There have been a number of highly touted courses open in
Australia in the past decade but none have threatened the
pre-eminence of our leading courses Royal Melbourne, Kingston
Heath, NSW or Royal Adelaide.
These are my favourite Australian courses and despite all the
attendant publicity surrounding most of the new offerings they
have not quite matched the wonder of our best courses although
Kennedy Bay and Bob Harrison's course at The National are
terrific and the best of the new layouts.
Word is leaking out, however, of a new course in the sand dunes
of the Northeast coast of Tasmania that promises to be the best
course built in this country since the great Depression.
Here, I must admit to having more than a close involvement with
Barnbougle Dunes so you should read my comments with this in
mind.
The course is co-designed by the design company bearing my name
and one of the best architects in America, Tom Doak.
In 2000, a 24-year-old Tasmanian, Greg Ramsay had the dream of
building a course in the most unlikely of locations and he
approached Richard Sattler a Bridport farmer (one hour NE of
Launceston, pop.1500) with the suggestion that the dunes
bordering his 13,000-acre potato and cattle farm might be
transformed into a serious golf course. Sattler did not play
golf, indeed he "knows nothing about it and doesn't even
really like it" but at least he didn't immediately send
Ramsay and his hair-brained scheme, down the road.
There have been times, however, when I suspect he wishes he had.
Ramsey organized for Doak partner Bruce Hepner, John Sloan, Bruce
Grant and I to visit the site but we drove from the first meeting
with the collective view of "that'll never happen".
"If I have heard that speech once, I've heard it a
hundred times", said Hepner of the dreaming kid promising to
"make you guys famous".
It's fair to say four years after Sattler professed to know
so little of the game, he has formed an attachment both to it and
the people he has met through the project including Mike Keiser,
the owner of the Bandon Dunes resort in Oregon where Doak built
Pacific Dunes, a course already ranked amongst the top 20 in the
world. One connection between Bandon and Barnbougle is both are a
long way from a big population centre and both Keiser and Sattler
have had friends question their sanity. Or, at least in
Keiser's case they used to question it. The Bandon resort is
now the most successful in the United States and it proved great
remote golf is sustainable.
Never could a design team have had, in Sattler, a more trusting,
fun and passionate client determined to do something worthwhile
for his local community.
Keiser has been a source of great wisdom and the man who
suggested the course ought to become a public facility as opposed
to Ramsay's original concept of a membership-based club.
All credit should go to Sattler who was convinced by Doak and I,
he could create something of real significance for Australian
golf and perhaps more importantly, Tasmanian golf. The island has
a dearth of good courses but not of great land and if Barnbougle
is successful it may be the beginning of something really special
for Tasmanian golfers and those making the effort to travel to
the island. Some are sceptical of the chances of success but they
assume Barnbougle is just another very good - and probably
over-hyped - golf course. If that was all it was, I too would
hold fears to for its viability but it is no ordinary golf course
and the experience of playing over its holes is unmatched in this
country. That is the promise of Barnbougle for those who make the
pilgrimage.
The wonder of great courses is that they are played over
spectacular land and the layouts are made up of incredible holes,
one after another, that leave golfers in awe of the experience.
There are perhaps only a couple of holes - the 2nd and the 16th -
that wouldn't qualify amongst a group of the best holes in
the country. The 2nd is the only hole not bordered by dunes on
both sides yet I love its understated nature as the left side of
the fairway leaks out into the farmland, because it will be, for
some, a let down after all the pre-game hype. Many will walk off
the 2nd green and comment "this course isn't that
good".
Half an hour later they will walk from the 4th green with their
minds changed and the promise of much more to come.
The course plays along a thin strip of coastal dunes with the
clubhouse, set in the middle of the property and almost
literally, on the beach.
The opening four holes play away from the clubhouse and into the
prevailing wind but at the far point of the front nine the golfer
turns from the 4th green around a high dune to the most
spectacular of views across the ocean. The run back to the
clubhouse is through the steepest dunes closest to the water and
only the tiny 120 metre seventh interrupts the succession of
holes down the prevailing breeze. The 7th is a fearsome short
hole sure to be a favourite with its small green guarded by a
deep bunker on the left and a sharp, long bank that sweeps the
ball far away from the green if the shot is too long.
The two other personal favourites on the first nine are the short
par four, 4th and the long; two- shot 8th that is either a par
four of a par five depending on the conditions of the day. The
4th has a huge fairway and a strategy dictated by a massive
bunker embedded into the dune one has to carry if the green is to
be reached. Only the longest of hitters could contemplate pulling
of that risky shot but there are multitudes of options for those
laying back from the tee.
The 8th is a hole of almost 500 yards in the old money with a
huge expanse of fairway split by a central dune. The upper
fairway is the best option but only a great drive will find it
and most will play down the low side and be confronted by a long
second shot up to a narrow green protected by a spectacular,
square topped, dune to the right.
The back nine like the front begins with a run of holes not right
along the water but only the single fairways running parallel and
back to the clubhouse separate these holes from the waterfront
and all are magnificent holes.
The 11th is a par five with a fairway at least ninety metres wide
for the second shot but the position of the pin dictates the
correct place to lay-up the long approach. It is a characteristic
of the course that nothing is dictated to the player and he of
she is free to decide how best to tackle a particular hole.
Too often we are confronted with holes where the line is simply
dictated by the architect and these holes may expose an inability
to hit straight but there is little emphasis placed on trying to
figure out the best way to tackle a hole of a particular day. The
greatest example of a never-ending puzzle is the Old Course at
St. Andrews.
The short par four, 12th is a hole very similar to the 10th West
at Royal Melbourne in terms of the decisions one must make on the
tee. This hole turns to the right as opposed to the left but the
green sits on the edge of a dune and those flying at the green
face one of the most tempting yet fearsome looking shots in the
country.
The final four holes play back into the wind and along the ocean
and the 15th is a wonderful medium length par four with a bunker
in the middle of the fairway that gives the player the option and
space to play over, left, right or short.
The 17th and 18th are long two shot holes that into the stiffest
of winds can barely be reached with two woods.
The 6200 metre course is not long by the standards of today but
it is all at about but the conditions and the wind and
temperature will be the determinants of how long the holes play
and yardage means little. In my first time around the course, I
hit a five iron 200 metres onto the par three, 5th and the same
club onto the 120 metre 7th.
This is not a place for yardages on the sprinklers or golfers not
prepared for the rawest of elements. The weather can be as
miserable here as it is on a bad day on the Monterey Peninsula or
the coasts of Scotland or Ireland.
Almost by definition, the best land for golf is found the world
over on the coastlines of countries battered by high and heavy
winds and that is certainly the case at Barnbougle.
The Verdict
What it promises, is a golfing experience unmatched in Australia
and one equal to almost anything in the world. It is a place of
spectacular beauty and the holes themselves are a wonderful
collection of the best the game has to offer.
Barnbougle deserves to be successful enough to at least pay
Sattler's wage bill and repay some of his investment but my
suspicion is he, like many others, have little idea of what
Barnbougle has in store for the country's golfers or just how
good it is.
Finally, we have a course to challenge Royal Melbourne as the
country's premier course and so long as the seas don't
warm and rise too much, golfers decades from now will owe a great
debt to Sattler and Ramsay and their passion for a project that
is not predicated on the selling of real-estate or great profit.
Mind you, Richard wouldn't like to hear me say that and
I'm sure he wouldn't object to collecting more than a few
bob from all the stress of trusting Ramsay, Doak and Clayton.
The Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links officially opens on 10th December
2004, including practice facilities, 15 villas and public
clubhouse with cafe bar, pro shop, and restaurant/function room.
Green fees will be about AUD$80.
The holiday resort of Bridport, 2 kilometres from Barnbougle
Dunes, is located in a sheltered corner of the Bass Strait coast
fringed with attractive beaches. For fishing fanatics, ocean and
river fishing is excellent and there are 7 kilometres of
beachfront, accessible only from the property, for walking and
fishing.
(4.5) | Add A Review
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07 Feb 2013
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14 Nov 2012
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07 Mar 2011
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05 Nov 2009
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10 Mar 2009
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21 Nov 2006
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1. DarthWack | Rated
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14 May 2013
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Played here in early May, the course was in great condition as you would expect. The front nine was the better nine, with holes 4-5-6-7-8 being a epic stretch of holes. We were lucky with the weather it rained right up to when we hit off then become a beautiful day. I thought the greens on the back nine were some of the most extravagant I have ever putted on, they really encourage you to use your imagination.
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