“You know what, you fellas? We should have a golf course on this island.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Gardner remembers the day his late mother, Furley, put forward her brilliant suggestion.<\/p>\n
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images of a person who has died.<\/p>\n
It was 2013, and a public meeting was drawing to a close in one of Australia’s most remote communities \u2014 Truwana\/Cape Barren Island, in Bass Strait.<\/p>\n
“We were all getting up ready to leave and then Mum put her hand up in the air,” he recalled.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Truwana\/Cape Barren Island sits off the north coast of Tasmania and is home to about 80 people, most of whom are Indigenous.\u00a0 (ABC News: Sharon Gordon)<\/p>\n
The local Aboriginal community had been independently running the island since 2005, when the Tasmanian government handed the land back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It had never had a golf course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when Furley raised the idea at that meeting, John remembers every hand shooting up in support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I said, ‘Ah well, that’s it, it’s going to happen,'” he said\u00a0<\/p>\n
With permission from the local Aboriginal Association Inc and the Aboriginal Land Council, John got mowing.<\/p>\n
And so was born the green grass of Marra Wunna.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mount Strzelecki looms behind the truwana\/Cape Barren Island golf course. (ABC News: Morgan Timms)<\/p>\n
John’s mother was not a keen golfer herself, but Furley was thrilled to see her idea come to fruition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I made her the patron of the course \u2014 she was pretty important,” John said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doing golf differently\u00a0<\/p>\n
The views on these remote fairways rival those of any prestigious course in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But you won’t find rich high-flyers and corporate colleagues brandishing nine-irons here.<\/p>\n
There are no tailored trousers or neatly pressed polo shirts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You score an advantage if a crow steals your ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And shoes are optional.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shoes are optional at what might be the most relaxed golf course in the country.\u00a0 (ABC News: Morgan Timms\/Sharon Gordon)<\/p>\n
John cares for the course as a volunteer, and describes himself as “greenkeeper, organiser, manager, player \u2014 everything”.<\/p>\n
He likes to keep things simple at Marra Wunna.<\/p>\n
“It’s a place to come and nobody worries about anything but the golf \u2026 we don’t have any carry-on,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John Gardner keeps things interesting by making changes to the shape of the course.\u00a0 (ABC News: Morgan Timms)<\/p>\n
What’s with the name?<\/p>\n
John insists his course doesn’t promote drugs, but he likes that the name on the sign makes people chuckle when they say it out loud.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A unique name for a unique golf course. (ABC News: Morgan Timms)<\/p>\n
“It’s a bit of a play on words \u2026 it’s completely ours, you won’t find another name like it,” he said.<\/p>\n
The name is not the only thing that sets this nine-hole course apart.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John has named the holes on the course. (ABC News: Morgan Timms\/Sharon Gordon)<\/p>\n
Free shots and laughs<\/p>\n
Golf is a tourist drawcard for Tasmania.\u00a0<\/p>\n