Stroll down the first fairway at Barnbougle Dunes, with the firm, springy turf under your feet, feel the stiff breeze off the sea and gaze at the huge dunes and gaping, wild-fringed bunkers, and you could easily kid yourself you’re on a traditional British links. Short of having a railway line running down the landward side of the out-and-back layout they seem to have thought of everything.

Okay, so there are a few differences - I’ve never seen a kangaroo hopping around in East Lothian or the Kent coast, as I did here after spending a little too long hacking around in one of those aforementioned gaping bunkers, just short of the third green. 

And there’s no gorse. It’s not native to Tasmania and if there’s one thing this state does diligently, it’s protect the indigenous flora and fauna (I had to hand over two apples from Melbourne after landing at Launceston airport - there’s a bio security dog there that takes his job very seriously).

But what there is here is an absolutely glorious round of golf. It’s only been established 20 years or so but is already firmly lodged in the far upper reaches of most authoritative lists of the world’s best tracks. You really don’t have to play many holes before you find yourself agreeing.

The terrain is perfect for golf, with big dunes running alongside a glorious stretch of beach on the north coast of Tassie. Designers Tom Doak and Mike Clayton have taken that perfect terrain and created a magical route through it. 

There’s a terrific variety of holes. A nice, welcoming par five to begin with - a wide fairway, rolling across the dunes, makes the first tee shot a lot less daunting than you’d normally expect at a world Top 100 course. Maybe they took as their inspiration the Old Course at St Andrews, where the first tee looks down on the widest fairway in golf. Although that one is still pretty daunting.…

The point about the fairways here, though, is that they are mostly pretty welcoming. However, to score well, you’ll need to pick the right line into the flag. Which means tee shot placement is paramount. And on a links course, with the sloping, undulating fairways, the fast-running turf, and the wind playing havoc (there is, apparently, always a breeze here)….well, you might pick a good line off the tee. Whether you end up there is another thing entirely.

It’s then, for your approaches into the par fours and fives, that the real genius of the design reveals itself. Because these are massive, rolling greens with huge slopes and borrows, well protected by big, deep bunkers, grassy run offs, false fronts. To get close to the pin requires you to be in position A on the fairway for your approach. Which you might not be if, instead of strategising, you just stood on the tee and blasted it down the wide, inviting fairway. This is a course where you can do that, you can have a lot of fun - but if you want to score, you need to think your way round. It’s a fascinating challenge.