Of Islands and Gulfs (golfs!)

[drron]

Thanks for that. I really wanted to visit Cape barren island as I had a standing invitation to visit an elder of the mob there. He wasn't considered Indigenous because he was bon on an island which wasn't the island of Tasmania. I could only get less than 24 hours on Flinders Island in a weekend due to Sharp's scheduling.

My golf story from Tasmania was playing at King island in the 90s. the course is on a hillside on the west of the island. I met a fellow on the first tee who didn't want to play solo. he was a5 shot handicap whereas my handicap was my self. The wind was really blowing so I perfected my 1 iron bump and run downhill and a 5 iron uphill and I very nearly won the round.

 

[VPS]

As for Flinders Island, it was a nice enough place to visit, has some of the freshest air in the world, but isn’t really a tourist destination. If I didn’t want to go and play golf there, so that I can say I’ve played every course in Tassie, I probably wouldn’t have visited. With summer temps only averaging 20deg C and the regular wind, plus the remoteness, it’s not really my cup of tea.

That bit of it sounds perfect for me

 

[Scarlett]

How common is it for golf courses to be neither 18 nor 9 holes?

Why did they do it here - just to fit it in the space within the other course?

It’s uncommon: most do indeed stick to 9 or 18. Actually rural Tassie and to a lesser extent rural Victoria, is where you are more likely to find an odd number of holes. It’s usually dictated by the available land and related to that the cost to maintain the course. More holes is more expensive. In Tassie every little town seems to have a small, community run, 9-hole golf course. Maybe because of historical land use changes, or maybe just because they can, some have a few extra holes. As an example, I stopped and played at Longford on the drive from Bridport to Hobart. It has 11 distinct holes. You play holes 1-9 then 10-16 to the same greens as holes 1-7, but from sometimes very different teeing locations. Then holes 17 and 18 are stand-alone.


Longford GC 3rd / 12th green looking back down the hole.

Bougle Run was different. They had an, I guess you could describe it as a large triangle of land, which some holes of the Lost Farm course worked around; fairly large old sand dunes covered in vegetation. So they asked Bill Coore, one of the world’s top modern golf course designers and designer of Lost Farm, to see what he could do with that land. Or maybe he suggested it, I don’t know. They came up with the shorter course as that is all they could fit in the available space.

They market it as an opportunity to’warm up’ for playing the two main courses, or just an opportunity to have a little more fun using the wonderful terrain they have at the property. You’d also suggest that because they have a significant number of international or interstate visitors, it encourages them to stay on site for a little longer.

Barnbougle already have the staff and equipment necessary to maintain two world-class courses, so it probably doesn’t cost them incrementally much more to look after the Bougle Run short course. I guess the bean counters would describe it as extracting more profit from their available resources.

Bougle Run | Barnbougle

barnbougle.com.au

 

[Scarlett]

Thanks for that. I really wanted to visit Cape barren island as I had a standing invitation to visit an elder of the mob there. He wasn't considered Indigenous because he was bon on an island which wasn't the island of Tasmania. I could only get less than 24 hours on Flinders Island in a weekend due to Sharp's scheduling.

My golf story from Tasmania was playing at King island in the 90s. the course is on a hillside on the west of the island. I met a fellow on the first tee who didn't want to play solo. he was a5 shot handicap whereas my handicap was my self. The wind was really blowing so I perfected my 1 iron bump and run downhill and a 5 iron uphill and I very nearly won the round.

If Flinders Island is remote then Cape Barren is the next level, although they do seem to have semi-regular (maybe daily) Cessna flights to and from the island and their own airstrip. I think 60-70 people in the community there.

Interestingly, that King Island community course, King Island Golf and Bowling Club, is really well respected. Even though two world class courses have been developed on the island in the past ten years (Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes) everyone who travels there also plays the local course and loves it. It is set on some great coastal linksland and is both compact yet challenging. Plus everyone remarks about the good nature of the locals on the island.

Tasmania Ranking | Top 100 Golf Courses

🏌️ 🇦🇺 Discover Tasmania golf courses with our comprehensive travel guide. World-class links at Barnbougle and King Island. Plan your Tasmania golf holiday with Top 100 Golf Courses.

www.top100golfcourses.com

Barnbougle Dunes - ranked 25th in the world / 3rd best in Australia.
Cape Wickham - 47th world / 4th Australia

Tassie really is blessed with golf options!

 

[Scarlett]

Next was a few days around Xmas in Hobart.

Here, of course:




Also did some walking around the local area of a morning or evening. My parents get up early and do a morning walk around their local bay in Lindisfarne.

I still don’t think summer had arrived in the southern capital.




Initially I thought this rat wasn’t being skittish enough.



I’m informed however, that it was a bandicoot.



Lamb roast for Xmas day lunch! Thanks Mum.