[Scott Coan]

[size=3x]stairway to the 3rd tee


3rd tee, 339m par4


3rd tee looking back down the 6th fairway... just me and the wallabies!


3rd from mid-fairway


green is blind from just below fronting bunker


scary bunker on the right


looking back down 3


4th tee, 271m par4


zoomed


short of monster bunker



I'll post more when I find a bit more time...[/color][/size]

[ed_getka]

Scott,
   Thanks a lot. Just what I need when I have to wait 11 more months to see it. Thanks for sharing the pix.
    What makes BD the best links in the world? What do you perceive it's weaknesses to be?

[David Ober]

I have an erection.  

[Jim Nugent]

Cool pictures, of some great-looking holes.  Any more photos, of the rest of the course, to share?

[Shane Gurnett]

Scott,

I was at Barnbougle on the weekend with 15 other friends from the Commonwealth Golf Club in Melbourne. We had a great time and the course conditions were superb. Even the bunkers  

Please post more photos if you have them as it really is a must see and play for anyone venturing to our part of the globe. The accomodation and hospitality in the clubhouse are second to none.

We will all be going back there next year.

Shane

[Scott Coan]

[size=3x]side of 4th green



4th green, big boomerang shape



path to 5th



5th, 201m par3



6th, from start of fairway



7th, 112m gem



How's this for a bunker!



8th, 446m monster



8th, from top left of fairway



11th, 475m par5



13th green, 188m



15th tee, 321m par4



15th approach
[/color][/size]

[David Ober]

Why don't we make more courses like this in the U.S.??

[Chris Kane]

Because you'd cover it with rough and overwater what little short grass there is.

[Shane Gurnett]

Because you'd cover it with rough and overwater what little short grass there is.

And then charge $400 a round and smother the place in carts.

[Sean_A]

Great photos Scott.  Is the course making any money?  I hadn't realized there was a substantial town nearby.  Do the locals use the course much?  Is there any movement to start a locals (artisan) club at the course?

Ciao

Sean

[Scott Coan]

Scott,
   Thanks a lot. Just what I need when I have to wait 11 more months to see it. Thanks for sharing the pix.
    What makes BD the best links in the world? What do you perceive it's weaknesses to be?

Ed, notice I said south of equator... Not sure it can compete with the great links of Ireland/Scotland and since I have never been I cannot compare.  The only weakness I saw on the whole property was the par3 16th hole which is basically just a drop-down par3 from the highest point on the course.  Having said that it is a magnificent view from up there and I did proceed to 3-putt the green so there is some good undulation so one can hardly call it a weakness at all.  I played in fairly calm conditions so I bet it can be a bear in some howling winds.  Taken as a whole it was one of the better golfing experiences I've had in my life.  I zoomed into town on a Sunday afternoon and was able to play the front nine and it was absolute magic.  Had the entire side to myself, just me, a couple of Pro V's, and a few wallabies.  Took me back to when I was a kid - I swear I was giggling on a few holes...

Great photos Scott.  Is the course making any money?  I hadn't realized there was a substantial town nearby.  Do the locals use the course much?  Is there any movement to start a locals (artisan) club at the course?

Sean, I presume things are going well as they were constructing a new row of cottages when I was there.  There is an effort to get the townspeople in for use of the restaurant/bar facility as it;s tough to keep staff around for the trickle of golfers that come through, especially in the off-season.  Not sure about the local play but if I lived in Bridport I'd be out there every chance I could!  

[tonyt]

I hadn't realized there was a substantial town nearby.  Do the locals use the course much?  Is there any movement to start a locals (artisan) club at the course?

The town isn't quite "substantial". It has about 1,000 people tops except around the Christmas/New Year period, who see a golf course as something that costs around $10 to play, or $150-200 per year. At $80 at Barnbougle Dunes, the vast majority of the local members of Bridport Golf Club have never yet played here, and many never will. Two of the three caddies we had were from the golf club, and one from another club up the road at Scottsdale, and none of the three of them had ever physically seen a local resident (member or not) play golf here before, except those employed at BD.

[Tim Pitner]

Because you'd cover it with rough and overwater what little short grass there is.

And then charge $400 a round and smother the place in carts.

Chris and Shane, although some of what you say is true, I believe it was an American who designed Barnbougle.  Sorry to get nationalistic on you, but not all Americans favor the characteristics you rightly criticize, and not all American courses fit your stereotype.

[Mark_F]

You're quite right, Tim, Chris and Shane have no right to criticise Americans, when their own club shamefully jumped aboard the gravy train and hoiked their green fees skyward when the Presidents Cup came rolling into town all those years ago.

[Shane Gurnett]

Tim,

Barnbougle is a joint Doak (US) / Clayton (Aussie) design. Credit where credit is due please.

Mark,

You're right, green fees did rise considerably during the period of the Pres Cup, including on weekends (unheard of before). If you want to interupt the members on the weekends then the "guests" had better be prepared to pay the price. I didnt hear any complaints. They should be thankful - I doubt I could get a game at Cypress next time the Pres Cup is on in the US of A.

[Tim Pitner]

My apologies, I certainly didn't mean to slight Mr. Clayton.  

[Marty Bonnar]

Tom/Mike,
what's that fascinating black line visible crossing so many of the bunkers? Is it the original topsoil level?

FBD.

[Scott Coan]

hole  metres  yards  par  stroke
1         506       554      5   10
2         381       417      4   4
3         339       371      4   13
4         271       296      4   17
5         201       220      3   9
6         381       417      4   5
7         112       123      3   12
8         446       488      4   1
9         400       438      4   8
out     3037     3322     35   
            
10       409       447      4   6
11       475       520      5   16
12       254       278      4   14
13       188       206      3   11
14       508       556      5   15
15       321       351      4   7
16       153       167      3   18
17       400       438      4   3
18       403       441      4   2
in       3111     3403     36   
 
total   6148     6726     71   

[Jim Johnson]

Scott,

1. Great photos. What a cool-looking golf course.
2. I've notice this before, on other threads. If photos aren't "re-sized" for "forums", they appear h*u*g*e on the screen, and require scrolling across the screen to view the image. Not really complaining here, because like my wife says, bigger is better [not sure why we're still married]. Ahem. Anyway, case in point, your photo of the "scary bunker on the right"...I had to scroll over to the right to see the bunker. Wow, scary is right! Nice shot, BTW, whoever's ball that is beside the pin.
3. The bunker to the left of the 7th green...amazing.
4. I love the movement in the fairways....8th fairway, 11th fairway, oh hell, probably all of 'em. Looks fantastic.
5. The green on the 13th...is that the architects' rendition of the "Sitwell Park" green? Just curious.

Thanks for posting. I have to agree with David.

Now, where's my wife.

JJ

[Scott Coan]

JJ, sorry about the size of the photo's - not sure how to get them re-sized...

That entire 7th hole is amazing and a tough little bugger for 112m.  When we were playing it was a rare down-wind weather pattern (from the west) and near impossible to keep a ball on the green.  Thankfully only visited that bunker with my camera!  

The 13th is Mr. Doak's homage to the Sitwell Park green.  You can see my tee shot about 20 feet pin high right.  Cannot believe it stayed there as it was drawing in perfectly the whole way.  Another inch of pressure and it would have been stiff.  Despite warnings from my playing partners about how fast my putt was going to be I still managed to slam it 8 feet past the hole and make a 3-putt bogey  

[Jim Johnson]

Scott,

What were your own feelings of that "Sitwell Park" green?
What were your playing partners' thoughts on it?
Too tricked up? Stupid? Great? Awesome?

Curious.

JJ

[Scott Coan]

I thought it was awesome (despite my 3-putt) and the three fellas I joined from Queensland all thought the same.  My only regret was not getting to play around a bit more with the contours as there was a twosome coming right up our bums.

The green really fits in nicely with the surrounding terrain and does not come across as tricked up at all.

[ed_getka]

Scott,
    Thanks for the additional pix.

As to American conditioning etc..., it was funny when we were at Painswick a couple of years ago we were commenting on what would be done to ruin the stellar 6th hole par 3 there. It has a couple of depressions that add substantially to how cool the hole is, but we figured the average American architect would fill in one depression with sand, and the other would be a pond. Total do or die shot and "signature hole" instead of the world class hole that exists today. So I can certainly see where some comments are coming from. We have those thoughts too.

[Jimmy Muratt]

I really like the look of #15, the short par 4.  What a green complex that appears to be.  There definitely would be some great front hole locations on that green which would really bring the false front into play.  And, putts from above such a hole location look quite interesting.  

[Mark_F]

J Johnson,

I thought the 13th green was cool, but I know an equal number of people who think it is Mickey Mouse territory.

Jimmy,

The 15th is the best short four on the course.  How Misters Doak and Clayton can think 4 is is beyond rational comprehension.

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