View from the 1st tee at Lost Farm

I’m in Bridport because it is the home of one of the world’s greatest golf resorts.  Barnbougle has two courses, the Dunes and Lost Farm.  Golf Digest rank Lost Farm as the 23rd best course in the world and Barnbougle Dunes as the 11th.  I’m very cynical about ratings of that sort but there seems no doubt that these two courses are in the best 5 in Australia (with NSW, which I have played, Royal Melbourne West and Kingston Heath, which I get to see nest week.  Importantly, people I know, whose opinions I value, say they are exceptional.  I was booked to play twice at Lost Farm today and then twice at Barnbougle Dunes tomorrow.

It’s possible to build a great golf course on a less that fantastic site but so much easier when the land is wonderful.  Driving towards Barnbougle this morning gave a hint of what was to come:

View from the drive!

Bridport is on the northern coast of Tasmania and the land immediately next to the sea is links land, like so much of the coast in the UK.  This is perfect for golf. The owners of Barnbougle hired two of the very best firms of architects to design these  two courses.  Barnbougle Dunes was designed by Tom Doak and Lost Farm by the team of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.  I was fascinated to see the contrast in what these two made of such great terrain.

Lost Farm was a blast from first to last.  Unusually it has 20 holes (numbered 1-18, with additional par 3s as 13a and 18a) and is the eastern most of the two courses.  It has its own separate clubhouse a 5 minute drive from the Barnbougle Dunes site.

The course is visually stunning.  It has very wide fairways bounded by deep, thick marram grasses.  Miss the fairway and there is no prospect of finding your ball.  Missing the fairway takes some doing, though.  However, it’s quite possible on many holes to be on the fairway but have almost no shot.  It really rewards those who can put their ball in the right place.  Likewise, the greens are large but very undulating.  There are right and wrong parts of the green to hit.  Miss the right parts and putting becomes very, very tricky.

I ended up playing 49 holes.  Twice round the full 20, then out for 9 more in the evening.  There’s no doubt this is a great golf course, elevated by the beauty of the area it is in.

I played pretty well today.  A highlight was on the long par 3 15th, where a 4 ball of middle aged Australians invited me to play through.  Not only did I hit the ball to 10 feet but rolled the putt in for birdie as they watched.  The additional 9 I played was the front 9, as there were three holes on that 9 I had not played well in the previous two rounds.  The par 5 first, which I had bogied twice, I made a birdie on.  The short par 3 4th, where I had made a par with a great recovery shot from garbage behind the green and a blob, I made a regulation par.  Indeed, I was level par for 7 holes, when I came to the 8th.  I had a bogey and a blob here in previous rounds.  Sadly, I still cannot tell you how to play this devilishly difficult par 5.

It appears Barnbougle Dunes is commonly held to be the better course.  If it is, I’m in for a real treat tomorrow!

One other thing worth mentioning is the wildlife.  Yesterday evening, when I popped up to see the place, I had seen dozens of kangaroos (or wallabies, I just don’t know).  This evening, as I finished I had a few as spectators.

A local wonders at my ineptitude on the 8th

Earlier, during a warmer part of the day, this chap watched me putt for par on the 2nd:

I’m told a snake was spotted on the site today.  Fortunately not by me.

After finishing playing, I had an encouraging conversation with the firm I am hoping to join in December and watched the test cricket from Rajkot with a couple of blokes who had played Barnbougle today and  glass of local pinot noir.  What a great day!

• Uncategorized