$10,000 is on offer for Open Ace as golfers create courses for Cooktown

More than 50 local and visiting competitors will have their eyes on the prize, including $10,000 for a hole-in-one, when they tee off at the 2024 Cooktown Open on June 29-30. Photo: Cape York Weekly.

Competitors will be aiming to leave the course with bulging wallets when they battle for glory at the 2024 Cooktown Open on June 28-29.

More than 50 golfers have already nominated for the 36-hole showdown, but most will be hoping to get their short clubs dialed in on the ninth.

A staggering $10,000 is being offered to any golfer who can make a hole-in-one on the ninth on Saturday or Sunday, something Cooktown Golf Club vice-president Sam Godfrey-Roberts said he would like to see happen.

“It’s the ninth hole and it’s quite a short hole, so there’s a chance it could go off,” he said.

“(The $10,000) is also an attraction for people; we are trying to tie it in with the tourist season to attract some of the players who visit Cooktown from the south.”

The annual Prawn Run will be held on June 27 to introduce visiting golfers to the Cooktown course. Mr Godfrey-Roberts says this is his best job in more than a decade.

“The Prawn Run is only a nine-hole success for many visitors if they have not played the course before the weekend’s 36 holes,” he explained.

“The course has never been better; we’re all volunteers and the greens have always been an issue, that’s the feedback we’ve had at times, but they’re running better now than they have in probably 14 years.

“It’s never looked better for an Open.”

With Cooktown’s ultimate golf bragging rights on the line this weekend, Godfrey-Roberts said the club was proud of its welcoming, relaxed approach to the biggest competition of the year.

“The people who come just love that it’s a very relaxed club, even for an Open,” the vice president said.

“In that respect we are quite informal and there is a very relaxed atmosphere during the weekend.”

On both days the first play groups leave from approximately 7:30 am.

Send an email to nominate for the event (e-mail address) or download an entry form from the Cooktown Golf Club Facebook page.