Swing hard, then unwind. We trace the history of golf, health and wellness Down Under and offer a snapshot into Australia’s best retreats – where five-star fairways meet full-body recovery and relaxation.
Some 27 years ago in the northern Thai highlands at Royal Chiangmai Golf Resort came a first encounter with health and wellness. Upon the conclusion of an 18-hole round on the Peter Thomson course, my playing companion said we’d be having lunch followed by a massage before continuing for our second 18.
My initial thought was one of bemusement. A massage? You’ve got to be kidding. Nevertheless, I disrobed and pulled on a pair of pyjama-like pants for what turned out to be a cathartic moment.
Moments into the massage, I began giggling like a cheeky schoolboy as the masseuse cleaned the sensitive soles of my feet. Those giggles evolved into squeals of anguish as she applied pressure to tight knots in my calves that had accumulated over the years.
Little did I know at the time, Traditional Thai massage combines acupressure and stretching. Apparently, the most common area for discomfort is the upper traps – the triangle-shaped area between the shoulder blades and back of the neck.
That one-hour ‘torture’ session worked a treat. Having teed off for our second round of the day, it literally felt as though my body was floating on air as we made our way down the first fairway. Over the next four hours I pondered why it had taken me so long to discover the benefits of therapeutic massage – what’s now often referred to as ‘Health and Wellness’.
Throughout the world, in particular Asia, golf is a lifestyle experience. A big part of that experience is the food, the spa and walking around a golf course. Golf isn’t necessarily the main feature, just part of the mix. And a round of golf isn’t just four hours in a golf cart. It’s a healthy breakfast, a warm shower, 18 holes, followed by a post-round shower, sauna or spa and a long lunch with playing companions.
In the Middle East it’s increasingly common to find health-and-wellness facilities attached to golf resorts and residential-golf communities. In Dubai for instance, a grand health/wellness facility is a highlight for residents and guests at Jumeirah Golf Estates where more than 1,500 villas, townhouses and apartments form a dozen communities alongside two Greg Norman-designed golf courses. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental will have wellness, beauty and massage treatments in tranquil surrounds. Almost 5,000 square metres of space will be dedicated to holistic wellbeing with male and female-only pools, an outdoor meditation area and three additional swimming pools.
Hyatt Regency Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast was the pioneer of that all-inclusive lifestyle experience in Australia. You weren’t even allowed to bring children into Coolum when it opened in 1988 because it was designed as a wellness retreat. Behind that concept was Dr John Tickell, the general practitioner, obstetrician and sports medicine guru.
Tickell brought Jack Nicklaus to Victoria where he designed the St John course at Heritage Golf & Country Club. One of his best-selling books was the one he co-wrote with the Golden Bear called Golf & Life (2005) about the mental aspects of winning. Now in his early 80s, Tickell has been a long-time natural-health advocate and the author of The Great Australian Diet and Laughter, Sex, Vegetables & Fish.
“There was a Norwegian study many years ago that showed people who play golf and walk have a life expectancy three to five years longer than people who don’t play golf,” Tickell says.
Hyatt Regency Coolum is no longer a lifestyle retreat after its transition to Palmer Coolum Resort in 2011. However through the 1990s, Tickell was an equity holder and served as medical director of Coolum’s health operations, which included pools and gymnasiums in a complex where doctors performed health tests (treadmill, cardiograph
and risk-assessment evaluations).
Tickell negotiated a deal with Japanese construction company Kumagai Gumi, which had started taking equity in hotels around the world. In Australia, Kumagai Gumi built Hyatt Canberra, Hyatt Adelaide, Alan Bond’s Observation City (now Rendezvous Hotel Perth Scarborough) and Hyatt Regency Coolum on the Sunshine Coast.
“The idea was that we would sell real estate,” he says. “I stole an idea from Marriott in the US where you could divide a hotel villa into four real-estate sections with its own title and sell a quarter interest to a company who could send their executives there for a week or two weeks of rest and recreation. It was only just a service fee instead of paying hotel rates. We sold about 300 villas in quarter interest to companies all over Australia who thought [of] sending their executives away for a wellness retreat – have a health check-up and a game of golf.”
Coolum was the only resort in Australia where guests could rent a bike and ride across 300 acres of tracks and paths. Tickell invented ‘AFDs’ (Alcohol-Free Days) there whereby guests would receive a gift or discount if they went a day without drinking.
“It was the best resort in Australia for return visitation. In other words, if someone had been there, they kept going back because of all the facilities to keep healthy,” Tickell says about Coolum in its heyday.
“It took two years for the thing to reach profitability. But [what] made it grounded was the ownership. Many of the villas were in corporate hands so they didn’t have any trouble sending executives up there for 10 days to R&R, to switch off their brain for a couple of weeks. Refresh the whole body and mind. And it was a tax deduction for the company… under the OH&S (Operational Health and Safety) laws then. It was before its time, but then… other resorts happened around Australia, like north of Perth in Joondalup and then Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast.”
GOLF FACILITIES PRIORITISING HEALTH & WELLNESS
Australians have become attuned to golf being part of a retreat weekend, particularly for partners, according to Barrie Whyte, managing director of Asia Spa Retreat. Whyte’s company has hosted tours to 16 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region (asiasparetreat.com). He plans to host a golf tour to Vietnam, where he sees great potential.
“You go to a shopping centre,” says Whyte, “you see all these wellness centres that are opening up. Endota: they’re just about in every shopping centre around town. So people are more conscious of their wellness.”
Yet a relatively small number of Australia’s leading golf courses have a health/wellness facility attached. Fewer than 20 of Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses have massage therapy or a day spa on-site. A notable exception is Barnbougle Spa, attached to the world-famous 52-hole complex near Bridport on the coastline of north-east Tasmania. Barnbougle Spa has undergone renovation and was scheduled to re-open on its existing premises at Lost Farm Lodge in late 2025.
The Spa at Château Élan Hunter Valley is a luxurious retreat from which to escape the hectic Sydney scene. Situated alongside The Vintage golf course designed by Greg Norman/Bob Harrison, Château Élan is one of Australia’s largest health and wellness facilities with 5-star resort accommodation in spacious villas. The award-winning Château Élan has 17 treatment rooms with a refined European ambience. It offers a variety of packages, including five different types of facials. The Spa Ultimate Ritual ($720 for five hours) includes a body polish, body wrap, scalp cocoon, balneotherapy, relaxation massage and iKOU facial. Day spa guests have complimentary access to the hydro lounge and deck with two outdoor mineral spas. It’s a perfect setting to unwind with a cheese platter and glass of Hunter semillon while savouring the mountain vistas.
Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Port Douglas is known for Queensland’s largest saltwater lagoon pool, harvested directly from the Coral Sea. The two-hectare watering hole (21 Olympic-sized swimming pools) is a frequent rendezvous point after a round on the Thomson/Wolveridge layout at Mirage Country Club. Kaia Day Spa has a wide range of treatments, the most popular of which are the Korean glass skin facial ($319 for 90 minutes), hot stone massage ($220, 90 minutes), tropical dreaming package ($299, 120 minutes) and celebrity teeth whitening ($199, 60 minutes).
Since the COVID pandemic, more facilities are choosing to promote their non-golf offerings. Links Hope Island on Queensland’s Gold Coast even rebranded itself as Links Golf & Wellbeing. The Champions Day Spa at Hope Island operates as a separate business whose facilities include a hair/beauty salon as well as massage treatment rooms.
Palm Lake Resort Pelican Waters has opened Mirador Wellness precinct at its over-50s residential-golf estate on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Mirador is the first dedicated health and wellness space to be included in a Palm Lake masterplan anywhere in Australia. The lakeside setting has been placed to take advantage of a waterfront location adjacent to the Pelican Waters layout designed by Norman/Harrison. More than just a gymnasium and fitness centre, Mirador has a steam room as well as Vichy showers. Homeowners have their own personal locker within the Mirador precinct, one of the lifestyle elements at Palm Lake Resort Pelican Waters.
RACV (Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) has a longstanding reputation for providing benefits to its members. Under the ‘One Spa’ brand, RACV has prioritised health and wellness at its resorts across Australia. These include the golf properties at RACV Cape Schanck, RACV Healesville, RACV Torquay and RACV Royal Pines.
Several luxurious health/wellness facilities are located near our top golf courses. Guests at Moonah Links Resort have a choice between two world-class centres within five minutes’ drive. Peninsula Hot Springs is one of the Mornington Peninsula’s most beguiling attractions with its variety of natural geothermal mineral springs that cater for the family-oriented demographic. It has more than 50 bathing experiences from a multitude of warm springs, cold plunge pools, wet and dry saunas, Turkish Hamam steam bath, Japanese-style cave pool and Nepalese-inspired mineral showers. For golfers wishing to revitalise tired muscles, Peninsula Hot Springs offers early-bird and twilight bathing ($55, before 9am or after 6pm).
Alternatively, Alba Thermal Springs & Spa is a wellness sanctuary aimed towards high-end clientele. Alba is open from 7am-10pm for weekday bathing in the contemporary masonry setting ($100). It has a bunch of themed packages. The Salts Float Therapy ($160) is a weightless, dream-like experience in a private rooftop salt pool for 45 minutes, which includes all-day access to Alba’s 22 geothermal pools, sauna and steam room.
“People come and stay with us but they go to either the Peninsula Hot Springs or Alba to pamper themselves, whether it’s the hot springs or that wellness experience,” says Moonah Links general manager Sacha Han. “It works perfectly in tandem because when people come down to the peninsula, that’s what they’re looking for. Wellness doesn’t necessarily have to be going to the hot springs. Wellness can be just enjoying yourself, having a great game with your mates on the golf course. For Moonah Links, we look at wellness as mental wellness and also physical wellness.”
BETTER HEALTH THROUGH WATER
The practice of bathing in hot springs and mineral water can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. Apparently, the word spa is an acronym for the Latin phrase salus per aquae – meaning health through water. A modern day spa is likely to offer massages, facials and body treatments. However hair salons sometimes refer to themselves as spas if they have massage tables (given the unregulated nature of the industry).
Noosa Springs Spa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is an impressive facility that complements an 18-hole, Graham Papworth-designed layout ranked No.100 on Australia’s Top 100 Golf Courses. Noosa Springs Spa has all the facilities expected of a modern day spa: hydrotherapy and floatation pools, steam room, infrared sauna, blitz shower, thermal capsule and outdoor couples spa. Packages are designed with health and wellness in mind from head to toe.
“Our biggest feature is the thermal pool because we are the only one on the Sunshine Coast that has the thermal pool,” says Noosa Springs Spa marketing manager Anna Lucas. “All of the water is natural. There is no chlorine. There are no chemicals in our pool.”
The Thermal Suite Experience ($75 for 55 minutes) occurs in a purpose-built HydroMassage pool heated to 34°C. Strong underwater jets perform the massage and body-temperature water relaxes the muscles. Its sanitising system uses a combination of hydrogen peroxide and ozone, of which the by-product is oxygen. The oxygen increases energy levels as well as improving the healing aspects of the water. Hydrotherapy treatments increase blood and lymphatic circulation, strengthen the immune system, improve metabolism, cleanse the skin and detoxify the body.
Noosa Springs Spa’s Floatation Session ($79 for 55 minutes; $120 per couple) uses a sensory deprivation tank, otherwise known as Restricted Environmental Stimuli Therapy (REST). This custom-designed floatation pool can accommodate two people at once. The water is heated to body temperature and has a 50 percent Epsom salt concentration to raise the water density, thereby making it easier to float. The sensation is like floating on air because of the buoyancy and weightless feeling. Floating is said to alleviate every stress-related disease in the body. It normalises blood pressure, reduces chronic pain and helps with depression. Research has shown that 60 minutes in a floatation pool is equal to six hours of rest.
Popular with women is the Japanese Spa Scalp Treatment. This deep massage is intended to cleanse the head and scalp and restore balance to the mind. Each treatment includes dry brushing, scalp cleansing shampoo, nourishing hair mask with steam, soothing hand and arm massage, revitalising scalp massage and waterfall therapy with a décolletage massage.
Noosa Spring’s five-hour ‘SpaCation’ package is marketed as the “ultimate pampering experience” ($550)… and timed to coincide with the length of an 18-hole round of golf. It includes a choice of either the Thermal Suite Experience or Floatation Session plus any three treatments from a full-body massage, deluxe pedicure, customised organic facial, body wrap, body scrub and foot soother.
NEVER PLAY GOLF TWO DAYS IN A ROW
The late golf writer Tom Ramsey once provided a sage piece of advice for golf vacations. Infrequent golfers, according to Tom, should never play consecutive rounds while on holiday. Unlike professional golfers, they’re unaccustomed to being on their feet for hours on end. So it’s essential to break up a golf trip with non-golf activities every second day, he theorised.
In all likelihood, Ramsey may have been referring to walking 18 holes. Cart golf doesn’t strain the body nearly as much for someone used to a desk job. However his message was clear. Take the time to refresh the body and the mind.
Both younger and older Australians appear more inclined to take responsibility for their body, mind and soul. They certainly know they can’t rely on an overstretched health-care system and ‘Big Pharma’ to take care of their ailments. And since the COVID pandemic, golf is increasingly seen as a lifestyle extension rather than just a golf experience.
It stands to reason we may start to see more health and wellness facilities at Australian golf courses. Of the future,
Dr Tickell is bullish:
“If you put a car in a garage and don’t start it for two years, it rusts. So that’s what is happening to the human body. Golf is fantastic. You were born with 600 muscles and 180 joints. Apart from putting, every golf swing is moving all your muscles and joints in one action. [And you] move every muscle and every joint 80-something times a round.”
Best of golf, health & wellness in Australia
Considering a golf vacation that combines health and wellness? The accompanying panel is a snapshot of top-end wellness facilities at courses across the nation. The number in parentheses indicates where a golf course is ranked on Australia’s Top 100. The asterisk indicates the health/wellness centre is located near rather than at a golf course.
QUEENSLAND
Hamilton Island (30)
Spa Qualia* + Spa Wumurdaylin*
Links Hope Island (51)
Champions Hair Beauty Day Spa
Mirage Country Club
Kaia Day Spa at Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort
Noosa Springs (100)
Noosa Springs Spa
Palmer Sea Reef
Vie Spa at Pullman Port Douglas
Pelican Waters (65)
Mirador Wellness at Palm Lake Resort
RACV Royal Pines (94)
One Spa at RACV Royal Pines
NEW SOUTH WALES
Byron Bay
Eléme Day Spa (Crystalbrook Byron)* + Vitoria Drago Massage & Healing*
Cypress Lakes (88)
Elysia Wellness Retreat*
Kooindah Waters
Wildfire Day Spa at Mercure Kooindah Waters
Magenta Shores (35)
Vie Spa at Pullman Magenta Shores
Vintage (53)
The Spa at Château Élan Hunter Valley
VICTORIA
Black Bull (75)
SOL Wellness at The Sebel Yarrawonga
Heritage
Heritage Day Spa
Henley (77), St John (86), Moonah Links Legends (45), Open (48)
Peninsula Hot Springs* + Alba*
RACV Cape Schanck (72)
One Spa at RACV Cape Schanck
RACV Healesville
One Spa at RACV Healesville
RACV Torquay
One Spa at RACV Torquay
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Tanunda Pines
endota spa at Novotel Barossa Valley
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Joondalup Resort
endota spa at Joondalup Resort
Vines Resort
The Skin Suite Collective
TASMANIA
Barnbougle Dunes (4), Barnbougle Lost Farm (7), Bougle Run (60)
Barnbougle Spa
