Narrandera

Alex Frolish has been a pilot for approaching 20 years and now travels to all corners of the globe in his role as a commercial airline pilot. His passion for flight is only equalled by his passion for golf and golf travel. Having picked up a golf club over 35 years ago when aged just 3 years old, Alex has played over 600 courses across every continent on planet earth furnished with a fairway. Over the next few months you’ll be able to follow Alex’s golfing travels as he brings you anecdotes of his life both in the air and on the course. Eleven rounds of golf, played on four different continents, in one month. It sounds crazy when you say it out loud. Even crazier still is that, in travelling to those rounds of golf I flew over 24000 air miles and spent over sixty five hours some six miles above the surface of the earth. You could well assume I was severely inefficient in my golf planning, were it not for the fact that most of my golf is played while I’m away on my travels as a commercial pilot. The month started in Australia, at a golf course that is the furthest from my home in the U.K. that I have ever played. I had visited the peninsula where New South Wales Golf Club is located once before, playing at St Michaels Golf Club on a previous visit. The course was very pleasant and a decent challenge, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking enviously over the boundary fence toward the Alister Mackenzie crafted greens of New South Wales. Our flight landed in Sydney a little after 5am, and our flight path meant I got a birds-eye view of the golf course on our final approach. A little over 3 hours later, I was standing on the 1st tee of the 49th best golf course in the world, teeing it up in the Saturday morning medal competition! Surreal is an understatement. Now you would think that with pretty much no sleep and barely enough time to collect my golf bag, never mind time for some breakfast and a practice putt, my golf might have arrived in a rather jet-lagged state. It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to my playing partners when I found the first fairway, followed by the first green, and subsequently holed the 10 foot putt for the most improbable of birdie starts. Everyone knows the old golfing adage, never birdie the 1st hole, and even though my ball striking remained surprisingly intact, Dr. Mackenzie slowly exacted his pound of flesh, and by the middle of the back nine my card was in no danger of producing an out-of-towner upset. New South Wales is one of the most unique and beautiful golf courses you could ever play. The green sites and bunkering are wondrous, the routing through the native bush is playful and utilises the ground wonderfully, while the reveal as you crest the hill on the par 5 5th and the walk to the par 3 6th tee, before you play your shot over the crashing waves, has to be one of the most jaw dropping experiences on any of my golfing travels. My next round would be played just over 48 hours later, well over 3000 miles away in Asia. SICC Bukit sounds like an item you might need after a late night in the bar at the annual member/guest, but the Bukit course at Singapore Island Country Club is much more tasteful than that. The variety of the native foliage and trees, the improbably undulating land and the supremely pure playing surfaces made this a memorable jaunt in the jungle to complete my trip out east. My next round would be some 18 time zones west of where I’d played my game in Sydney just a few days before. San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area is one of my favourite places in the world. Life over here is nearly as good as the golf, and although I’d visited many of the famous haunts, San Francisco Golf Club had always been one that had eluded me. On this trip, I was lucky enough to change that. SFGC is a traditional and private place. The club sign outside the gates probably rivals Augusta for being one of the most photographed golf signs in the world. Due to the club employing a strict no phones policy, that photograph is often the only evidence that you visited here. For the trip, I rented a car from Avis, plumping for a mid-size that I hoped would be low key and not to brash so as not to ruffle too many feathers at the gate. Imagine my horror when I was told I’d been upgraded due to a lack of cars to a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4XE, a car that cries ‘I’m here’ at the top of its lungs! As the gates drew open to allow my car inside, I crawled along the driveway, parking as far away from sight as possible. My exit from the car was akin to that of a special forces raid, extracting myself and my clubs in record time, without anybody noticing. The golf course at SFGC is truly spectacular, routed across ground that contains a historic site in the political history of the U.S.A. I’m no American history expert, but even I can could feel the significance of setting eyes on the spot where the last legal duel took place between Senator David C. Broderick and Justice David S. Terry in 1859. Terry shot Broderick somewhere beside the now 7th tee, sparking a chain of events that would eventually propel Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency. The front nine here is dramatic as the history of the ground, with the holes navigating through and over impressive ridges and two impressively deep valleys, creating some dramatic precipitous drives and eye catching chute fairways. The way the ground is utilised is the real master of the piece, and this is as perfect a nine holes as you could ever wish to play. The back nine is less dramatic but still perfectly formed and as an experience, it will linger in my golfing daydreams for many years. More golf in California was followed by a quick fire trifecta of Welsh golf, at St Pierre (Old), Cradoc and Builth Wells, visiting each for the first time on Top100 duty. St Pierre has hosted some notable professional events in years gone by, and you could feel the course would pose a decent test to the professionals, particularly through the closing stretch. Cradoc, nestled in the lee of Pen Y Fan and the rest of Brecon Beacons is a parkland golf course that ranks high on good vibes, while also boasting plenty of quality. And just down the road in the Wye Valley, Builth Wells bursts with quirk, particularly on the back nine, and I left Wales with my enthusiasm for seeing some of the hidden gems in British golf truly reinvigorated. Pennsylvania was the destination for my final long haul voyage in July. We played at an underrated course named Treesdale on our first day, where Arnold Palmer carved 27 testing holes through the undulating and heavily wooded terrain. The golf and the company were tremendous, but it was difficult not to get ahead of myself, as what lay ahead the following day had been keeping me awake at night for weeks. Henry Fownes left the ultimate architectural mic drop out in the suburbs of Pittsburgh; one world beating layout and he was done. It really is some legacy. Oakmont has been undergoing a renovation under the guidance of Gil Hanse, in preparation for the US Open in 2025, and it was touch and go whether we would be able to make it out for a game, with the works and weather a dangerous duo to navigate. However my luck was in, it had been member/guest weekend which meant the works were minimised, while the storms had rolled off into the distance, leaving us with one of world golf’s finest golf courses almost to ourselves on a sun kissed summer afternoon. My take away from playing Oakmont is that it is even more testing than I had imagined, yet somehow, it is still eminently enjoyable golf, which really explains why it is so highly regarded. It is undoubtedly much harder than most of the elite clubs I have played in the USA. Your strategical nous and execution is heavily tested throughout, the bunkers admonish most of the punishment, but you can make a big score by merely missing the treacherous greens (which are kept close to US Open pace routinely) on the wrong side by a only couple of yards. My July might have been the most varied and far reaching month of golf in my life to date. Three world Top100 courses, 25,000 miles of golf travel on the ground and in the air, and a camera roll of memories (both physical and in my head) to last a life time. August would be no lighter on the air miles, with more trips to the Far East and North America planned. In the mean time, wherever you are reading this and whatever your August has in store, I wish you the straightest of drives, well negotiated four- footers and happy rounds.

Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales Best in State Rankings 2021 On the back of publishing our biennial Australian Top 100 last week, it’s now time to focus our attention on the state listings, which are one level below the national chart. This gives us the benefit of being able to cast the spotlight on many of the layouts that miss out on a place at the country’s top table, but are still worthy of recognition within a smaller geographical area. We begin this exercise in the southeast of Australia with the federal district of the Australian Capital Territory – which is home to the nation’s capital city, Canberra – and the state of New South Wales, within which ACT is enclaved. We feature five of the courses in ACT and we’ve now extended our coverage in NSW to a Top 100, giving us the opportunity to highlight close to a third of the total number of tracks in the most populous state Down Under. Australian Capital Territory The top three positions in the Australian Capital Territory chart remain unaltered, which means the Westbourne course at Royal Canberra is still #1 in our revised table, a position it’s held since we started our state listings for Australia six years ago. Originally laid out by John Harris in the 1960s to a plan devised by James Herd Scott twenty years earlier, the course was extensively remodelled by Ogilvy Clayton Cocking Mead when this company was a design ensemble a few years ago, before Mike Clayton joined forces with Mike DeVries and Frank Pont. OCCM rebuilt greens and bunkers, removed trees and remodelled a number of holes. Royal Canberra Golf Club - Westbourne course This is what a recent reviewer had to say after playing here: “the new renovation brought a modern touch to a classic layout at Royal [by] opening the fairways, as well as adding strategic bunkers and amping up the green complex contours… the renovation solidified RCGC as a course with natural beauty and a classic Australian design, something that is quite unique to the Oceania region.” There is one new entry at #4 and it’s the course at Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club, situated 18 kilometres north of the capital, which is owned and operated by the Ainslie Group, one of Canberra’s leading hospitality companies. Unveiled in 1996, it was co-designed by Ted Parslow and Jamie Dawson of Enviro Links Design, with Dawson returning a decade later to add new bunkers, upgrade tees with stone wall abutments and install new cart paths. Click the link to see full details of our latest ACT Top 5 rankings. New South Wales There’s been quite a shake-up in our New South Wales listings, with most of the action taking place in the bottom half of the new table, where we’ve added another forty courses to create a Top 100. But first, looking at the other end of the chart, there’s very little movement within the first twenty places. Indeed, more than half the courses remain in the same position, including the state #1, New South Wales Golf Club in Botany Bay National Park. New South Wales Golf Club Designed by Alister MacKenzie back in the 1920s and refined down the years by a succession of architects, including Eric Apperly, Peter Thomson and Mike Wolveridge, Greg Norman and Bob Harrison, “La Perouse” (as the course is known locally) has recently benefitted from Tom Doak and his Renaissance Golf Design team reworking a number of the holes, most notably the par three 6th. The following remarks were made in a post a few months back: “the location of La Perouse on the northern cliff-top side of Botany Bay is to Sydney what Pebble is to Carmel, California… New South Wales is right at the top of the surprisingly meagre architecturally significant offerings on the Sydney golf scene. You will not be disappointed by a day spent in its warm embrace.” The most significant upward move near the top of the chart is the two-place advance of Bonnie Doon Golf Club's course at Pagewood to #7. The club is the third oldest in Sydney but its course is a relative youngster, having been created shortly after World War II when a relocation took place due to the expansion of the city airport. The aforementioned design firm of OCCM completed a 4-stage renovation a few years back and the results of this extensive upgrade are now reflected in the course’s upward trajectory in the rankings. Bonnie Doon Golf Club Rising sixteen to #22 (and also a new entry in our national Top 100), the Hilltop course at Mollymook Golf Club is another big climber in our NSW standings. The club was formed in the early 1950s with a 9-hole layout but it decided to fashion a new 18-hole layout within a nearby eucalyptus forest in the 1970s when expansion of its original Beachside course provide impractical. Featuring kikuyu fairways, bent greens, and water on almost half the holes, the Hilltop’s a tidy track that demands respect. Mollymook Golf Club - Hilltop course The course at Killara Golf Club progresses twelve places to #24. Founded at the end of the 19th century, the club moved to its present location just a few years after its formation, becoming what’s believed to be the first in Australia to own its own course in 1906. Englishman John Harris redesigned the layout in the mid-1960s and Harley Kruse has just completed a renovation, rebuilding greens and fairway bunkers, reversing a couple of holes and removing a significant number of trees. Killara Golf Club Another double-digit chart improvement (up ten to #29) is made by the course at Duntryleague Golf Club in Orange, which Eric Apperly and the club’s professional designed back in the 1930s. A Latvian landscape architect was hired shortly after World War II to devise an agronomy masterplan for the club so there are now some wonderful tree species to be found in the grounds of the estate that the course occupies. Duntryleague Golf Club Situated next to the Murray River, Corowa Golf Club (up thirteen to #45) have been in operation since 1903, when it started out as a basic 9-hole set-up with sand scrape putting surfaces. After moving in 1928 to Corowa Common, Al Howard redesigned what had become an 18-hole layout during the mid-1950s and another nine holes were brought into play twenty-five years later. In more recent times, a 35-room motel was added to the list of club amenities but, to top it all, a 58-seat boutique cinema became another of the club’s visitor attractions in 2018. Corowa Golf Club The last big mover of note is the Gangurru course at Riverside Oaks Golf Club, progressing eleven spots to #48. The original layout at an enterprising 36-hole facility, the Gangurru is somewhat overshadowed these days by the new Bob Harrison-designed Bungool course which opened five years ago but a bunker refurbishment carried out around the same time on the Gangurru has reignited thoughts of the glory days when it hosted three editions of the Australian PGA Championship at the end of the 1980s. Gangurru course at Riverside Oaks Golf Club The highest entry made by the many newcomers to our expanded NSW chart is the Captains course at Tocumwal Golf & Bowls Club, which arrives at #40. The club was formed in the 1950s, using former Australian Air Force property to build an initial 9-hole layout. This became the 18-hole Presidents course in the 1970s, before former Australian Amateur champion Kevin Hartley laid out the Captains course in the early 1990s. Click the link to see full details of our latest New South Wales Best in State rankings. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

Fergal visits the land down under Fergal continues his quest to play the Top 100 Golf Courses of the World. His latest stop was Australia New South Wales Dr. Alister MacKenzie designed this course just south of Sydney in a place called La Perouse, which is a sand-dune peninsula overlooking Botany Bay. The land that the course is built on remains within the boundaries of Botany Bay National Park, and certain modifications to the course still have to go through the Park council. The present suburb of La Perouse was named after Comte Jean Francois de Galoup La Perouse as this was where the last recorded sighting of him and his ships occurred. On 29th April 1770, Captain Cook dropped anchor just inside the headlands on the southern shore of Botany Bay. In seeking to replenish his water supply, he was unable to locate fresh water on the south side of the bay, so he dispatched a boat to the northern shores where suitable fresh water was located in “Captain Cooks Waterhole”. This is located about 200 meters below the 17th tee and is still visible more than 200 years later. In addition to the great history that surrounds the location of this golf course, the architect who laid out the 18 holes is no stranger to carving his own name in golfing history either. Much has been written about the condition of this course, and I’d like to make a few comments about the strategy that it entails. As with all other original MacKenzie layouts, length is not the requirement. The third hole is 410 yards, but a 90-degree dogleg left. From the back tee, it’s a blind tee shot over a hill, with just a small opening in the horizon to suggest that there’s actually a fairway out there. Upon climbing over the hill, you’re faced with an uphill approach shot to raised green with a huge fall off on each side. Every ounce of skill you have is constantly being tested. The crescendo on the front side is the world famous 5th and 6th holes. The view from the crest of the 5th fairway down the hill to the green with nothing but the Pacific Ocean adjoining the putting surface will render you speechless. Follow that up with a 210-yard par three over the ocean from the rocky peninsula, and the blueprint of Cypress Point basically surrounds you. 5 and 6 could well be the best back-to-back holes I’ve played. There are times on the golf course where you feel like it’s a little too wide open. I remember getting that impression when I realised that the 4th, the 8th and the 12th play parallel to each other and you wouldn’t get punished if you sprayed the ball wildly in any direction. Similar feeling with the 9th, 10th and 18th running parallel, almost losing definition between fairways and plenty of room for error off the tee. The toughest stretch of this golf course begins on the 13th tee box. Everything tightens up as the holes are tree lined, some of which offer well defined doglegs across rolling terrain. There’s no playing out under trees or chipping out side-ways. If you miss the fairway, then re-load. The 14th is just 360 yards, but has the trademark forced carry to a sharply pitched fairway which kicks the ball hard from right to left, and the green is a small target at the top of the hill. Your depth perception is tested off the tee at New South Wales and choice off the tee becomes paramount on the back nine due to the forced carries and doglegs to consider. The 15th and 16th are the index 1 and 3 respectively and severely punish any drive which doesn’t land in the small landing areas. The 15th is a blind drive over a hill to hole that moves from right to left. This is then following by the 16th hole (I personally thought should be index 1) which is a dogleg left with a corridor of trees down to one small putting surface guarded by three menacing bunkers on the left side of the green. These holes into a stiff breeze are almost unreachable in regulation for most golfers. The brilliance of MacKenzie’s design is that he tricks you into thinking that you can carry bunkers, hazards and vegetation, when in fact you’re just a sitting duck waiting to get gobbled up. You cross the sand-wasteland of the par three 17th and set off down the par five 18th back to the clubhouse 560 yards away. The hazards are so well placed that the risk of taking driver frequently convinces you to throttle back and play the hole like the architect wanted it to be played almost 100 years ago. Marvellous hospitality and one of the greatest strategic tests of skill you can experience. Royal Adelaide When you arrive at the club, you quickly feel like you belong there. It’s palpable how the members are proud of their club and its history. With such a low-key nature to the club, I quickly felt at home and all visitors are made extraordinarily welcome. With a rich history of hosting the Australian amateur championship and Australian open championships, this Alister MacKenzie layout has a lot going for it. The novelty of having an active train line running through the course didn’t disappoint as the train shuffled its way through the course on a number of occasions during our round. If only the passengers on that train were aware of how historic that stretch of railroad ties were that meandered through the golf course. When Dr. MacKenzie visited the club during the Golden Age, he re-routed many of the holes to take advantage of the natural sand dunes, much to the delight of the golfing population. The short 3rd hole, barely 300 yards from the tips, is arguably amongst the short-list of greatest par fours in the world without a bunker and is your first experience of playing through the dunes. The wise man will leave the driver in the bag. During the Open, the club grew the rough up along the dunes surrounding the green, which wreaks havoc with even the slightest of wayward tee shots. An honourable mention goes for the tee shot on number 4, the tee box was lowered and you play back through the dunes over a hill through a corridor of tall trees, with the landing area nowhere to be seen. It is quite a striking visual compared to the openness of so many other tee shots. On the front side, the 4th through the 6th are a very tough stretch of long par fours, especially the 6th hole, tipping out at 440 yards. With a wind in our faces, and a back pin, even the best of players would be proud to hit this green in regulation. Tom Doak has been working on a number of holes at Royal Adelaide over the past year. On the 6th hole, which mostly runs parallel to number 4, he joined a portion of the two fairways together so it’s one larger apron. Furthermore, there used to be a large bunker on the right side of number 6, which has now been filled in per consultation with Tom and his team. It was interesting to see old photographs of the 6th hole in the clubhouse to witness how it has evolved over time. In addition to number 3, the other signature hole on the front side is the spectacular par three 7th hole. The front of the green is surrounded by a ring of pot bunkers which is an impressive sight. The new blue tee is lower and back to the left of the old tee box, offering a new view of the hole over the sandy wasteland. As with every MacKenzie layout, length is not a requirement. He’ll test your skill and feel for distance until the cows come home. Bring your imagination to Royal Adelaide. The only hole that has a name (and it’s going to stay that way!) is the 11th hole, known cordially amongst the membership as “The Crater Hole”. Although the property appears relatively flat, you’ll find a number of holes where you can’t see the landing area or the green from the tee box. The gentle rise in the land up the 11th fairway is one such example. The sandy wasteland is never too far away from you, no matter where you are. The 11th green is surrounded by huge sand dunes, which used to have many trees that have recently been cut down to restore the hole to its original look. There is a large landscape photograph on the wall outside the pro-shop showing the Crater hole back in the 1930s, which you can’t miss upon arrival. It’s almost as memorable as the famous BBQ sausage you get before you tee off on the 12th! There’s something so pleasing about hearing a man with an Australian accent asking “can you smell the Barbie?” as you walk away from the Crater. It just feels so right. The subtly of Royal Adelaide is what makes it so tough. Trying to hold the 220-yard green on the 12th bewilders golfers, trying to hit the 13th in regulation and make birdie was the hardest challenge for the professionals when the Open last visited, and trying to even make a par on the brutally tough 14th hole will be the reason why it will stay the number 1 stroke hole forever into the future. You cross the train tracks again walking up the 14th as you hit the home stretch. The whole experience at Royal Adelaide reminded me of Ganton, due to its simple nature, its world-class challenge and its eternal legacy for epic architecture sitting gracefully on God’s green earth. It’s the type of place where modern day architects come to learn what greatness is all about. The routing through the sand dunes was key to elevating the course to the upper echelon of golf course strategy and design. I had the great honour of being the first golfer ever to play the newly designed 17th hole at Royal Adelaide Golf Club. As the guest of the Club President and Captain, and as part of my Top 100 course review, they asked the Superintendent to cut a hole in the green. The history lesson they gave me while standing on the tee box included insight into how the previous version of the hole was famously disliked by the membership and didn't fit with the rest of this fabled layout. With the entire rough cut away from either side of the fairway littered with new grass seed, and still behind the ropes, your attention is brought to the eye-catching bunker complex up the middle of the untouched fairway. The two front bunkers split the fairway and are very well positioned in the landing zone. This hole measures 440 yards from the tips and you immediately have to make a decision to go left or right off the tee. The left side of the fairway is slightly higher than the right side, and with a strengthening wind in my face, I struck the ball up the right fairway. As we walked down the short grass together, the turf around the bunkers was newly sodded and marked as GUR. I noticed a carefully shaped speed-slot down the left side of the fairway, which I hope that golfers will take advantage of – only if you can hit it far enough! The right side is tighter, but potentially more rewarding. If you hit the ball into a fairway bunker, you'll have to hit a career shot to make it on the green, otherwise, you'll be chipping out and then faced with a 165-yard approach shot. Architecturally, the hole now offers bunkers that fit with the rest of the sand-traps around the property; especially the three bunkers located five paces behind the back of the green which reduce the "noise" around the putting surface. They frame the hole so well, and I doubt will get much use, but still very effective. Dr. MacKenzie was the expert at designing bunkers to frame a hole and give challenging perspective for your next shot. The bunkers behind the 17th serve that exact purpose. Most noticeably, a huge chipping apron surrounds the subtle green. This feature is noticeable from down the fairway, as the architect has given players of all abilities the option to run the ball onto the green. Despite the vicious looking new bunkers positioned front-right of the green, there is still an element of fair play as the left side of the green is accessible. You can't see the entire green surface from the fairway, and even though they placed the flag in the centre of the green, to the naive golfer, it looks like there is no room right of the flag and the putting surface appears to be the size of your kitchen table. Once again, you have a decision to make which I really enjoyed. Many of the approach shots at RAGC are played along the ground, and this spirit is incorporated into the new 17th hole. After we finished the hole, the Captain asked the Superintendent to remove the flag and fill in the hole – to the entertainment of the members on the surrounding fairways. After our round, the new 17th hole was the talk of the clubhouse and has been fabulously received by the membership. Once the grass matures and binds together, this hole will be as legendary as the architects who have put their stamp on the land. It was a real honour to be the first golfer to play this new hole and I am excited for its future. Although the course remains in the rotation for the Open, due to its location and lack of proximity to large-scale hotels and infrastructure, the Australian PGA gives annual preference to the clubs in Victoria and New South Wales. We can always keep our fingers crossed that they will once again invite the professionals back to Adelaide sooner rather than later. Barnbougle Lost Farm If you’re interested in golfing at the end of the earth and spending a weekend with kangaroos, then book a flight to Launceston and make your way up to Bridport, Tasmania. Upon reaching the resort, you follow a 4km dirt road to the clubhouse at Lost Farm. It’s a surreal feeling when you make it there due to the staggering distance and effort it takes to travel. As expected, it’s a pretty quiet place with 20 links holes (yes, 20, they took a leaf out of Pat Ruddy’s book and made two additional short par threes) on a tract of land between the Tasman Sea and useful arable farming ground. The spa and restaurant are on the highest piece of land on a perch which offers spectacular views of the course and surrounding ocean. When Bill Coore set out to make the second course at Barnbougle, one of his guiding principles was to make it more playable than the Dunes course, which is definitely the tougher challenge. Lost Farm is a big golf course with big fairways and big greens. Even the kangaroos have a hard time finding a place to hide. The opening stretch is a birdie fest with a reachable par five opener, followed by 330 and 280 par fours respectively. Coore does design spectacular par threes, and keeping with the spirit of keeping the course playable and fun, most of the six par threes are wedge/9 iron yardage for a scratch golfer playing from the tips. The 15th is a longer par three (on paper), but it plays downhill into a punchbowl green, which again helps the player knock it close. On the front side, the standout hole is the 490-yard par four 5th hole (index 1) with a semi-blind tee shot and an enormous spine working diagonally across the fairway with a dogleg from left to right rising gently up to the deep green. It’s a rude awakening compared to the opening four holes, which are pretty much a doddle. Coore keeps the golfers on their toes with the 440-yard par four 7th, which almost presents a split fairway due to a huge mound feature in the middle of the landing zone. Make sure you take a look at it from a few angles and consider if it reminds you of the 17th hole at Cruden Bay. The 600 yards par five 8th hole continues the theme of blind approach shots and rolling terrain. Despite the distances, the golf course is huge and does everything it can to keep your ball in play and move things along. The back nine opens with another straight away 600-yard par five, followed by what I personally thought was the most unusual hole on the property. When you’re in the pro-shop, the pro coaches you on the blind tee shot on the 5th and the 11th holes. As I stood on the 11th tee, I could see my target in the background over the hill as he had advised me. It’s a testing tee shot as it visually pinches and requires a pretty accurate tee shot. As I reached the crest of the hill, I felt like the hole lost its character. After the challenge of the tee shot, you’re once again back to the feeling of huge expansive space as the enormous fairway meanders down the huge green. Just as I was thinking the course would toughen up, you could continue to muddle your way around this isolated farm. My favourite holes at Lost Farm were just around the corner. The 13th hole is a dogleg left and plays between huge sand dunes that wrap around the fairway. They frame the hole so well and the natural setting is world class. I struck my 1 iron off the tee with a slight draw and watched the ball trundle down the fairway. If there’s one thing you do have to consider on this big golf course, it’s that the ground is really firm and if you smack a driver on a dogleg, then even Skippy the bush kangaroo hasn’t a hope of finding it. The approach shot reminded me of home, so I took out a 6 iron from 100 yards and played the traditional ‘bump & run’ shot along the ground onto the green. The shots you can play at Lost Farm echo the fabled stories of Barnbougle Castle on the Firth of Forth, with Edinburgh in the distance. It’s ironic that Barnbougle is generally accepted to mean “wind warning”. I know that this course can turn nasty at a moment’s notice; however, on the day I played it, it was a far cry from a Tasmanian devil. “13a” is the name given to the 134-yard par three which is cut magnificently out of the side of a sand dune. Top notch work by Bill Coore and his team for finding this hidden gem, and believe me, the height of the surrounding sand dunes do their very best to keep this hole hidden. The signature hole on the back side is number 14. It’s a 300-yard downhill par four through a v-shaped valley of encroaching dunes with the Tasman Sea in the background. You lick your chops standing on the tee as your mind tells you to lay up, but your hand is already taking off the driver head-cover. This is one of those times in golf when you debate “I may never be here again”. After the 18th green, you have the option of playing the short par three “18a” hole to settle those bets and welcome you back to the house. It made perfect sense to build a second golf course at this venue, and further validates the rational for making the long journey. I know many publications have this course ranked in the World Top 100, but I question the rationale, especially when I see the class of courses ranked below it. With that said, if I never spend a day with golfing with kangaroos again, I might actually be disappointed. Fun stuff down under. Barnbougle Dunes In 2004, golf on Tasmania had a whole new meaning. Since it burst into the rankings in 2005, it has stayed in the world top 50 for good reason. It’s been well documented that the farmer who owned the land couldn’t grow crops on the sand dunes throughout the links land, so he decided to sell the land to the delight of the golfing community. I believe he’s the only “member” at this resort to this day. Over the past few years of playing the Top 100 golf courses in the world, there are always certain venues that stick out as being a mammoth journey. Barnbougle Dunes is definitely on that short list. While driving through the front gates, it really started to sink in that I was there and it was about to become a reality. I still look at the world map and smile when I think of the effort it takes to get to Barnbougle – from anywhere! The staff are so friendly, the banter in the small clubhouse is always present, the cottages are simple as life goes on day by day without a care in the world. The club takes a minimalistic approach to its facilities, locker room and dining – which is perfectly fitting for the location. It’s the type of place where you show up an hour after the kitchen closes, and they’ll still make you a toasted sandwich to avoid you going to bed hungry. The employees are really down to earth, delighted to meet you and everything is really informal with no frills. Just the way it should be. Try to imagine Sand Hills just with kangaroos and wallabies hopping around the fairways. Tom Doak designed this Tasmanian masterpiece and opens up the golf course with a 560-yard par five. Having played Lost Farm before the Dunes, I could even tell as soon as the 2nd hole on the Dunes course that it was going to be tougher and a lot more demanding on accuracy and skill. Time to put your thinking cap on. The 3rd hole is a dogleg right with a blind tee-shot over the dunes; you can bite off as much as your nerves will allow you to. The 4th hole is just 300 yards, but magnificently cut out of the enormous 100-foot sand dunes to a raised punchbowl green. This was one of my favourite greens as the short-game imagination is on over-load trying to figure out how to play your approach shot. For those who take the risk of going for the green, the results could be awful. On this golf course, danger is all around you and will exploit weaknesses in a heartbeat. The signature hole on the front side is the mouth-watering par three 7th hole. At just 120 yards, the putting surface is slightly bigger than your dining room table with bunkers the size of your house 15 feet deep below the green. If you miss the green, you’ve a great chance of seeing grown men cry. If this hole had a name, it would be called “Tom’s Terror”. The 8th and 9th holes are long par fours that bring you back to the clubhouse. The par four 8th hole gets an honourable mention. This beast represents 495 yards (index 1) with a huge mound splitting the fairway requiring golfers to decide which route they’ll take off the tee and an elevated green that repels balls at its convenience. It’s tight, it’s tough and emphasizes that this is a championship golf course. The back nine starts off where the front nine left off, with a 460-yard par four to an elevated green surrounded by a large bunker complex on either side. The 11th is a 510-yard par five, which on face value seems like a birdie opportunity, but with two forced carries and a pinching landing area off the tee, suddenly the hole feels a lot longer. On the back-side the short 285-yard 12th is most people’s favourite. It’s a raised fairway that moves gently to the right. There is a bunker in your line of side to the green which suggests you throttle back and play it down the left, leaving you with the bump and run approach shot option. It’s a great strategic short hole amongst the giants that surrounds it. After the long 14th hole, you finally turn around and play the last four holes along the Great Forester River back home to the clubhouse. A number of alternative teeing grounds were built on each hole to ensure the course is playable in all weather conditions and to give golfer constant variety – a trademark move by Tom Doak. As your round progresses, you aggregate the toughness of this layout with the simplicity of its natural creation. The crater like bunkers with their rustic look were simply dug out of the sand-dunes and look like they have stood the test of time from one century to the next. This is the Pacific Dunes of Australia, with the exception that you don’t have families of kangaroos skipping around Oregon. There is a consistent feel that the greens are just a simple continuation of the fairways, with plenty of humps and bumps along the way to uphold the spirit of how this game is played along the ground. The routing of the entire 18 holes resembles the figure eight, which was superbly done as the prevailing wind is from the northwest and holes have been designed with this in mind. Pack your bags and make the trip. Article written and photos courtesy of our US Consultant, Fergal O'Leary, who continues his mission to become the youngest person to play the Top 100 Golf Courses of the World.