The Twin Waters golf course is one of the original championship courses on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and was built during resort golf’s boom days of the late 1980’s. Together with the nearby Hyatt Coolum resort, which opened in 1988, Twin Waters helped to bring serious golfers to this unspoiled coastal paradise in search of good golf.

The course itself is a fascinating study of the desires of design partners Michael Wolveridge and Peter Thomson to impose their design style on a rugged and naturally Australian landscape. Heavily influenced by the classic British links, the design is unashamedly traditional and one of the clearest examples of their unmistakable style.

Despite the resort setting and warm humid climate, the philosophies of links golf have been fully integrated into the layout, making an interesting if not totally coherent challenge. Running approach play is encouraged through design, yet the surfaces are softer than ideal and therefore more receptive to attacking ‘target’ play. The beautiful native flora and fauna of the site also offers a distinctly Australian slant on the ancient game, no where else are your bump and run shots likely to be so carefully watched by galleries of Kangaroos.

Many physical characteristics of the British game are evident including gently rolling fairways, small pot bunkers, patches of thick tussock rough and large firm greens with subtle slopes. There are the usual water hazards and lush green fairways synonymous with resort golf, and ultimately it's this unconvincing mix of styles that make Twin Waters fairly ordinary.