many of them built over the past 30 years. Twin Waters, Noosa Springs, Pelican Waters and Peregian – beautiful courses constructed around residential developments – are highly regarded throughout Australia.

Maroochy River – the new Bli Bli home of the old Horton Park Golf Club, resumed by the council for its much vaunted regional city centre – has developed rapidly and, after only five years, is already ranked No 73 in Ausgolf’s list of the country’s top 100 courses.

With such infrastructure it’s not surprising our region has produced some outstanding golfers – headed, naturally, by world No 6 Adam Scott who learned his craft as a junior at Headland, Caloundra and Twin Waters.

Then there are international stars Ian Baker-Finch, Steve Bowditch, Katherine Kirk, Sarah-Jane Smith and Cameron Smith, coached by Pelican Waters’ Grant Field. Soon joining them on the world stage will be Peregian’s Cassie Porter and US-based Jack Trent, a former junior at Headland.

Many of those wonderful players were mentored and encouraged by Graeme Miller’s Sunshine Coast Invincibles Junior Tour – a splendid organisation that is just as focused on producing fine young people as it is on developing talented golfers.

Our region, then, has good reason to be proud of its golf courses, the people who play them, and the culture of sportsmanship and integrity that the game promotes.

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