The Palmer Coolum Resort (formerly Hyatt Regency Resort) on Queensland's Sunshine Coast is home to the Australian PGA Championship and one of the most popular resort courses in Australia. Designed by the Robert Trent Jones Jnr design company, Coolum dishes up the usual resort golf thrills and challenges with plenty of water, lush tropical foliage and a focus on eye-catching features and design.

The layout is not overly long but it makes up for any lack of length with a mix of hazards and the combination of contrasting landscapes, from the region’s swampland and forests of tall natives, to a series of man-made lakes and ponds. originally holes 4 through 8 were on the beach side of the main highway through Coolum, but this part of the course was lost in a 2008-2009 redesign to convert the prime land to housing and move the golf further away from the shoreline. The new holes are a mixed bag, harder and longer they work reasonably well with the older holes but are far from outstanding.

As far as signature holes go, Coolum has two - the downhill par three 11th which plays alongside a lake to a bean-shaped green hugging the water, and the TPC Sawgrass style finishing hole, which heads left around a lake and punishes those who bail too far from the water with their tee shot.

The course is part of a larger 160-hectare subtropical resort and spa, situated minutes from the beaches of Queensland's magnificent Sunshine Coast. With all the first class amenities you expect from a five-star resort, the sculptured and lush golf course remains a popular destination for holidaying golfers.