Inaugural first for rural golfing communities...
Boulia Shire Council 12 Jun 2019

GOLF: The greens have been manicured and the clubhouse made spick-and-span, as Charleville Golf Club prepares to make history.

Next weekend, the golf club will be hosting leg two of the Outback Queensland Masters tournament on their humble course, where amateur golfers, social players or first-time swingers will be able to participate in an outback first - the million dollar hole-in-one.

President of the Charleville Golf Club, Clifford Jones believes that it is important for rural golfing communities to have opportunities like this.

"It's good that Golf Australia are trying something like this because we sometimes get left behind,” he said.

Having spent the last few weeks ensuring the course is up to standard, Jones believes that while the golf tournament spanning across six Outback Queensland locations has already captured considerable interest, word of mouth will help it become even bigger in future years.

"It's the first year, so like any big tournament starting up, it has the potential to grow,” he said.

"I remember when the Sandgreen Championships started 10 or 15 years back, you'd be able to still nominate two weeks after it was announced.

"Compared to this year, where they had 185 nominations within the first two hours.”

Golf Australia's Queensland manager Luke Bates said the initiative was to encourage visitors to spread the economic benefit to as much of the outback as possible, while experiencing some incredibly unique locations, golf courses and outback Queensland hospitality.

"We're encouraging visitors to adventure the Outback during an incredible array of experiences and events, including Midnight Oil live at the Big Red Bash in Birdsville, cinema under the stars at Winton's Outback Festival and the famous Boulia Camel Races - just to name a few,” he said.

Mr Jones believes the tournament will be very beneficial in boosting local economies, as well as giving tourists the chance to mix with the locals.

"I think it will be great for everyone. There's an estimated 150 people expected to be playing from all over the region,” he said.

"The million dollar hole has really incentivised people to travel and give it a good crack.”

After Roma, which will be hosting the first leg of the inaugural bush golfing tour, Charleville players will tee off on June 22.