For Americans, Tasmania symbolizes the ultimate remote destination; even if most Americans don’t
know exactly where it is, the name alone represents a place as far as one could
imagine getting away. So it came as a surprise that our new course in Tasmania is accessible from Australia’s major population centers, especially Melbourne—a one-hour
flight and just over an hour’s drive from the airport.
An island state 300 miles off the southeast tip of the
continent, Tasmania is shaped like a triangle about 150
miles across; a significant part is still wilderness. There are 23 national
parks, used for camping and hiking; upscale ecotourism and wineries have
flourished recently, but hardly anyone took golf clubs.
Barnbougle Dunes is intended to change that. It is the
brainchild of Greg Ramsay, who spent time in Scotland after
college and became enamored with links golf. He knew there were miles of
undeveloped dunes in Tasmania, and he talked a
potato farmer named Richard Sattler, whose land was along the northern coast,
into letting him put together a syndicate to develop 18 holes on his useless
land; he then talked myself and Michael Clayton, a former European Tour player
from Australia, into getting involved.
After Greg’s financing fell through, Sattler built the
project anyway, with the help of a few investors and the state government, which
was most encouraging about a potential tourist attraction.
For all its great layouts, Australia has
not had a true “destination” golf course—all the best courses are in the major
cities—and it never had a true links. Barnbougle is a first in both categories.
The front nine wanders through massive dunes, with some of the fairways near sea
level and dunes 30 to 60 feet tall on the borders; several holes on the back
nine run along the tops of broader dunes providing good views of Bridport Bay
and a strand of beachfront. At the 18th hole, a sliced tee shot into the wind will wind
up on the beach, where you can climb down and play your second shot back to the
fairway! Above all, we hope that Australians and visitors to the country will support the
concept of “destination golf” in Australia, so that other great sites
such as this will be developed in the future.
