Must-read golf course review of Barnbougle Dunes

Ran Morrissett casts his eye over one of Australia’s best golf courses; Barnbougle Dunes

If you love Barnbougle Dunes, want to go play golf there or simply a connoisseur of great golf course design, you must read this review of Barnbougle Dunes by Ran Morrissett.

As founder of Golf Club Atlas, Morrissett is a doyen in the realm of golf course architecture and his captivating review of Barnbougle begins with a great overview of the history of its construction; from the initial consultations with land owner (and non-golfer) Richard Sattler to the intricacies and challenges of the layout:

In the end the routing became a classic figure 8 with the clubhouse in the middle. Herbert Fowler demonstrated the merit of such a configuration at Eastward Ho! on Cape Cod in 1922 and Pete Dye popularized it at two of his most noted designs, The Ocean Course at Kiawah and Whistling Straits. Within these loops at Barnbougle the playing corridors regularly shift 15 to 25 degrees from the preceding hole. Such subtle changes in direction make the golfer continually re-calculate the wind’s effect on any given hole/shot.

And a snippet from his take on the now famous par-4 4th hole, which I was fascinated to read was almost the finish of a long par-5 that incorporated the third hole in the initial design phase:

This one is of the drivable genre and because the green is located in a natural punchbowl, there are countless ways for a tee ball to be gathered down onto the putting surface. A golfer is rightly irritated when conditions permit if he doesn’t take a mighty swipe at the green from the tee. Of course, to create the proper tension between architect and player, a downside for a failed attempt must exist. Indeed, the deepest blowout bunker on the course is on a direct line from tee to green as well as a pair of other bunkers on the farther dune. All three are hazards in the truest sense to be avoided.

Grab yourself a coffee and read Morrissett’s review of Barnbougle Dunes, it should make you appreciate even more, this stunning golf course we have on our doorstep.