Hamilton Island Golf Club, located in Queensland's Whitsunday Islands, has spectacular views at practically every turn. The back nine is especially jaw-dropping, including a closing stretch of holes that play along the sea. To reach the golf club, you must take an "Island Links" ferry from the Hamilton Island ports across to Dent Island. It's worth the trip.

Queensland is often called Australia's "Vacation State," where residents from other parts of the country come for holiday and visitors from around the world come to visit such sights as the Great Barrier Reef. There is a lot to discover both on and off the golf course in Queensland. Here are a handful of Brandon Tucker's favorite shots from a recent week spent there.

Palmer Coolum Golf Club is located in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast, just north of Brisbane. The golf course, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., plays host to the Australian PGA Championship. Brandon Tucker gives us a closer look at Coolum Golf Club in pictures.

Finally, there's golf in the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Queensland along Australia's Great Barrier Reef. After 20 years of planning, the Oatley family, well known Australian wine moguls, teamed with former five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson to make this dream a reality on the otherwise-deserted Dent Island. Hamilton Island Golf Club opened in 2009, offering natural splendor, blind tee shots and hidden hazards amid an island-getaway setting that worth's a look, Brandon Tucker writes.

It's a 14-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. The journey to Australia's popular vacation state of Queensland affords you the opportunity to taste new foods, hear new sounds and get close to strange new animals. Brandon Tucker recently spent a week playing golf Down Under, and he has 10 new experiences to prove it.

An accountant at an Australian golf course stole over $300,000 over the course of three years working at the club, just the latest example of theft from the inside at golf clubs.