A strong field is taking shape to battle it out on the Walker Bay course for the 2025 Cooktown Open on 28-29 June. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
The challenge of a “nightmare” course layout is what attracts players from across Cape York and Far North Queensland to the Cooktown Open every year, according to Cooktown Golf Club president Brent Hetaraka.
This year’s event will be held over three days, starting with the annual Prawn Run on 27 June before golfers take on a 36-hole stroke format on the Saturday and Sunday.
One of the big drawcards of the Open will be the chance for competitors to pocket $10,000 for a hole-in-one on the 9th hole, and Mr Hetaraka said he believed a few club members were secretly practicing with their short irons and spending the prize in their heads.
“I reckon there will be a few of the boys practicing their short games on the 9th,” he laughed.
“They’ll be eyeing it off for sure.”
With the Walker Bay course in sensational condition, the club president said it was the combination of the event’s social aspect and the difficult layout of the course itself that had visiting golfers beating a path to Cooktown every June.
“The course is the best I’ve seen it, and even the old-school boys are saying it’s unreal,” Mr Hetaraka said.
“The course is just crazy – I came up here playing off 3, and I’m off 7 or 8 now; with the design and the wind, it’s just a nightmare of a course, and I think that brings a lot of people in for [the Open].
“I think the social aspect of it attracts a lot of people as well; they kind of let loose a bit, which is good.”
With 40 nominations already received, it is not too late to get your entry in before the competition cap of 70 is reached.
“We’re trying to cap it at 70, just because of carts and stuff, and being a nine-holer and that,” Mr Hetaraka said.
Nomination forms are available on the club’s Facebook page, and all other Open-related inquiries can be answered by emailing [email protected].
