Million Dollar Outback Golf Adventure Begins

“This is Australia’s most remote golf tournament and the start of our longest journey ever of 2,035 kilometres through Outback Queensland, joined by our largest number of players and spectators yet,” said Luke Bates, Queensland and Northern Territory Manager, Golf Australia.

“Many of the players are vying for the Million Dollar Hole-In-One challenge at the end of this six-location event which commenced over the weekend in Roma before following onto Tambo, Barcaldine, Winton, Mount Isa and culminating in Birdsville in July.

“A special congratulations to the winners of the Roma leg of the tournament, Sandra Webb from Tinbeerwah with 39 points and Graham Tiffany of Roma with 43 points, who each received the coveted orange jacket at the awards ceremony on Sunday evening at Roma Golf Club.

“The majority of players are ‘boomerangs’ returning from previous Outback Queensland Masters’. This year most are playing at all six locations, a real change from the inaugural event in 2019 and the following 2021 event, where most players competed in a maximum of three locations,” added Bates.

Denise Brown, CEO of Outback Queensland Tourism said, “The Outback Queensland Masters is fast becoming an iconic, Australian bucket list destination golf event that generated 4,316 visitor nights, and contributed $1.5M to the Queensland economy in 2021.

“I’m so excited to meet visitors from all over Australia, some travelling from as far as Tasmania and South Australia to compete. This event really helps spread visitor spend through to the far reaches of this great and vast region, with the majority competing over the full six locations,” said Brown.

The 250 competitors and spectators enjoyed more than just golf over the two days of competition, the event’s Dinner Under the Stars Saturday night entertainment saw Australian bush poet Jack Drake send waves of laughter through the crowd with his ‘gift of the gab’ before nine-time Golden Guitar winner Adam Harvey had competitors dancing the night away.

Some 45 local Roma golfing enthusiasts aged from five to fourteen years participated in the free Junior Clinics Program with PGA professional from Brisbane, Darren Weatherall.

“The Outback Queensland Masters legacy is to give youth in Outback Queensland an opportunity to either try golf for the first time or fine-tune their skills,” explained Darren Weatherall, PGA Pro on tour.

“It’s so encouraging to see such young people giving it a go. Some of the juniors this weekend were priceless, with the clubs twice their size!”

Luke Bates added, “The event is presented by Golf Australia, and we would especially like to thank our strategic partner Tourism and Events Queensland and Birdie Spirit Partner PGA of Australia.

“Support from local golf clubs and their members who so eagerly embraced the masters has been integral to this success. The Roma Golf Club has been outstanding in its participation and support for the Outback Queensland Masters.

We could not have been staged without assistance from local government, including the Maranoa Regional Council, Blackall-Tambo Regional Council, Barcaldine Regional Council, Winton Shire Council, Mount Isa City Council and Diamantina Shire Council,” Bates said.

The Outback Queensland Masters is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.

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