Barnbougle Dunes (Review and Photo Tour)

[Benjamin Litman]

After a glorious 18 on Lost Farm in the morning, we made our way over to the Dunes for lunch and an afternoon 18. The weather didn't cooperate fully, although the storm that came in as we were making the turn--like the sand strewn all over the fairways and greens at Lost Form--made for an even more memorable experience. We stopped after 9, but we finished our round the next morning--and, boy, was the wait worth it, as the back nine at Barnbougle Dunes might be the best I've ever played. We loved it so much, we decided to play another full 18 on the Dunes that afternoon, capped by a surreal sunset. (If you're keeping tabs, that's twice we've been at a Doak/C&C complex--Barnbougle and, more recently, Streamsong--and both times we chose to play the Doak course, instead of the C&C course, again and again.) I'll split my review/photo tour by front and back nine. As noted in my Lost Farm review, note in my pictures the spectacular natural movement in the fairways at the Dunes. And, for conditioning buffs out there, we also played Barnbougle in early August 2014--i.e., the Australian "winter."

Barnbougle Dunes, Entrance (after such a long journey, the greeting crowd at the gate assures you it was worth it)


Barnbougle Dunes, Clubhouse (the view from the clubhouse, out over Bass Strait, puts any mind at ease)


Barnbougle Dunes, Front Nine

As I mentioned in my Lost Farm review, Barnbougle Dunes starts slowly, as 1 and 2 play away from the dunes on the flattest land on the course--with the 2nd playing straight alongside the landing strip used for private planes. The first is the better of the two holes, a par-5 with a semi-blind tee shot to a very wide fairway rising gradually to a green whose undulations hint at what's to come--as does the view right toward the dunes. The third hole begins in earnest the venture into the dunes, as the green on the downhill dogleg-right par-4 is framed beautifully by a dune on the left and behind, a bunker well short (i.e., if you find it, your shot is the dreaded mid-range bunker shot, not a typical greenside splash), and the dogleg-creating dune ridge running the length of the hole on the right. Some people call the short par-4 4th the best hole on the course, but while it might be visually, I don't think it is strategically. People say it's drivable, but I can't see how or why you would try to drive the green from the tee. Even though I hit a cut (which is what you would need to hit if you wanted to drive the green), I played the hole with a 4-iron and 60-degree wedge both times, and made a birdie and a par. Still a great hole, and the beginning of a great five-hole stretch ending with 8. Five is a stunning, and fun, par-3, with a huge steep slope to the left of the green that golfers can use to bank their tee shots close to the hole. (Like the 15th at Lost Farm, even though the tee is hard by Bass Strait, the hole is routed brilliantly away from the water and into the dunes.) Six, like 8, is a winding par-4 through the dunes to an elevated tee, although 8 winds more to the left, has a semi-split fairway, and is the longer, harder, hole, with a steeper climb to a steeper, back-to-front, green. The 7th is my favorite hole at the Dunes, a short par-3 set amid a sea of dunes with a view of Bridport in the distance--and with a green, especially the steep falloff at the back, that will give many nightmares. Nine is a tricky par-4 with a blind, directionless tee shot over a ridge and plunging down to a narrow, twisting fairway. Both nines end at the clubhouse.

Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 1 (fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 1 (green)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 3 (fairway) [N.B.: The bunker short of the green is actually a fairway, not a greenside, bunker, providing a nice trompe l'oeil.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 4 (tee)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 4 (fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 4 (fairway) [N.B.: The scale of the "shoulder" bunker guarding the steep slope in front of the green should now be apparent. It renders blind even wedge approaches.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 4 (green, looking backward down the fairway, with the massive bunker short right of the green obscured from view even though only yards away)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 5 (view from the walking path connecting 4 green and 5 tee) [N.B.: The partial collapse in the path was the result of the wicked storm that hit Tassie the night we arrived--and prompted Richard Sattler, who was in the pro shop, to delay the opening tee time, which was ours.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 5 (tee) [N.B.: High up the slope to the left of the green is the target, as balls hit there will feed down and right to the green, and possibly close to the hole.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 5 (tee)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 7 (tee) [N.B.: Without question one of the greatest, and most devilish, short par-3s in the world.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 8 (dune to right of tee, with a storm fast approaching)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 8 (lower-right fairway; to the left of the rough on the left is another elevated fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 9 (looking backward up the fairway at sunset, with the town of Bridport on the horizon)


Barnbougle Dunes, Back Nine

As good as the stretch from 3-8 is, where Barnbougle Dunes really shines--and opens up from a slightly cramped front nine--is on the back. The vast fairway on 10 is the only flat spot on the back nine, which plays over amazing terrain, starting with a green site on 10 that is at once grand and aspirational--in fact, it's the first thing you see when driving into Barnbougle, and it more than whets the appetite. After the long par-5 11th, which plays right over a ridge and then slightly left up a hill in the same direction as 10, the golfer turns back around to confront the confounding 12th, a short par-4 that, like 4, plays into the prevailing wind and therefore isn't really drivable. But 12 is harder than 4, because it's more exposed (playing along a huge ridge to an infinity green) and therefore gets even more wind, making finding the wide fairway no easy task. Thirteen is a beautiful par-3, perhaps the flattest on the entire property (it plays only slightly uphill), but with a wild green full of slopes and hollows you can use to your advantage (I know Tom has posted that the 13th green was his tribute to a green of yesteryear, but I can't recall the name or location of the original). Fourteen is, like 11, another long par-5 that plays to the east (away from the clubhouse and toward Lost Farm), rising to a perched green after a drive that must navigate a string of bunkers along a diagonal ridge. Fifteen turns back around for one of the course's better holes, a par-4 with a huge ridge down the center of the fairway running all the way up to the green, forming a deep and steep falloff left. Sixteen is a great par-3, played from the highest point on the property, with epic views over both courses, again routed, like 5 and Lost Farm's 15th, downhill and away from the water. Also like 5, there is a large slope left of the green that the golfer can use to work his ball close to the hole--except, unlike five, the slope is obscured by a well-placed bunker. (Six months after I played Barnbougle, I hit my approach shot on Streamsong Blue's 15th and, immediately after seeing my natural cut start left, said, "If I know Tom Doak, I know there's a slope on the left of the green that will work my ball back toward the hole." Sure enough, I was right.) Seventeen and 18 are back-to-back dogleg-right par-4s, with both playing along Bass Strait back toward the clubhouse. If I have one complaint about the Dunes, it's this somewhat repetitive routing (in addition to 17 and 18, the par-4s 6 and 8 feel similar and play in the same direction, the par-5s 11 and 14 feel similar and play in the same direction, the par-4s 12 and 15 both play uphill and in the same direction, and the par-3s 5 and 16, though playing in opposite directions, feel somewhat similar). Of the two final holes, 17 is the better hole with the more demanding and more scenic tee shot, and more interesting undulations in the fairway and by the green. The approach into 18 is somewhat underwhelming (although there is an intriguing runoff on the right side), but apart from that shot, and the tee ball on 10, the back nine is truly all-world. Eat some food, sit by the fireplace, and take in the views from the clubhouse to cap off a surreal experience.

Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 10 (tee) (a benign start to one of the greatest stretches of holes on the planet)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 10 (fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 10 (fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 10 (green)


Barnbougle Dunes (the green site at 10, one of my favorite green sites in the world)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 11 (fairway) [N.B.: People rightfully talk about the classic rumpled fairway at Westward Ho!'s 6th hole, but the natural rumples in the fairways at Barnbougle are equally mesmerizing and ideal for golf.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 12 (from the gully below the tee box, with the flag perched on top of the ridge in the distance to the right) [N.B.: Though the fairway seems wide and hittable, the wind can easily move a good-looking shot right and into the junk along the face of the ridge.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 12 (right fairway bunker, with green beyond and 17 in the distance to the right)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 13 (tee)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 13 (green)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 13 (green, looking backward with 17 in the distance)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 14 (view backward from the tee over the 13th green (foreground) and 17th hole (background), with the town of Bridport in the distance)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 14 (view to the right of the fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 14 (fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Holes 14 and 15 (looking back from the 14th green, with the 14th fairway left and the 15th hole right)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 14 (green)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 15 (tee)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 15 (fairway)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 15 (green) [N.B.: The ridge that dominates the fairway (see previous picture) continues to the green and creates a massive dropoff left.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 15 (looking backward from the green)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 15 (looking backward, with Lost Farm across the river)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 16 (view from the tee to the right over the Bass Strait, with Bridport in the distance)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 16 (tee) [N.B.: Like at the 5th, a slope to the left of the green allows the golfer to feed the ball back to the hole; unlike the 5th, the slope is obscured by the bunker, so the proper play is less obvious at first glance.]


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 17 (view to the right over Bass Strait)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 17 (green)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 17 (green as seen from the 12th green)


Barnbougle Dunes, Hole 17 (looking backward from behind the green)


Barnbougle Dunes (a classic Doak bunker)


Barnbougle Dunes (another classic Doak bunker; they look magical in black and white)


Barnbougle Dunes, Wallabies (they kept us company throughout our two rounds)


Barnbougle Dunes at Sunset

[Jason Topp]

Thanks Benjamin.  It has been 9 years but I recall thinking the 5th was a terrific par 3.  It does not get much discussions here. 

I can't remember the details real well but I decided that playing left and relying on the bounce was a sucker play for certain pin positions and the play right had much more room for error than it appeared from the tee. 

[Tom_Doak]

Heaven on earth - great pics Benjamin. I see evidence of heavy rain fall prior to your round and it's amazing how the aesthetics and general ambience of a golf course can have that extra bit of fizz in that period. I found out last week that our company offers a paid 6 week sabbatical after 5 year's service. I know where I'll be heading!

Be careful, Brian, you might bump into a few people who like me down there!

[Keith OHalloran]

Heaven on earth - great pics Benjamin. I see evidence of heavy rain fall prior to your round and it's amazing how the aesthetics and general ambience of a golf course can have that extra bit of fizz in that period. I found out last week that our company offers a paid 6 week sabbatical after 5 year's service. I know where I'll be heading!

Be careful, Brian, you might bump into a few people who like me down there!

 

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Heaven on earth - great pics Benjamin. I see evidence of heavy rain fall prior to your round and it's amazing how the aesthetics and general ambience of a golf course can have that extra bit of fizz in that period. I found out last week that our company offers a paid 6 week sabbatical after 5 year's service. I know where I'll be heading!

Be careful, Brian, you might bump into a few people who like me down there!

Good sense of humor Tom.....

Benjamin more of my same comments from the Lost a Farms thread, feeling a little under the weather here today, so the pictures lessen the feel of self pitty

[Thomas Dai]

I see what you mean by your comment on the LF thread about the contouring on BD Benjamin.
Atb

[Alan Ritchie]

great tour of my most favourite course on the planet! very nice photos too. shame the weather was a mixed bag. Except for 1 day with a 5-6 club wind I've had otherwise perfect days on my trips there.

 Its interesting in that the stretch from 3-8 is absolutely sensational, yet I would still favour the back 9 if I only had 1 to play.

what camera are you using for those pictures and any filters?

[David_Elvins]

Be careful, Brian, you might bump into a few people who like me down there!

The forums could do without this sort of unsubstantiated hyperbole.

Benjamin,

Another great read.  I think that talking about the stretch of 3-8 does a disservice to 9.  It's not perfect in that the dogleg doesn't work too well from the forward tee but from either the back tee or the unmarked teeing ground back right of 8 green it is a fantastic hole with an accurate drive down the left side of the fairway required to get a turbo boost.  The view of the approach with a mid to long iron in hand is spectacular and the options of bouncing the ball in from the left suit this sort of shot well.  All of these features go missing from the'members' tee.

Whilst some find the greens a bit over the top, I think there are more great holes at Barnbougle than almost any course in the world.  

[George Freeman]

Great tour. Thank you.

Does anyone have an idea of how the resort is doing financially?  One of my biggest GCA nightmares is clicking on the Discussion Group tab and seeing a thread titled:  Barnbougle Filing For Bankruptcy

I can only hope the place is doing well.

[jonathan_becker]

One of my biggest GCA nightmares is clicking on the Discussion Group tab and seeing a thread titled:  Barnbougle Filing For Bankruptcy

I obviously don't know....but I can't imagine this being true anytime soon.

The greens fees are a steal considering the quality of golf and the food/accommodations are very reasonable.  It was packed with people on my visit and by following BD/LF on social media it seems they get a pretty good turnout no matter the time of year.  I got the feeling that there's tremendous pride among the locals (rightfully so) and they'll keep making visits.  Not to mention the regular annual visits from the folks in Sydney, Melbourne, etc.

[Benjamin Litman]

Jason: The 5th is indeed a great hole. It probably gets short shrift because the 4th gets so much attention and the 7th is the best par-3 on the front nine, if not the course. But the 5th is strategic, fun, gorgeous, and brilliantly routed away from the water. I'm not sure using the slope left is ever a "sucker" play (at least you end up with an uphill putt on the back-to-front sloping green), but I can see why going straight at the green could also work. Given that I play a cut, starting it even more left than normal always will make more sense for me on this hole.

Brian: Thanks, and you're right that the remnants of the storm that hit Tasmania the three days before we arrived in Barnbougle--the water in several bunkers, the sand on several greens and fairways--only enhanced the experience and certainly the visuals. If I were you, I'd go to Melbourne for the sabbatical and then take multi-day trips to Barnbougle and Cape Wickham. Melbourne, for obvious reasons, is the better base.

Michael: Thanks again, and feel better.

Alan: As noted in my response to Brian and in my reviews, I wasn't in the least annoyed by the weather. The storm actually broke the day we played, and although a smaller storm came through that afternoon, we still managed to get in 27 holes that day and were tired anyway. Also, storms make for better pictures and sunsets. We're in agreement that the back nine is the stronger (and grander, more open, and more beautiful) nine at BD, even if the front nine has the better individual holes. As for my camera, I used the Sony RX100 II. I typically shoot in three settings: regular, sunset mode, and black-and-white. I never apply filters after the fact. (The pictures with me in them--i.e., the ones with the black bars on top and bottom--are stills of videos my girlfriend shot on her iPhone. I use them when I don't otherwise have pictures, from my camera, of the corresponding shot/hole.]

David: Thanks for the kind words. I wasn't trying to slight 9, but I just don't think it's as good as any of the holes in the stretch from 3-8 (although, on reflection, I might put it ahead of 6). Even though I played it twice, I found it awkward both times. I, too, realized the need to hit the left side of the fairway after my first round, but when I went left the second time I played it, I frustratingly lost my ball somehow. The huge ridge/slope that feeds from the left toward the green is certainly a defining feature of the approach that, if used correctly, can yield some great results. Interesting comment about Barnbougle Dunes having more great holes than any other course in the world. Before I respond, could you clarify which holes qualify as "great" to you?

George: You're very welcome. I can't speak to the financial health of Barnbougle, but I tend to agree with Jonathan--not only for the reasons he stated, but because I think outsiders' concerns about Barnbougle are based on perceived remoteness when, to locals, Barnbougle/Tasmania generally is not really that remote. Cape Wickham, on the other hand...

[Joe Sponcia]

Benjamin thanks for posting these.  I was especially smitten by how the fairways meld with the greens especially on 15 and 17!

[Benjamin Litman]

You're very welcome, Joe. What allows the fairway-to-green melding on those two holes is Tom's brilliant use and extension of natural ridges/landforms in the fairway to the green or at least its surrounds. I'm glad the light allowed me to capture just how rumpled some of the fairway at Barnbougle are--again, bringing to mind the famed fairway at Westward Ho!'s 6th hole (in kind if not degree).

[David_Elvins]

. Interesting comment about Barnbougle Dunes having more great holes than any other course in the world. Before I respond, could you clarify which holes qualify as "great" to you?

IMO 3, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18.  Could also make a strong argument for 5, 6, 8, and 9 (off the back tee).

[Benjamin Litman]

Interesting selection. Obviously, what constitutes "great" is subjective, but I would leave out 3 and 18. Even assuming those were on the list (making nine total "great" holes), aren't there a good number of top golf courses that have at least as many?

[James Bennett]

Benjamin

3 would be on my list of 'great' holes.  It combines great land with great architecture, and chooses the optimal length for such a green.

I enjoy BD 1 and 2, but the course steps up at least two gears when you get to the 3rd tee.


Joe Sponcia

the melding of the greens and fairways may be partly due to the use of a single grass type on both - fescue (fine).

James B

[David_Elvins]

Interesting selection. Obviously, what constitutes "great" is subjective, but I would leave out 3 and 18. Even assuming those were on the list (making nine total "great" holes), aren't there a good number of top golf courses that have at least as many?

Coincidently, a well travelled GCA poster wrote this yesterday: "Having now played Barnbougle Dunes about 15 times, I am firmly of the opinion that the 3rd is the best hole on the course, and one of the best designed golf holes in the world."

I think the best courses max out at about 9 or 10 great holes.

Off the top of my head:
St Andrews: 2, 4, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18
Merion: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 16, 17, 18
Royal Melbourne West: 2, 3 ,4 ,5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 17.
Pacific Dunes: 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17

[Jim Nugent]

I think the best courses max out at about 9 or 10 great holes.

How about Pine Valley? 

[Benjamin Litman]

I'd like to hear more about why that poster, and others, love BD 3 so much. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a very strong hole, but not the best on a course replete with them. The tee shot, with the blowout bunker in the distance, is certainly appealing, but it's not particularly strategic. The approach is the best part of the hole, as the bunker short of the green creates all sorts of optical illusions and foreshortening, making the green seem a much smaller target than it actually is. But for a hole to be "one of the best-designed golf holes in the world," I think it needs a great tee shot, a great approach, and a green green, not just two (or one) out of three.

Although I can't speak to Merion or Pacific Dunes (one day, hopefully soon), I generally agree with your great-hole assessments of St. Andrews (although I'd add 1) and Royal Melbourne West (although I'd omit 16 and add 18). Don't NGLA and ANGC each have more than 10 great holes? In any event, I hear your general point, and by your reasonable metric, Barnbougle Dunes is certainly in the discussion. Thanks again.

[Tom_Doak]

I'd like to hear more about why that poster, and others, love BD 3 so much. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a very strong hole, but not the best on a course replete with them. The tee shot, with the blowout bunker in the distance, is certainly appealing, but it's not particularly strategic. The approach is the best part of the hole, as the bunker short of the green creates all sorts of optical illusions and foreshortening, making the green seem a much smaller target than it actually is.

Benjamin:

I wouldn't nominate the 3rd as the best hole on the course; for me personally, those are the 4th, 7th and 13th.  But I'm glad that other holes are nominated as well, as that's the mark of a really great course.

What I like about the 3rd is that you are much better positioned for the approach if you can keep the ball on the high side of the fairway, so you're looking down the length of the green and you take the optical illusions out of play.  But it's hard to get to that position, due to the angle of the fairway and the nasty dune grass on the inside corner, and the partially blind tee shot.

What very few people know about the hole is that while the double-decked fairway is natural, and the hollow for the green is only shaped a little bit, on the land originally there was a pretty good-sized dune at the right front of the green, that blocked the view from the high side of the fairway.  We tried to work around that dune for the longest time, whittling away at it every now and again, but it was just in the wrong place, so the last thing we did in constructing the course [#3 was the last hole finished] was to just take the rest of the dune away and open up the view of the green from the right side.  The hole is so much better as a result!

[Colin Macqueen]

so the last thing we did in constructing the course [#3 was the last hole finished] was to just take the rest of the dune away and open up the view of the green from the right side.  The hole is so much better as a result!

Minimalism at its best!

Cheers Colin

[Benjamin Litman]

Fascinating, Tom; many thanks for sharing. This kind of insight is precisely what I, and I imagine most of us, love about GCA.

Now, of course, I'm trying to imagine how the 3rd hole would play with that dune still on the right side of the green. Perhaps it could have worked if you had been able to whittle it down to the size of the already-infamous knoll on the right of Streamsong Red's 7th green--forcing more people to take advantage of what I recall is a slight backslope one can use at the back of the green. In any event, we're in agreement that it's a very strong hole as is but not the best on the course. I like your selections of 4, 7, and 13 (7 probably gets lost in the discussion because of how good all four of the par-3s at Barnbougle Dunes are, but, to me, it's really in a class unto itself), but, as we've been discussing in this thread, the course is so good that many other holes are in the conversation, depending on personal preference.