ROAD TO 100 - GOING OUTTABOUNDS DOWN UNDER
Previously on Chapter I to III
- 07/01/2025 Forest City Golf
- 07/01/2025 Horizon Hills
- 10/01/2025 Mandurah
- 12/01/2025 The Cut
- 14/01/2025 Meadow Springs
- 15/01/2025 Kwinana Golf Club
- 24/01/2025 Margaret River Golf Club
- 26/01/2025 Denmark Golf Club
- 27/01/2025 Albany Golf Club
- 29/01/2025 Esperance Golf Club
- 10/02/2025 Whaleback
- 11/02/2025 Hillview
- 13/02/2025 Wave Rock
- 14/02/2025 Kalgoorlie
- 24/08/2025 Carnarvon
- 28/08/2025 Exmouth
- 01/09/2025 Hartfield
- 03/09/2025 Royal Freemantle
- 04/09/2025 El Caballo
- 24/09/2025 - 27/09/2025 Nullarbor
- 12/10/2025 Cape Wickham
- 22/10/2025 Ocean Dunes
- 01/10/2025 King Island Local
- 06/12/2025 Spring Park
- 08/12/2025 The National Gunnamatta
XI. Sydney — A Kid’s Dream
Before leaving Australia for good, I made one final detour to Sydney. I had crossed deserts, coastlines, and remote islands, yet somehow could not leave without standing in front of the Opera House. It was a building I had imagined seeing since I was twelve, watching New Year's fireworks explode over those white shells on TV year after year, always promising myself I would stand there in person one day. That promise was the whole reason Sydney made the list.
But standing in front of it, a dozen or so years later, the moment did not hit the way I had imagined. The building was as striking as advertised, it just turned out the dream had been doing more work than the reality could match. And it wasn't New Year's Eve either. I'm sure that that is special. What made the weekend memorable came the next day, at a Sydney Swans match, watching Australian Rules Football live for the first time. Like so many moments throughout the trip, it was a reminder that understanding a country comes as much from its people and traditions as from its landscapes.
XII. The Long Way Home
From Sydney we met Donald once more in Singapore, bringing the story quietly back to where it had begun. This time there was even more golf, five rounds in six days, conversations stretching late into the evenings, and the strange feeling that the adventure was slowly coming to an end.
Eventually there was nothing left to do but head home, beginning a journey of almost forty hours after sixteen months away. It should have felt harder than it did. Sixteen months, 5 countries, dozens of campsites and more rounds of golf than either of us had bothered to count and yet boarding that last flight felt as simple as any that came before it. Maybe that was the real lesson: that after enough time on the road, home stops being a destination you must brace for and just becomes the next stop.
Somewhere between airports and time zones, it became clear we were returning with far more than photographs or scorecards. We were carrying friendships that had crossed continents, lessons learned from remarkable people, and a completely different understanding of what makes travel memorable. Those final days with Donald completed the circle, closing the loop on where it had all started, and they became the perfect bridge between the journey we had lived and the one we hope to inspire for others through OuttaBounds. The way back home felt less like an ending, and more like just another leg of the trip. In 2024, 100 courses felt like the destination. Now I know it’s not the destination at all. I still have 72 courses to play.
And that means the road goes on.
- 05/05/2025 Palm Resort Melati
- 06/05/2025 Seninbong
- 09/05/2025 Palm Resort Alamanda
We thought going OuttaBounds meant finding the golf courses nobody else was talking about. But the further we went, the more we realised it meant something else. It meant arriving somewhere unfamiliar and trusting people we had never met. It meant taking the wrong turn and finding somewhere worth stopping. Saying yes before knowing where it would lead. Staying a little longer. Going a little further. Learning by living instead of planning everything ahead. The best experiences were rarely about the golf course alone. They were about the people who welcomed us onto it, the places we never expected to find, and the stories that came from simply being open to what was next.
Maybe that’s what OuttaBounds means to us. Not going further for the sake of it. Just being willing to leave the fairway. And see where the road takes you.
Worst case scenario...
just hit another one.
