Honestly, that Coober Pedy Golf Course idea sounded absolutely nuts when I first heard about it. No grass? In the scorching desert? But my mate Dave kept raving about it after his outback trip, so I grabbed my clubs and booked a flight to South Australia. Let me walk you through this wild experience.
The journey begins
Rented this beat-up 4WD at Adelaide airport and drove for what felt like eternity. Red dirt everywhere, temperatures hitting 40°C outside. When those “Coober Pedy – Opal Capital” signs finally appeared, my jaw dropped seeing all those underground houses dug into hillsides like hobbit holes. Checked into this cave hotel room – walls were literally carved from rock and stayed magically cool without AC.
First look at the course
Found the golf club near the airport next morning. No lush greens anywhere – just massive brown dirt fairways and “greens” made of oiled sand. Course manager chucked me a piece of astroturf mat saying “That’s your tee box and putting green, mate”. Felt ridiculous carrying that thing around at first.
Playing the back nine
Hit my first drive at Hole 1 watching a kangaroo casually hop across the fairway. Couldn’t stop laughing when my ball bounced 200 meters on that rock-hard surface! Drinking game started by Hole 3: take a swig every time you lose a ball in a mine shaft warning zone. Saw these massive mining machines chewing up the landscape nearby – felt like golfing on the moon with bulldozers.
Best parts though:
-
Reason 1: That surreal Martian landscape. Played shots with jagged rock mounds and abandoned mine carts as “hazards”. Felt like cheating geology.
Reason 2: Night golf with glowing balls. Came back after sunset when it cooled down. Swung under crazy bright stars watching those neon balls arc through pitch black. Unreal.
Reason 3: The local crew. After round, miners at the cave clubhouse traded opal digging stories for beers. No stuffy country club vibe here.
Reason 4: Zero water waste. Realized this dusty setup makes ecological sense in drought land. Pretty clever actually.
Reason 5: That insane scorecard. Shot 53 over par and didn’t even care. Best golf disaster ever.
Flew back home sunburnt and covered in red dust, still finding sand in my golf shoes weeks later. Would I recommend it? Hell yes – but leave your fancy clubs at home and bring extra water. Most unforgettable 18 holes ever played.
