Title Image

The Barnbougle Golf Experience

The Barnbougle Golf Experience

You’ve heard the stories. Barnbougle is ‘as good as it gets’.  It is golf that is deliciously unpredictable and highly addictive. It is some of the most exciting, beautiful, and “magical” golf in Australia. It is as close as it gets to playing the likes of Lahinch and Ballybunion in Ireland and The Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland. And, thanks to 6 different sets of tees, you don’t have to have a low handicap to enjoy it.

WELCOME TO GOD’S COUNTRY

Some of you will make your way to Bridport from Hobart, others will fly into Launceston for the week. The road to Barnbougle is beautiful. As you arrive, all you see is cows grazing and potato patches. Where on earth are the golf courses? As the coach goes over the very last dune, you see it. Rolling fairways and greens as far as the eye can see. People cheer on the coach. You haven’t even checked in yet and you are excited.

Here there is no multi-million dollar, multi-storey clubhouse. No artificially landscaped entrance and exit roads. From the post and rail fences around the property put together from the branches and trunks of dead trees to the bench seat outside the pro shop made from a fallen giant of a tree, Barnbougle is tasteful, understated and in harmony with its seaside setting.

IT’S ALL ABOUT ‘US’ AND NO ONE ELSE

Our group takes over Barnbougle. The whole place has been booked out for our exclusive use. This means everyone at the bar, restaurant and lounge area is here to enjoy a week of golfing nirvana. It’s not long before doors are left open and bottles of wine are shared over balconies onlooking the beautiful ocean.

Some nights, you will head on up to the restaurant- Try the scallops, they are to die for! The views from the restaurant over the rolling dunes and coastal scenery makes it a beautiful place to unwind after golf. On other nights, you want something more casual. The sports bar with its wood-fired pizzas or ‘cook your own BBQ’ is just what you want.

A GOLFING EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER

The untouched wilderness, scenic coastal terrain, rolling dunes and clean air inspires you to breathe a little deeper – it helps getting to elevated tees and greens. The fairways start wide and welcoming, then they start to wind and undulate. Some of the tee boxes are perched atop dunes. This makes the green look postcard perfect.

While the rest of Australia swelters under the heat, you get perfect weather conditions for glorious, “tell-your-friends-about-it” shotmaking with mild sea breezes sweeping over the fairways.

It truly is a golfing experience like no other in Australia. These are courses you will want to play twice – with hindsight assisting your shot selection the second time round. It’s little wonder why both are ranked in the top 30 in the world.

The impeccably manicured fairways and greens are beautiful. It’s as if Tom Doak and Mike Clayton simply unrolled a grass carpet across the untouched undulating landscape. This is a magnificent walking course.

You will love the challenge of ‘snaking’ a putt through the enigmatic left-right-left-downhill breaks on the slick 13th green. Or “threading the needle” on the monstrous 8th to carefully place a drive on a narrow strip of elevated fairway — flirting precariously with the ball devouring rough on the left, and the valley of death on the right. Indeed, this is golf at its finest! (Tip: the yardage book is an absolute must-buy.)

THE GAMES YOU PLAY

During the week you will dress up in fancy dress. It helps you earn points for your team. We have seen green leprechauns, blue Barnbougle pencils, purple trolls and yellow daffodils. On Tuesday, our rest day from golf, there are beach games, another chance to earn points for the team and a great way to break up the week. We then trade sand for grass at the Barnbougle practice putting green for the chipping and pitching competition. It’s a fun time with cheers and jeers from the crowd all of which get louder as we go from semi-finals to finals.

Whether you come to Tasmania for 1 week or both weeks, just don’t miss it. You’ll have the best time of your life!

 

CHECK IT OUT

Barnbougle 4 Ball
5 -11 January 2020

 

Related Posts

2015 Barnbougle Highlights