Barnbougle Dunes - Hole by Hole

[Duncan Betts]

I find the 2nd green to be one of the most difficult on the course as far as actually getting your ball near the hole.

There are others that are more severe with large slopes and undulations, but #2 has little slopes and bumps in very difficult spots, thus making putting very very difficult if you hit it to the wrong part of the green.  Holes like 5 and 13 have wild undulations that are more obvious and actually feed the ball to the hole in some instances.  On #2 most of the little bumps do a great job at directing your ball away from the hole!

If the pin is at the back left and you just roll one onto the front edge of the green, particularly the left side, then all I can say is 'good luck!'

[Peter Zarlengo]

I guess I didn't mind the 1st and 2nd holes as much as other folks. In fact, I really enjoyed the minimalist approach that Tom alluded to on the holes and the way strategy was introduced through minimal bunkering and a concentration on interesting greensites and the contours of the greens and surrounds.

The "on ramp" that one is rewarded with on the left side of the approach to the 2nd green was a great reward when playing close to the cluster of bunkers on the left side of the fairway. Certainly beats playing over the sharp drop on the right. And the 1st fairway is definitely not flat, just a different type of contour than is seen on some of the more dramatic holes, which provides an uneven stance for someone looking to skirt past the bunker on the right side of the second landing area. Two really good holes that, in my mind, don't detract at all from the rest of the golf.

Matt,
Barnbougle Dunes fits comfortably within the top ten golf courses I've ever played as well. Very few other courses combine interesting greens, great strategy, and a rugged feeling like the way Barnbougle Dunes does.

[Peter Zarlengo]

Tom,

Do you think that the 180 degree wind could be just as, if not more, fun to play in? I had that on one of my three rounds there. With 1, 3, 4, 12, and 15 now reachable, 11 and 14 playing as true three shot holes, and a much more benign finish on 15-18 do you think that makes sense?

[Bryan Izatt]

Duncan and Peter,

Thanks for the comments.  For clarity, I wasn't criticizing the first two holes.  They are indeed good holes, but they are not as great as the remaining holes.  And, I found all of the greens dificult to get the ball to the hole, whether chipping or putting.  After a while I stopped counting how many three putts I had.  But, they were fun three putts. 

[Duncan Betts]

Bryan,  I'd agree that the 2nd is not the strongest hole there.  There are 18 holes there that are great fun and all good to great holes, but there has to be a 'least favourite' and #2 is a candidate for this.

There is most certainly an advantage in taking on the fairway bunkers, I'm not a long hitter and find to my great advantage that I could just hit driver straight at the bunkers safe in the knowledge that 99% of the time I would pull up short.  Thus giving me the best line into that green.

Having said that, I would consider the hole pretty 'boring' if it weren't for that wonderful green.  I'd have #8 and probably #14 as my 'least favourite' holes, which isn't to say they aren't any good.  #2 for me moves up from being least favourite, simply because the green is so cool and it warms you up nicely for the fun of the holes that follow!

[Michael Taylor]

Very much looking forward to this tour. Keep up the good work.

It's wetting my appetite considering I should be playing there in 4 months. 

[Bryan Izatt]

Hole #3 Par 4 339 Meters (375 Yards)

As you walk up the path into the dunes from the second green you realize that the nature of the course is about to change.  The hole on the guide map appears to be a right bender.  In fact, I count 9 holes that bend to the right off the tee and only, arguably, 3 that go left.  From the aerial below, you can see a pronounced spine down the middle of the fairway, and indeed there are two levels (with lots of internal movement), the left lower and the right higher.





The wind is still in your face as you stand on the tee.  From the tee, the visual aspect creates all kinds on questions.  Is the bunker dead ahead a good line?  Is it reachable?  How much of the dune line on the right should I bite off?  Is the long grass as dead a place to be as it looks?  Picking a line and committing to it is essential.  Losing it right is bad, bad, bad.  I hit it on a line over the mound just right of the far trap and just barely made the fairway and was on the upper right tier.





Looking at the second shot, it seems apparent that the right side provides a better approach to the green than the left.  The target is narrow at the front of the green and broadens to the back.  The mid-line trap about 40 yards short of the green provides some depth perception issues.





From closer in you can see that the front pin position is very tight and sloped right to left.  From painful experience I can tell you that short of the right green side bunker on the down slope provides an impossible shot for us amateurs.  I flopped it perfectly, landing at the pin and watched it run off to the very back left corner.  Be careful where you miss.

Apart from the small false front, the rest of the green runs away to the back, if I recall correctly.  Another hole where it's hard to get it close, but a green with less internal movement.  A tough hole for a medium length par 4.

As you can see just short of the right hand green bunker, there are areas of the course where there are pure sand environments where it appears there is some difficulty maintaining grass.  The growing environment must be tough with the wind.  There was, on occasion, sand blowing out of bunkers.  

[Big Pete]

Bryan
Barnbougle is no different to most links course in that it is exposed to the vagaries of the weather , and the north westerly in particular .
The course is relatively protected from southerly weather .
At times it can really blow..
The wind usually starts coming in mid August and is more frequent over the months following  - gradually abating so that by April May June , the days are mild and less likely to have strong winds
Having said that over last 6 years I have probably played the course in excess of 100 times , and perhaps had 4 or 5 days where the wind was beyond an interesting challenge

Does it compromise the strategies on 4 and 12?
Not at all in my opinion - these holes require a lot of decision making beyond driving the green or laying up - let's talk about them more when you get to them

In the meantime the 3rd hole is a beauty , let's hear more on that

[Big Pete]

Matt
Yes the 4th and the 12th are drivable in the right conditions by many of the longer hitters
My son is a tour pro and he hits it ( the 4th ) quite easily in most conditions but I have mates who give a rip and get there
Unfortunately I am a good 20 metres short of being able to make the carry...
Let's talk about it when Bryan gets to 4..

[Rob Rigg]

Bryan,

In the photo the front bunker looks fairly tight to the green - does it feel that way in person?

I really enjoy seeing the architect use that concept of the "slight fore bunker" if done properly on a couple of holes during a round.

What a fun tee shot!

Is it possible to use the backboard to work it to that front pin position?

Very cool looking hole.

[Tom_Doak]

An interesting aside to the third hole:

Originally, there was a sharp, 12-foot tall dune about forty yards short of the green on the right ... from about where the fore-bunker is now on toward the green a ways.  [That's probably why they are having so much trouble growing grass in that spot ... very sandy subsoil.]  If you drove it on the upper-right shelf of fairway, the green was invisible from there.  We kept whittling away at it while building the hole, and eventually, after I left, Brian Schneider decided to take it out altogether.

Clearly, no one has missed it.

[David_Elvins]

Nice thread Bryan,

I will try and keep up from now but to back track a little, the more I play the course the more I like the first two holes.  The second green in particular is super fun.  It also has one of the coolest features I have seen (although I might wait until I get a good photo of it before describing it).

I would rate Barnbougle as the best course I have seen and whilst the first two holes are weaker than the first two at, say, St Andrews, they aren't horribly outclassed by the first two at, say, Pebble Beach or Merion or Royal Melbourne.  

Here's a photo showing the really cool contours on the second (although it is perhaps the most "moundy" looking Doak work that I have seen).  



And heres a photo of the third green.  It took a while to work out just how much front to back slope there is in this green.  A very hard green to hold on those days the hole plays down wind.  

[Ian Andrew]

I've never understood what people found lacking with the first two holes. In some ways they do a great job of building your anticipation rather than heading straight into the interior. Lost Farms uses the same technique to open the round. I think it makes the tee shot on the 3rd even more exciting as you finally move inside the dunes.

The third has got one of the very best greens on the golf course. The front pin is a beauty! There are so many wonderful pin positions and the transition into the dune on the right is magnificent. It was one of my favourite greens on the entire property.

[Tyler Kearns]

Ian,

The 2nd is a good golf hole, it just happens to occupy a relatively plain segment of the property, similar to the first half of the tenth hole. At first glance it doesn't conjure up the type of visual excitement found throughout the rest of the course, but that is not a bad thing, like you said. It could be akin to the slow climb up a roller coaster, it helps build anticipation for what follows. Like Tom mentioned earlier, the site is quite narrow, so that placed limitations on the routing of the golf course. Ultimately, you take what the land gives you, and avoiding this section of the site would have created a domino affect of change that would have been detrimental to the course as a whole, and we may never have experienced the numerous great holes on the front nine.

TK

[Bryan Izatt]

Bryan,

In the photo the front bunker looks fairly tight to the green - does it feel that way in person?

I really enjoy seeing the architect use that concept of the "slight fore bunker" if done properly on a couple of holes during a round.

What a fun tee shot!

Is it possible to use the backboard to work it to that front pin position?

Very cool looking hole.

If you're talking about the fore-bunker on #3, on first playing, I knew from the course map that it was not tight to the green.  From the fairway in real life, the top lines make it look deceptively close to the green. 

For those of us who are yard people and not meter people, I think the mixed messages of visual perception vs yardage/meterage compounds the difficulty of shot selection.  The only yardage information is a 150 meter plaque.  Now, on this hole if I was at the plaque my brain is reading 150 yards which is a 7 iron for me.  I then have to mentally calculate that it's really 165 yards, so really a hard 6 iron.  But then you've got a 2 or 3 club wind in your face, so I should really hit 3 or 4 iron, and knock it down.  But, that fore-bunker looks so close, and here I am standing at the white plaque that's hard-wired in my brain as 150 yards.  How the hell, can I commit to hitting a full 3 iron from 150 yards?    Guess what the probability of success is to a narrow green target running away from you.

Re using a backboard on the green, I don't think there is one, as you can see more clearly in David's picture.

 

[Patrick Kiser]

... In some ways they do a great job of building your anticipation rather than heading straight into the interior. Lost Farms uses the same technique to open the round. I think it makes the tee shot on the 3rd even more exciting as you finally move inside the dunes.

Agreed.  I think I really appreciate more and more a course where the first couple of holes don't kick your teeth in.  It's nice to have a chance to work yourself into a round.  Although, a par 5 into the wind to start things off?

And look at that 3rd fronting green bunker with the depth deception...  Brilliant.  A little MacKenzie rubbing off on Tom, Jim and the crew no doubt.



Bryan,

Great thread and I have it bookmarked now so I can refer back to it for next year's trip down there.  Thanks for sharing.

[Bryan Izatt]

Tom,

Thanks for the aside.  Keep them coming.

If the dune blocked the view from the right upper fairway, would that not have taken away some of the strategic advantage of keeping a drive on the upper right side?  Given it was eradicated after you left, would you, looking at it now, like to see it restored in part or in full?

It's hard to miss things that you never knew about.

[Alex Miller]

... In some ways they do a great job of building your anticipation rather than heading straight into the interior. Lost Farms uses the same technique to open the round. I think it makes the tee shot on the 3rd even more exciting as you finally move inside the dunes.

Agreed.  I think I really appreciate more and more a course where the first couple of holes don't kick your teeth in.  It's nice to have a chance to work yourself into a round.  Although, a par 5 into the wind to start things off?

And look at that 3rd fronting green bunker with the depth deception...  Brilliant.  A little MacKenzie rubbing off on Tom, Jim and the crew no doubt.



Bryan,

Great thread and I have it bookmarked now so I can refer back to it for next year's trip down there.  Thanks for sharing.

Agreed. More holes more holes!!!

I think par 5 starters are great ways to ease players into rounds. More margin for error, but if the better player makes par or bogey, it tests them to keep their composure.

I know very little about Barnbougle, other than what I've seen from their website. This thread is great!

[Bryan Izatt]

David,

Thanks for the comments and especially the pictures.  The angles and  lighting in them is super.  I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed the links and added them to the hole description posts.  Keep them coming in future holes.  In retrospect, I did poorly on getting useful green shots.

[Bryan Izatt]

Ian,

Good points.  I guess I wasn't trying to say the first two holes are lacking, per se.  Rather, those of us who come from afar, come with great expectations.  And what we're delivered on those two holes is subtlety and not drama.  There is certainly enough drama on the rest of th ecourse, that a little subtlety starting off is not bad.  I absolutely agree that those holes are best at the beginning of the round, and if I got to play them more often I'm sure my feelings for their subtleties would increase.  Reminds in that respect, a bit of TOC.

You were there not long ago (I assume on your first visit).  Did you play them first or walk them first?   Do you remember your feelings about them when you first saw them?  Of course, as an architect, perhaps your expectations are not as great as the rest of us, and your appreciation of the subtleties is more immediate.

[Bryan Izatt]

And now, on to #4.........

Hole #4 Par 4 271 meters (300 yards)

Walking up to the tee thoughts of birdie are dancing in our heads.  A short par 4!  Or is it even a drivable par 4!!

The course map and aerials give you a flat plan view of the layout of the hole.  





In no way do the aerials prepare you for the three dimensional visual drama.  Nothing like standing on the tee and muttering, Oh,,,   Wow!!!





Still into the wind.  A real head scratcher off the tee.  It's only 300 yards and there looks like there's room behind the first big bunker (having measured subsequently on Google Earth, the carry from the tips is around 250 to 260 yards).  But that 2 or 3 club wind is right in your face.  But, they've cut the long grass to the right of the bunker, so how bad can a miss there be.  But if you don't make the carry that bunker looks like death.

So, where can I lay up?  Looks like a lot of room out to the left behind the first ridge off the tee. But, that's way left and most of the green will be invisible.  Maybe I can drive it straight at the far bunker, but hopefully come up short.  Or maybe I'll just bunt it down in front of the first massive bunker.  But, in either case I won't be able to see the green.

C'mon wind, lay down a bit, I really want to have a go at it.  

On the first day, for once, I opted for course management and tried a 3 iron stinger.  My usual little draw was turned by the wind into a full fledged hook.  Thank you Tom et al for putting that wide elbow out there on the left.  The second day, I moved up one tee and said to hell with it, I'm going with driver.  And, pulled it at the far bunker and rolled up nicely short of it.

What is evident from the aerial is tha a significant portion of the green runs to the left behind the dune ridge.  The flag in the picture is far right.  A right flag is partially visible from most places in the fairway. A left pin, is not visible from anywhere other than if you fly the bunker.





I'm not sure how to describe the green.  Is it a deeply delicious dell?  Or, maybe a fabulous flying fortress.  In any event, if you don't fly the bunker, it's difficult to get the ball close to the pin that you can't really see much if any of.

I made par twice, so it's easy par on a 300 yard hole.  Thoughts of birdie flew away on the breeze.  I expect that if the wind laid down o 10 knots and you were playing the appropriate tee, then taking a run at the green would be doable for many.  And a lot of those would suffer the consequences, but the fun is in the trying.

And, thanks to Andrew for a picture of part of the green.  It shows the landing area if you take on the bunker and the options for getting to the front pin position.  Getting to the back left pin position from there must be an interesting proposition.





And, another picture of the green courtesy of GOLFselect.com.au indicating how the slopes might gather the blind approach shot over the second bunker to a back left pin position.

[Emil Weber]

IMHO,

To put it short, the 4th is probably the best hole I've ever played (or seen). There is no hole (I've played) that gives so many options for every single type of player and pin positions. There is no hole (I've played) I could never ever tire of playing. No hole where it's so tempting to go over your limit (haven't seen 10 at RMW...). Few holes hat are so naturally beautiful. If golf gets better than this hole, tell me where

[Michael Taylor]

What do you like more about it than the 3rd at RQ, Emil? (I have not play BD..yet ) I wouldn't say 10 at RMW is tempting at all. I didn't even think about going for the green when I played there.

It's a beautiful looking course indeed, and the pictures that have been posted thus far have been wonderful. Great job Tom and Bryan. 

[Dieter Jones]

Thanks for the thread. Nice to break down the "old girl" once again.

I've played around 45 rounds at Barnbougle. I;ve only seen it blow hard straight into the wind on the first few or 180 degrees to that. The cross wind tend to be a gentle breeze.

I can only really remember seeing the pin front left or almost dead centre most rounds on 1 so not sure how many more placements there are. Hole 2 grows on you - I think the green does it. When you play 99% of your golf on non links style courses that are over watered - the excitment of having the opportunity to bump and run or use the slope behind the hole to get it close awakens your creative game.

Hole 3 is where things really get exciting. Playing 3 to 7 is my favorite stretch of holes anywhere and in my limited playing experience only bettered by 3-6 Royal Melbourne West. 4 is a ripper - left off the tee is great for the right pin placement but my favorite is the left pin in behind that hill. I have never driven 4 green off the tee. I am sure I could get there with a decent tail wind but on those rare occassions I tend to still play for position. I have birdied this hole more than any other on the course but also rack up plenty of 5's through 3 putting after a poorly placed tee shot. 12th hole on the other hand I have driven it to the front edge in the right wind and I am not a big hitter (you can cut off 25yards going the direct line to the green if you dare). It still took my 3 to get up and down mind you :-(

I await the desription of the walk from 4 to 5 before talking about the 5th.

[David_Elvins]

What happens when you just fail to clear the bunker on 4. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j3t9si6vyw