{"id":531160,"date":"2025-10-27T13:23:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T13:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/531160\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T13:23:35","slug":"golden-golfers-a-hit-in-the-red-dirt-of-this-broome-backyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/531160\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden golfers a hit in the red dirt of this Broome backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“It’s a two stroke penalty if you put in on the roof,” adds her husband Fraser, aged 92.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Fraser and Shirley Burns have hosted many friends at the Misstree Golf Club on their rural property.\u00a0 (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)<\/p>\n

The chipper couple created Misstree Golf Club shortly after buying the five-hectare property, in the suburb of 12 Mile, in 2001.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

“There’s obstacles that just come up in front of you,” Mr Burns said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s a free drop out of the shed if you go in there.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The last hole is on lush lawn beside the pool and barbecue area, and is known as the clubrooms.<\/p>\n

Mr Burns plays off a course handicap of six.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Fraser Burns putts the last hole at his homemade golf course in Broome. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)<\/p>\n

“I never started playing golf until I was 50,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I reckon I could have made this course bigger.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Fraser Burns clearing the property in 2001. (Supplied: Shirley Burns)<\/p>\n

A putter and seven iron are the only clubs you need on the course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Burns said he regularly gets a hole-in-one.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Shirley Burns credits daily gardening and golf on her rural property with keeping fit and healthy. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)<\/p>\n

“It’s definitely good exercise but so is looking after five acres [sic] everyday,” Mrs Burns, who has a Misstree handicap of 12, said.<\/p>\n

“I love living here.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Burns is planning his 100th birthday in seven years’ time \u2014 not at Misstree \u2014 but at the Broome Golf Club in town.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Fraser Burns is a retired cray fisherman and despite suffering a mild stroke in July remains active. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)<\/p>\n

“The lifestyle we’re living is the way to go,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is no dress code or too many rules at the Misstree Golf Club, 20 kilometres outside of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[172127,172129,172124,109824,172126,2826,6520,172130,172128,142465,172125,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-531160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-12-mile-broome","9":"tag-ageing-well","10":"tag-backyard-golf","11":"tag-broome","12":"tag-broomes-backyard-golf-course","13":"tag-golf","14":"tag-healthy-aging","15":"tag-kimberley-life","16":"tag-playing-golf-in-your-90s","17":"tag-seniors-fitness","18":"tag-seniors-sport","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115446351624634639","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}