Built in the hinterland above Queensland’s ever popular Sunshine Coast, the Maleny Golf Club is a short, unusual 18-hole modern course on the outskirts of the scenic town of Maleny. It’s unusualness stems from both the heavily undulating nature of its landforms, as much as the somewhat unconventional character of its design. Unusual, in such a golf context, is certainly not a criticism.

Designed by Graham Papworth and constructed over several years, the club operates from a small shack on top of its main ridge, with the two nines stretching out below. Though there are fun holes on the front nine, the back occupies the bigger contours and has more of the individual shots that we particularly enjoyed. These include sidehill approach shots into the 10th and 11th, an uphill second into the 16th and some attractive tree-dodging on the par five 13th and cruelly sloping 15th.

The strong par three 12th is also memorable, as it runs alongside one of several environmental protection areas that provide both a penalty on the poor shot as well as some welcome respite from the maintained kikuyu turf. The par five 2nd is another hole that bends around an environmental zone, and would be quite bland without the retained vegetation.

Despite only measuring around 5,000 metres from the tips, Maleny is no pushover thanks to its penal roughs, coarse fairway grasses, sidehill lies, 68 par and a selection of severe green sites. The blind 3rd, for example, is a drivable par four but with a rippled green that gives up very few kick-in birdies. The shared green at the 14th and 16th is another tricky target, along with the deceptive green on the sidehill par four 10th.

Highlights on the front nine include the risk-reward aspect of the 2nd hole, the blindness of tee shots on the 3rd and 4th and the brutal 9th, which demands a very accurate tee shot to a narrow fairway followed by a precise approach into a small, tiered green, generally with the ball well above your feet. Unfortunately there is a difficult transition back up the main ridge to get across to the back nine, but golfers can always make a short stop here to catch their breath, and enjoy the view.

Maleny is as far from your typical modern, championship length golf course as you can find on the Sunshine Coast, and the region is the better for it. While the holes aren’t perfect and conditioning can be a little scruffy around the edges, the course represents great value for money and as long as visitors aren’t expecting Royal Melbourne or Kingston Heath, they should walk away pleased with the experience.