Designed by former touring professional Graham Marsh, the Maroochy River Golf Club was established in 2015 when Horton Park Golf Club was forced to relocate from the heart of Maroochydore to a flat floodplain inland at Bli Bli.

Like Victorian examples Yering Meadows and Eastern, the relocation was conceived initially as a 27-hole project with 18 full-length championship calibre holes built initially for the membership. Those 18 holes have proven extremely popular to Sunshine Coast golfers, with the club enjoying a full membership and hosting more than 80,000 rounds of golf annually.

Unlike the tight, tree-lined and landlocked Horton Park golf course, the Marsh layout at Maroochy River is more open and windswept, as well as being much longer and more difficult. The design itself is quite similar to other Marsh projects around Australia, such as Eynesbury and RACV Royal Pines, for the quasi-links nature of the ground movement, the tight, elevated green sites and the use of water and severe back tees to test good players.

The obvious point of difference with other Marsh designs, is the lack of housing around the course and the golf-only focus of the facility. The club offers its members excellent year-round conditioning, quality practice facilities and the ability to tee off much earlier than other clubs in the region within residential neighbourhoods.

While some holes are quite brutal on shorter hitters, there are a number of attractive bunker complexes at Maroochy River and fun short holes. The short par four 6th stands out, along with the par 3 4th and 12th.