There is no dress code or too many rules at the Misstree Golf Club, 20 kilometres outside of Broome, in Western Australia’s far north.
Players are urged to wear thongs and a hat, and try not to hit the ball into the pool, the shed, or over the neighbour’s fence.
“Before we had the pool, people used to hit onto the roof and let it roll down onto the last green,” 86-year-old Shirley Burns said.
“It’s a two stroke penalty if you put in on the roof,” adds her husband Fraser, aged 92.
Fraser and Shirley Burns have hosted many friends at the Misstree Golf Club on their rural property. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)
The chipper couple created Misstree Golf Club shortly after buying the five-hectare property, in the suburb of 12 Mile, in 2001.
The course name refers to the many mango, boab, bauhinia and tropical trees on the fairways, which cause golfers mirth and grief in equal amounts
“There’s obstacles that just come up in front of you,” Mr Burns said.
“It’s a free drop out of the shed if you go in there.”
The fairways are red for much of the year at Shirley and Fraser Burns’ homemade golf course at Broome’s 12 Mile. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)
The nine-hole, par-three course takes a kilometre to walk if players double back to make a full 18, teeing off in a slightly different place on the red pindan soil.
The last hole is on lush lawn beside the pool and barbecue area, and is known as the clubrooms.
Mr Burns plays off a course handicap of six.
Fraser Burns putts the last hole at his homemade golf course in Broome. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)
“I never started playing golf until I was 50,” he said.
“I reckon I could have made this course bigger.”
Fraser Burns clearing the property in 2001. (Supplied: Shirley Burns)
A putter and seven iron are the only clubs you need on the course.
Mr Burns said he regularly gets a hole-in-one.
“The only one I haven’t holed twice is the back lawn and that’s a very hard shot because you have to go over the trees and drop onto the lawn,” he said.
Shirley Burns credits daily gardening and golf on her rural property with keeping fit and healthy. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)
“It’s definitely good exercise but so is looking after five acres [sic] everyday,” Mrs Burns, who has a Misstree handicap of 12, said.
“I love living here.”
Mr Burns is planning his 100th birthday in seven years’ time — not at Misstree — but at the Broome Golf Club in town.
Fraser Burns is a retired cray fisherman and despite suffering a mild stroke in July remains active. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)
“The lifestyle we’re living is the way to go,” he said.