Barnbougle Golf (The Dunes course)

425 Waterhouse Rd,

Bridport, Tasmania 7262

  • Office

    +61 (0)3 6310 8400
  • Pro shop

    +61 (0)3 6310 8400
  • Fax

    5
  • Golf pro

    Roscoe Banks (Director of Golf).

About the course

  • The Course:

    18 holes. Seaside links. Gently undulating terrain - a few slopes to climb

  • Surroundings:

    Coastal duneland.

  • Designer:

    Tom Doak and Michael Clayton

Back
tees
Club
tees
Front
tees
Metres
6148
4995
4584
Par
71
72
72
SSS or slope
73
70
72

At the same location:

Above distances are for Barnbougle's Dunes course. Also at Barnbougle is the 20-hole Lost Farm course (par-78, 6503 m from back tees. The 18 competition holes are par-72; 6263 m from back tees), and the 14-hole Bougle Run course (12 par-3s and two par-4s; designed by Bill Coore).

Location

Latitude:

-41.005038

Longitude:

147.437966

How to get there:

270 km N of Hobart / 70 km N of Launceston.

From the coastal village of Bridport, head east along Waterhouse Rd (B82) direction Waterhouse. After 3 km Barnbougle Dunes is on your left.

Barnbougle Golf (The Dunes course)

5-PLUS: In the world’s elite - has few peers; one of our top-rated 5s!

Est. 2004

Barnbougle Golf (The Dunes course): Recognised not just as one of Australia's top five layouts, but also one of the great seaside links courses of the world. The Dunes is the genuine article when it comes to exciting, scenic and challenging coastal links golf. This Tom Doak/Michael Clayton design impressively journeys its way over wonderfully rolling, duneland terrain.

The front-nine stretches out to the west through the dunes, providing views inland over a small river estuary (a gathering point for several local creeks and rivulets). The back-nine take you onto slightly higher ground, which offers the best of the fabulous ocean vistas onto Bass Strait. There are no gimmicky or tricked up holes here, just superb "old-style" links golf in the great seaside tradition.

Not all the holes will necessarily require a full larrup with the driver; the testing short par-4 4th will respond better to adept course management and a precise approach shot into the partially dune-obscured green. An exquisite "wee demon" of a hole comes at the very short par-3 7th, while the glorious par-4 17th has you teeing off alongside Adam's Cut (a small river), which creates a wonderful sand bar as it flows into the sea.

With no cars, planes or housing to disturb your concentration, and hopefully the weather behaving itself as well, you can ply your golfing skills while enjoying the towering sand dunes, spectacular ocean views and one of the best coastal links courses in the world. And right next door is the second of Barnbougle's two world-beaters ... the slightly younger Lost Farm layout.

Stay&Play at Barnbougle: onsite accommodation available, see Where2Stay section below.

List of courses: Tasmania / King Island

Visitors

Who can play and when?

Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.

Must book in advance.

Green fees

International visitor fee, 18-holes in high season (Oct thru' April): A$235; Australian golfer $149.

Contact club for full details, discounts, Stay&Play packages, etc. [Last updated: 2024].

Other information

Non-metal spike facility. This is a walking course; golf cart (with escort/driver) only available for hire on medical grounds. Caddies available, if pre-booked.

Practice facilities

Excellent

Did you know?

Barnbougle Dunes takes it name from the adjoining Barnbougle Beach, which was named by early settlers to Bridport (the first of whom arrived around 1830). The settlers were referencing Barnbougle castle in Scotland, which is stunningly located near Edinburgh on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, between Cramond and Queensferry.

According to some, the word Barnbougle derives from "Bar-na-buai-gall,", the Celtic for "the point of the victory of strangers." However, a possible English derivation is "Baron-bugle" or "Bar'n-bugle", relating to the Hound Point tradition: it is said that on the eve of the death of any of the castle's lordly owners, a man in black with a dog would appear on the shoreline and sound the baron's death-note on a bugle. An old ballad includes the lines: And ever when Barnbougle's lords, Are parting this scene below, Come hound and ghost to this haunted coast, With death notes winding slow.

Published ranking

Australia's 4th best course (Australian Golf Digest, 2022/23).
World's 36th best course (GOLF Magazine, 2023/24) and 34th best public access course (Golf World, 2023).

Where2Stay

  • Barnbougle Dunes Cottages & Villas

    425 Waterhouse Rd, Bridport, TAS 7262

    +61 (0)3 6356 0094

    Visit website

    Cosy two-bedroom 3.5-star cabins, luxurious two-bedroom Ocean Villas, and four-bedroom Bunker villas provide golfers and non-golfers with a range of onsite accommodation options at Barnbougle Dunes.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      Barnbougle Dunes

    • Golf within 10 km:

      Barnbougle Lost Farm (1 km)

    • Golf within 30 km:

      No

  • Bridport Resort Villas

    35 Main St, Bridport, Tasmania 7262

    +61 (0)3 6356 1789

    Visit website

    Nestled in a natural bushland setting on the shores of Anderson Bay on Tasmania's northeast coast, the Bridport Resort & Function Centre enjoys a scenic location on your way into Bridport. The resort accommodation is based on sixteen privately positioned, spacious and fully appointed holiday villas.

    • Golf at this hotel:

      No

    • Golf within 10 km:

      Barnbougle Dunes; Barnbougle Lost Farm.

    • Golf within 30 km:

      No

Find a course

Or

Tournaments

Ryder Cup: Rome plays host to the first ever Ryder Cup to be staged in Italy, with the USA defending golf’s greatest team trophy at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Sept 29-Oct 1).

Solheim Cup: also in September, also in southern Europe, the 18th Solheim Cup will be contested at Finca Cortesin on the Costa del Sol, with Europe defending after their surprise win in Toledo, Inverness Club (Ohio) in 2021 (Sept 22-24). 

Who's Who

Céline Boutier: with many successes as both an amateur and professional golfer, Boutier added a major championship title to her impressive résumé at this year’s Evian Championship.

Alex Cejka: buffeted by rain and high winds, especially on the high-scoring final day, Čejka prevailed over Pádraig Harrington in a playoff at Royal Porthcawl, to scoop the Senior Open Championship title.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

Popular videos

You can subscribe to the Where2Golf channel on YT if you like to see more video content. You'll find a "Subscribe" button on any of our YouTube videos. Or if you want a quick and direct access subscribe here. Once done, any new published videos will show up in your Subscriptions feed.

Hamburger GC - Falkenstein, Germany

WINSTONgolf - Links course

Littlestone Golf Club (Kent, UK)