Teeing off on the 13th hole at Noosa Springs
By Peter Owen
THE most difficult thing about visiting Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort is deciding just what to do, and in which order to do it.
Of course, if you’re a golfer it’s easy. Just head to the first tee of the magnificent 18-hole, par-72 championship golf course and prepare yourself for a golfing treat.
The 6180m gem, rated one of Australia’s finest courses, winds its way through lush bushland, where kangaroos and other native birds make their home.
But that’s only one of the options at a resort that offers superb dining, one of the best day spas in Queensland, tennis, swimming and a fully equipped fitness centre.
Noosa Springs, situated in the hinterland of one of Australia’s best known tourist destinations, is largely the creation of developer Alan Starkey – a Noosa architect who, more than 30 years ago, dreamed of building a golf course complex equal to any in the country.
The par four 17th hole at Noosa Springs.
Starkey paid $3.7 million in 1992 for a rundown, bankrupt quarter-horse stud on the banks of Lake Weyba and became the owner of 103ha of overgrown trees and swampland, plus some cleared land where, in years past, Weyba Ranch had hosted the annual picnic races.
Starkey’s vision was to create a residential golf course development comprising beautiful homes, designed to meld with the environment, a first class golf course carved out of the bush, and a resort offering the sort of facilities that would make living at Noosa Springs a joy.
It didn’t come without it challenges, but this month Noosa Springs celebrates its 25th anniversary – a quarter century of growth that has seen the property become a key part of the Noosa fabric, and an integrated golf resort of national significance.
Noosa Springs’ manager Daniel Chandler.
It’s come a long way from 1999, when the course opened on a rainy Saturday afternoon to 200 invited guests, who later enjoyed a cool drink in a simple donga situated on the spot where a Tuscan-style clubhouse would later be built.
Mark Holland, the first general manager of Noosa Springs, remembers the spirit of excitement, the thrill of starting something from scratch, and the realisation that Noosa Springs was destined to be something special.
“I remember the smell,” he said. “It was like a new toy – the smell of something brand new.
“It was a fun time – starting from nothing, building relationships with tourism people, working to attract members and guests, and putting new systems into practice.
“Now, when I look back I get the sense that Noosa Springs is bigger and better than even I imagined,” he said. “It’s become a jewel.”
