Tasmania - Tasmania - Australia

The Tasmania Golf Club is unlike most Australian courses that I played. Located on a wooded bluff that sits on a peninsula it is not a links course. Talk about a welcoming first hole, short par 4 downhill. A decent drive should sit up a short pitch, be forewarned, the greens can be slick. The second is another short par 4, dogleg right. Decent drive should leave you with a flip wedge. The par 5 3rd is the signature hole and it is a beauty. A long slinger left that dares you to cut the corner. The carry is longer than it looks, best to play slightly conservative. The fairway lists left, so favor the right. Two decent shots should give you a wedge into the green. The 4th is a long par four that fades to the right. The green is well protected with front bunkers left and right. The long uphill par 3 5th plays well over 200 yards. The green runs to the right, so don’t miss long left. The par 4 6th is an uphill dogleg right. Favor left of center off the tee to avoid being blocked out. The 7th bends a wee bit left and plays shorter than the yardage. Favor the right side off the tee and I would advise taking one less club into the green as it runs away from you. The 8th is an uphill par 3 protected by a bunker left. The 9th is an uphill par 4 that meanders to the right. It is long and is the number 1 handicap hole. My advice is hit a long drive favoring left of center and you will still have a utility or long iron into the green. Blocking it right did not work for me.

The back starts of with a long par 4. Right of center off the tee will give you the best angle into the green. The 11th is a neat short downhill par 3. Long is gone. It plays two clubs less. The 12th is a reachable par 5 that bends right. Too give yourself a decent chance favor the left side off the tee. The 13th is a demanding uphill slight dogleg left par 4. The fairway will roll hard left, so favor the right off the tee. The green I well protected by bunkers and will also roll left. The 14th is the shortest par 5 and bends to the right. To get home in two favor the left side off the tee. The short par 4 15th is a fun hole. Big hitters can go for it with a high draw. It is uphill, so don’t delude yourself as it plays over 320 yards. The 16th is a long downhill par 5. It is almost 600 yards so play for your preferred wedge yardage on your second shot. The final par 4 is a dogleg left. The green is protected left and right with bunkers. The green will run out hard left. On the approach aim five yards right of the flag. We end on a mid-length uphill par 3. Take an extra club.

A fun course with a couple of awesome holes. Real friendly people. I would pay to play again.

Hobart we love you! As well as your great golf courses, your restaurants and cosmopolitan feel down at the water frontage at Salamanca bay is outstanding. Today we played No. 83 on Golf Digest Top 100 list - The Tasmanian GC. With recent tree clearing and tweaks to the holes as well as the already beautiful holes such as the glorious par 5 3rd and the breathtaking par 3 11th, this writer sees a move upward in the rankings come February

To declare my intentions early: I love this golf course. I love the smell of the mature eucalypts lining many of the holes; I love the unpretentiousness of the club; I love the long, curving, signature 3rd, the wee tap at the short, downhill par 3 11th and the short par 4 15th; I love the water views from many parts of the course; but most of all I love the variety of holes on offer at this course. Because it is set on and around a promontory there are many different lies on the sloping fairways. Sometimes the ball is above your feet, sometimes below; uphill lies, downhill lies; and with the large mature trees you also have to consider hazards to the ballflight in the air if out of position.

Mostly the conditioning is excellent, but during periods of dry or hot weather the fairways and surrounds sometimes brown off, which affects the look, but doesn't affect the actual layout or playing experience.

Many years ago, Tasmania GC and Royal Hobart GC located near the state capital city were the best courses in the state, but with the two courses at Barnbougle and the two on King Island, it's the north of Tasmania that is the boss now. Especially if you include games at the lovely bush setting course in Ulverstone, the classic Devonport and nicely conditioned Launceston golf clubs.

certainly it would seem the third best course in Tasmania, although obviously well behind the front runners The Tasmanian is a good gold course in its own right only slightly let down by poor fairway conditioning on this visit. Many quality holes and an interesting first three holes with the signature cape style par five third surely being one of the great australian golf holes. The course has many well designed meandering fairways through the trees that are not overly thick and still offer the odd recovery from a misplaced tee shot. Very reminiscent of the course at Newcastle in parts which is certainly a good thing. If it had top class conditioning then it might even sneak a 5 ball rating but not quite at the moment. worth a play if in the Hobart area but if I had a hundred rounds on Tasmania, 95 of them would be divided between the courses at barnbougle.