Barnbougle Dunes - Hole by Hole

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole #13 Par 3 188 meters (207 yards)


Now, the question needs to be asked.  Was this green site found or was it manufactured.

...............................................

I do remember saying to Brian when we built it that we could only get away with this green because we were 10,000 miles from home.  If it didn't work out, then the course would likely not have caught on and nobody would bring it up to us!  So I guess it has worked out okay.  For certain, we were lucky to have a client who would let us build a green this bold and controversial.

Just out of curiosity, has there been a lot of, or any, controversy? 

I agree it's bold, but I didn't feel that it was stupid or over the top.  Just interesting and entertaining.  If I was playing for big bucks and had never seen it before, I might feel different.  However the general reaction I've heard on here is WOW, that's interesting, and how long can we stay on this green and fool around on it.  It might even be considered a signature hole.    


Michael,

No, never been to the Lakes.  Maybe Mike was just trying to one-up the wildness from this green (assuming he did it after BD).  Architects would never try to one-up their friends and competitors would they?   

[Emil Weber]

 This may well be the most topsy-turvy green I have ever seen.

Clearly you haven't played The Lakes after MC's redesign of the 14th green.. I don't know what he was on at the time but I, for one, love it.

 

Pup

Pup,

The 14th green at the Lakes is very ondulated, but believe me, the 13th at Barnbougle is on a diffeent level still. Photos can't do it justice. I love the green!

[Tom_Doak]

Just out of curiosity, has there been a lot of, or any, controversy? 

I was told Peter Thomson had some disparaging remarks about the course in general, and I'm sure that the greens [for which #13 is the poster boy] figured prominently in his assessment.  But, no, there hasn't really been any controversy.  You only get controversy when you play a big event somewhere, otherwise it's just one opinion at a time.

[Chip Gaskins]

THAT! is one of the coolest looking holes I have ever seen.  WOW

[Tom_Doak]

I just realized I was looking at that picture of the green wrong ... the view is from the back of the green, looking toward the front. 

The photographer is high enough above the green that it distorts things a bit ... that back tier is a terrace draining out to the front, and not a bowl.  But, you can get a sense of how hard it would be to get a ball to the back right part of the green (far left side in the photo) -- you'd have to fan a shot out to the right, feed down off the slope, and have it settle in the bowl instead of getting up over the contour to the back plateau.

[Bryan Izatt]

The first time I played it the pin was in the trough (or bowl, if you want to call it that) back right.  My tee shot was on the back tier (which felt bowl like to me).  I just couldn't get the putt from there to anywhere near the hole.  Trickle it over - need to find the line and it went too far.  Try to feed it back off  the further slope - need to find a pace and line to make it work.  Failed multiple times.  Three putt seemed like it was likely to happen 9 times out of 10.  Like Ian, I might have needed an hour or so to figure it out.  Good thing pace of play is not an issue at BD.

 

[Tom_Doak]

Bryan:

For a putt like you had, maybe the best shot would be to chip it down into the bowl -- so it didn't break so much from left to right as it raced down the slope, and then break even further toward the front of the green when coming off the slope on the other side.  You would have a GIANT backstop behind the pin.  Naturally, that would be harder to do the further away from the top of the bowl that you were.

I realize that most people will be aghast that an architect would endorse playing a wedge shot from on the green ... and, no, I was not thinking of that shot when we built the green.  But when somebody tells me it's IMPOSSIBLE to get down in two, generally, they are probably not thinking through all the options.  The mitigating factor about this green is that it is all contained in a punchbowl.  It's not like you ought to putt off the green from one spot to another, and even if you did, most of them would come right back on.

[Bryan Izatt]

Tom,

If you could see my short game you'd know that chipping from on the green would likely a bad idea (especially for the green).     But, yes that is an option I didn't think of.  I didn't say it was impossible, just that my success rate would be dismally low.  I'm sure some people could even sink that putt on occasion.  Sure would like to go back and try again.  If only I could convince my wife that the Boomerang event would be a good idea.

Vis-a-vis putting off the green, I would report that on the second round, as you can see in the picture above, perversely, I hit it short to the front edge when the pin was on the back tier (where my ball ended up in the first round and would have been a kick in birdie to this pin, no doubt).  Putting up the green to the back tier is an exercise in speed control.  Sadly, I putted it past the pin and up into the fringe behind the green.  And, it didn't come back.     Damn wind.  Nice pitch from there into the wind that landed and stopped within a couple of feet of the pin.  Good wind. 

Proof positive that there are many ways to make bogey.

 

[Michael Taylor]

Pup,

The 14th green at the Lakes is very ondulated, but believe me, the 13th at Barnbougle is on a diffeent level still. Photos can't do it justice. I love the green!

Wow. That last photo of the 13th looks insane, and if your saying even that isn't doing it justice, then it must be the most undulating green in the world!?

Pup

[Duncan Betts]

Michael,

Not even close.

[Anthony Gray]

  Sorry if this has been asked before. Where does the play come from? 50% internantional/local?

  Thanks .....Anthony

 

[David Scaletti]

I vaguely remembered photographing a valley at Barnbougle that eventually became the site for the 13th green and looked through my archives for the file. I think this picture shows what it was prior to construction.



I don’t have any recent images, but this the hole from the tee, taken a little before the course opening.



I have somewhat of a differing view of the 13th green, in that in my very humble opinion it is overly contoured and difficult to putt on. One experience I had was when the pin was in a front right location. My tee shot was on the green, front left and in the same contour/valley as the hole. The only way I got near the pin was to putt past the hole and allow for it to make a U-turn and come back to the cup. Fortunately I managed to do that.(The first putt didn’t go in, but I got my par).

Various people have commented previously what fun it is to spend an hour working out the green and how to putt on it, but the reality for most golfers is that they arrive at the green and have to putt on the surface with no such background information, and unlike the majority of the contributors here, they don’t have any inclination to spend that time anyway. Not to mention the issue of slow play and the necessity to keep moving. The result is they walk away thinking the 13th is a crazy green. I have heard this type of comment a number of times from friends who have traveled to Tasmania and played Barnbougle.

Personally, I prefer to putt in the general direction of the hole, albeit with the usual  slopes and borrows that I have to take in to account to get near the pin. Having to putt past the hole and allow the ball to U-turn and come back to me is not what I want to see.

A contrarian view of this much loved hole I know, but the love of the 13th is not universal, and I guess I am one that doesn’t understand it. A trip to Barnbougle is a pleasure, but the 13th is not a green I look forward to.

[Big Pete]

And I thought photographers had some sort of creative bent!
I have some footage of Tom walking around the newly shaped , but yet to be grassed 13th , and explaining to us why the green wouldn't be as severe as say the National in Victoria , because it was just a series of connected bowls...
But depending on the conditions you can get some seriously difficult 2 putts , and I don't mind trying to work out how to tackle them
It just shows accountants are more creative than photographers , I guess...

On another note , I had a large group down to Barnbougle a few months prior to opening to celebrate my 50th bday . I drew up score cards , rated each hole , and named each hole
Although not used a lot these ratings and names have been retained
Hole 13 was called Sitwell Park...

[David Scaletti]

Pete,

You're absolutely correct.

The first question on any accounting position application is "What is 2 plus 2?" And as you know the correct answer is "Anything you want it to." So naturally, accountants are way more creative than dimwitted photographers!

[Chris Kane]

Sorry if this has been asked before. Where does the play come from? 50% internantional/local?

I'd be absolutely staggered if more than 10% of play was international.

[Kalen Braley]

Good comments on the 13th green, thanks.

To my eye the green looks fantastic, but then again I love quirky stuff like this.  Perhaps its just my perception, but I do find it interesting that a long ball buster 440 yard par 4 with a well protected green would likely not receive near as much criticsm when the overwhelming majority of players would likely be pleased with bogey,( 2 shots, a chip on, and a 2 putt for bogey).  Yet when faced with a potential bogey only because the green is severe it becomes far less than desireable.  So a hole that is very tough to get a GIR, consequently leading to bogey = OK, and a hole that isn't tough to get a GIR, but still is a tough par due to the green = not OK.

I can't help but wonder if this thinking comes from the "its all right in front of you" and its "very fair" type thinking that comes from our PGA Tour telecasts.

[Tom_Doak]

David:

I am not very surprised to hear there are players who don't appreciate this green [but sorry you are one of them].  After all, the green which inspired this one, Dr. MacKenzie's famous green at Sitwell Park, is long gone due to players who shared your point of view!

But I am glad mine still exists, and glad that it exists in a place where they aren't likely to listen to the conservative view of greens-building too much.

[Michael Dugger]

Whaky greens are controversial/polarizing....they were back in Dr. Mac's days and they still are today.

[Bryan Izatt]

Obviously my architecture education is incomplete because I didn't get the reference to Sitwell Park.  But, a quick Google search remedied that.  I can see from the picture below how Sitwell Park was the inspiration for this green.  I see the course still exists.  Was it relocated or was this green just "renovated"?

[Bryan Izatt]

After a slight delay due to Photobucket being down last night, we move on to fourteen.

Hole #14 Par 5 508 meters (559 yards)

In retrospect based on two playings, I wonder about this hole and #11 being so close in the routing and seeming to present similar holes with similar shot values.  On my second time around, I misremembered the drive on 11 as the drive on 14 with negative results.  The carry bunkers off the tee are significantly further on number 11 than they are here.

From the aerial the back tee provides an angled drive to the fairway with a number of bunkers that need to be carried or avoided followed by a second shot to a green that is somewhat offset over the the left rough.





From the tee the drive presents very similarly to number 11.  There are four bunkers in the foreground and one on the far side of the fairway on the left.  The green is visible over the bunker on the right and it is evident that the fairway is running away from the tee, promising a long drive.  The challenge is to pick the line off the tee.

Down wind and with the fairway running fast, the hole plays considerably shorter than its length.  Even for players who are not long it can be reachable in two.  A bonus in my book.

The left bunker is about 250 yards, so it is definitely in play.  The three carry bunkers only require a 220 yard shot and down wind are easily carried. The large right bunker, unlike the one at #11, can be carried by longer hitters, and it does look like it is on a line with the green.  But, the fairway topography is such that shots over that bunker are likely to be kicked off into a grove of trees and brush on the right.  The best line appears to be over the middle of the the three foreground bunkers. 





The second shot is across a valley and the corner of the left rough to a green on the far ridge.   A shot from the right side of the fairway provides a better angle into the green and a run up shot seems possible, although the rise will kill some of the run.  A shot from the left side of the fairway needs to contend with the front left bunker, perhaps requiring an aerial shot or a running hook around the bunker.





After the wild undulations of the thirteenth green, the fourteenth green seems positively mundane, although there is some slope to it and a false front.  It is easy standing on this green to be distracted by the beauty of the setting looking toward Lost Farm and the sea.

[David Scaletti]

Tom,

I’m pleased too that a green such as the 13th at Barnbougle is able to exist, even if I can be interpreted as having a “conservative view of greens-building”. I think that is how you are describing me in your post, apologies if you’re not. Conservative might be a reasonable way of describing my thoughts, but traditional may well be more accurate.

Assuming that golf course design and construction is an art form, and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be, then, as with all forms of art, progression requires some free thinking from people who are prepared to create something which is outside the current line of thought. I would place you in this area of free thinking souls, and bless you for your sense of adventure.

Please don’t feel sorry that I don’t agree with everything you do, if the majority lauded your work you would probably, by definition, be in the “conservative” or mainstream group of artists/GCAs.

More power to you Tom. When I have the opportunity I will always  try to play a Doak course as it’s always a game of discovery. Sometimes it might prick my “conservative” nature, but it is never dull.

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole #15 Par 4 321 meters (353 yards)

Turning for the final time into the wind, the long slog home against the wind begins from the farthest eastern end of the course at fifteen tee.

The aerial nicely demonstrates the dilemma of the hole; whether to chance the narrow gap, what I'll call Doak's Alley, on the right of the centreline bunker for a better angle into the green, or to bail out to the left creating a semi-blind and daunting angled approach to the green.





The tee presents one of the most pleasant settings in all of golf.





The tee shot is much more unsettling than the setting.  The direct route to the green is along the upper right side of the fairway through an opening pinched to 20 yards wide by the centreline bunker and the dunes.  In the bunker is bad; the marram covered dunes are worse.  The reward - a straight on shot up the length of the green.

The centreline bunker is only 230 yards from the tee, but the distance is more daunting being into the wind and uphill a bit.  With the wind against, the hole plays much longer than the seemingly manageable 353 yards on the card.  For me, it was a full out drive followed by a full out low 3 iron that was rejected by the green.  This is a difficult hole, worthy of being the 7th stroke hole.  It kind of sneaks up on you and then bites hard.

To the left of the bunker is a vast area of fairway.  The far dune looks reachable, but, against the wind would be out of play for all but the longest hitters.  From the left the approach shot may be semi-blind over the bunker built into the dune.  Worse, there is a steep 10 foot drop off from the front around to the left side of the green.  It calls for an aerial shot from an awkward angle into the wind.  The further left, and safer, the tee shot, the longer and more blind the second shot.





From the right side of the fairway, in the picture below, the challenges of approaching the green are evident.  The closely mown bank on the left rejects balls down into a collection area.   The dunes and bunkers loom to the right.  The green rejects balls off its left side and off the front right.  An approach from anywhere left on the fairway requires a very deft touch to carry the bank and avoid overcooking it into the back bunkers or worse, into the dunes.





Recovering on the third shot from any miss is a challenge regardless of where the miss is, with each presenting its own unique requirements.

The green is no bargain, sloping from back to front with the wind, and with the potential to run the ball off the left side and front.

Did I mention that this is a difficult hole where many will be left wondering what just happened to them.

[Michael Taylor]

The 15th looks like a very nice hole.

Is the area to the right of the center bunker as wide as it looks? It seems to be about 15-20m wide, correct?

Also is it still possible for a well struck shot from the LHS to hold the green? It looks quite tough from down there..

Pup

[David_Elvins]

Nice write up of the 15th, Bryan. 

There are very very few 350 yard holes in the world that are 'great'.  IMO the 15th is one of them. 

[Bryan Izatt]

Michael,

The fairway on the right is about 18 meters wide at the neck. 

I suppose it is possible to hit the green from the left side, but I wasn't able to.  Helping a little bit is that it is mostly into the wind, so if you can dial in the correct distance you should be able to stop it.