Q Golf - Official online magazine for Golf Queensland Spring 2015 | Page 28

LONGREACH
becomes a dry tourist attraction
By Tony Dukin
Forget the plush resort courses on the Gold and Sunshine
coasts – it’s the parched Longreach Golf Club that is
currently attracting the golfing tourists. While club
president Mick Tanks concurs that the central western
Queensland town is as dry as he has seen it in his 67 years
on this earth, the golf club has been attracting tourists
who have ‘never seen anything quite like it’.
“I’m not sure we could call it a tourist attraction, but
when people who have played golf get into town they
are fascinated by what the local course has to offer,” says
Mick. “It’s not Augusta and it’s not St Andrews, but we
have a golf course that people will talk about to their
golfing mates after they have played here. Let’s just say
Longreach Golf Club, at the moment, is unique.”
Not having access to water and in the grip of a four-year
drought, Longreach Golf Club and grass are no longer
related. Mick says there has been no grass on the course
to speak of for almost two years.
“But we have plenty of dirt. And it’s good dirt too,” he
elaborates. “We have dirt fairways, dirt greens and about
70 dirt bunkers – as we call them – scattered through the
18 holes. Avoiding the bunkers is an art of golf in itself.”
What Mick and his fellow club members call bunkers are
actually mounds of dirt, up to three metres high. They are
strategically positioned on the fairways, with an average of
three per hole. And the dirt is soft, not pounded, so when
the ball lands in the mounds it stops. And that, says Mick,
is when the skills of the golfer are genuinely tested.
“Many an unsuspecting player has had three or four shots
getting out of our bunkers,” he grins. “If it wasn’t for the
bunkers – or mounds – everyone would be hitting 300
metre drives. The ground is so hard that the ball just runs
and runs.”

Caretaker Les Dakin and the new tractor

28 Q Golf Spring 2015

www.golfqueensland.org.au

The other unusual hazard on the Longreach golf course is
the population of crows, who seemingly have an obsession
with golf balls.
“No-one seems to know why, but the buggers pinch
them and hoard them,” said Mick. “Recently someone
discovered a hollow strainer post on the border fence
line of the course and inside was a couple of dozen balls.
What their fascination is with golf balls is a mystery to
everyone.”
So prevalent is the disappearing golf ball on certain areas
of the course that the club has invoked a local rule. Players
whose ball has been stolen by a crow can drop another at
the spot, without penalty. “But only if your playing partner
has witnessed the theft,” quips Mick.
Tourists considering a game of golf while visiting
Longreach won’t need clubs, and electric buggies are also
available for hire. The Gambling Community Benefit Fund
has donated two golf buggies and Mick says that since
they arrived a further 20 have been purchased by local
members. The GCBF has also recently donated $35,000
towards a new tractor for the use by the club.
“And I reckon we would have 500 clubs donated by people
over the years who have bought news sets,” said Mick. “So
there is no excuse not to play when a golfer visits here.
They don’t even have to bring their own clubs.
“Fair Dinkum, any golfer who heads out west to visit
the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas
Founders Museum, should add a game of golf at
Longreach to their bucket list.”
And they won’t have to book either. Caretaker/
groundsman/curator Les Dakin lives on site and will gladly
accept the $5 vi