Countries · COOBER PEDY · SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Here, golfers carry their own grass.

Coober Pedy, an opal mining town in the South Australian outback, has a golf course with no grass at all: white crushed-rock fairways, black greens of quarry dust mixed with waste oil, and a six-inch square of artificial grass that golfers carry for their shots from the fairway.

The one to remember

White fairways, black greens and a square of grass to carry.

Facts and sources

  • The Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club was formed in 1976 and has had 18 holes since 1996. In the club's words, "We have no grass on the course at all."
  • The greens, called scrapes, are local quarry dust mixed with waste oil, and the fairways are kept by spreading local white sandstone. "The greens are black and the fairways are white!" (the club).
  • For shots from the fairway, the ball goes on a 6-inch square of artificial grass that golfers carry with them. Off the fairway the ball is played from where it lies, and a local "rock relief" rule lets a ball stuck against rocks be dropped clear.
  • Coober Pedy Airport averages about 20 days of 40 °C or more each summer (Bureau of Meteorology, 1994–2026). Locals often play golf at night with glowing balls; the club holds night sessions through the year, and its members play on Sundays through the winter.
  • By local estimates more than half of Coober Pedy's people live underground, in dugouts cut into the hillsides.
  • Players can keep any opal they find on the course, and the club says many a golfer has found opal during a round.

Illustration: the course, its holes and flags, the town, the dugouts, the opal fields, the golfers, the night round and the opal find are drawn to tell the story, not recorded or surveyed. The KEEP OFF GRASS sign stands for the joke sign at the club (Golf Digest, ABC). The square of artificial grass is drawn at its real size, six inches.

Sources

  1. History of the Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club · Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club checked 11 October 2026
  2. Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club (home page) · Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club checked 11 October 2026
  3. About the Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club · Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club checked 11 October 2026
  4. St. Andrews' kooky deal with an Australian golf club (ESPN The Magazine, 10 July 2015) · ESPN (Scott Eden) checked 11 October 2026
  5. Outback Aussie dirt golf course can claim this one-of-a-kind arrangement with St. Andrews (21 August 2024) · Golf Digest checked 11 October 2026
  6. Keep off the 'non-existent' grass (ABC North and West SA, 29 July 2013), archived copy · ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) checked 11 October 2026
  7. Photographing Australia's underground town – Coober Pedy (14 March 2023) · Australian Geographic checked 11 October 2026
  8. Coober Pedy: outpost in the outback (29 October 2012) · Australian Geographic checked 11 October 2026
  9. Living Underground (Works That Work, No. 4) · Works That Work (Peter Biľak) checked 11 October 2026
  10. Climate statistics for Australian locations: Coober Pedy Airport (station 016090) · Bureau of Meteorology checked 11 October 2026
  11. History (Explore Coober Pedy) · District Council of Coober Pedy checked 11 October 2026
  12. Visit Coober Pedy · South Australian Tourism Commission checked 11 October 2026

The narration is AI-generated. Sources last checked 11 October 2026.

Script

In the Australian outback, there's a golf course where players carry their own grass. Coober Pedy is an opal mining town, where summer days often pass 40 degrees Celsius. Around half the town lives underground, in homes dug into the hills. The town's golf course has no grass at all. The fairways are white crushed rock. The greens are black, made of quarry dust mixed with waste oil. So each golfer carries a six inch square of artificial grass, and plays every fairway shot off it. To escape the heat, they often play after dark, with balls that glow. Golfers here have found opal in the middle of a round. They get to keep it.