Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links

A wide landing area for the tee shot is a forgiving introduction to your round. But the immediate risk/reward carry of the bunker on the second shot, and the various slopes feeding the ball away from the front half of the Opening green will alert you to the challenge ahead.

An apparently simple and wide open hole comes to life when pondering the shot into a very deep and narrow green, with three layers. There is no forgiveness for a wayward approach into the prevailing wind.

Look left to the fairway and you'll see a thin ribbon of green fairway, leading right to the blind green. The tee shot is best aimed at the left edge of the distant bunker, with a driver taking you down to the lower shelf of the fairway (not the best place to attack the common back, left pin). The safe play into the green is to play long and right.

The site of Barnbougle farm's first homestead, a rare still day will present a chance to go for the green with your tee shot, and putt for an elusive eagle. However, the sensible play is to either lay up short of the enormous bunker and accept the blind pitch into the green, or drive up the left side and open up your view at the flag.

While the coastal scenery & dunescape is distracting, the Turn hole demands a precise shot to the left hand side of the split level green, letting the contours feed the ball around to the pin.

With a tail wind big hitters can take on the sand hill, or the safe play is down the left hand side fairway. However short your shot in may be, this subtle green with its awkward depth perception rewards only the most precise approaches.

One of Australia's shortest golf holes, is also one of the nation's most challenging. A sweetly driven long iron into the wind, or a softly floating pitch shot when its still, don't miss it long or left, and you'll never be so glad to walk off with a three.

You can take the high road or the low road, with more room to the right hand side, but a longer shot into the distant green. A hole where the par is irrelevant, and your own shot shot selection and execution is everything.

A tee shot where driver rarely improves your position, a long iron up the left side will open your line into the green, or a 3wood up the right will reward the golfer with one of the best views at Barnbougle, looking beyond the green and up the never ending beach and distant dunes. The inviting clubhouse will recharge your batteries for the back 9.

The left side bunkers on this wide open fairway attract the aggressive golfers, while the multi layered green ensures that golfers are happy with a steady par to start the back 9.

When the wind is up, an eagle putt is available to those straight enough with their approach into this shorter par 5. However the common lay up to the left side of the green provides one of the most subtle short approach shots to the flag- to pitch, fly, bump'n'run or putt it to the hole.

Carrying the gaping bunkers short of the green tempt many on a still day, but into the prevailing wind the safe line is to the wide fairway left of the green. On your approach shot in, don't let the Bass Strait vista distract you from your bump'n'run to tucked away pins.

Shots into the right half of this mountainous green will feed balls to the lower left side, the long chip or putt will need to traverse humps and hollows. But don't fret, there is always a way to the hole.

The variety of driving lines is determined by the tail wind, as is the ability to reach the green in two. For those laying up, you choose to carry over or lay up short of the neck of fairway between wetlands. Green side craters await the errant approach.

The central bunker offers 4 lines off the tee; safely short, the safe left, tight right or beyond. The strategy you choose will be governed by the hole location- but regardless of the pin, don't miss this green left.

The green feeds away and right from the tee, so as long as you miss the short left bunker, a two putt par awaits. When the wind is up however, you'll have to hit one out of the screws to get it near.

The tranquility of the rivermouth disguises one of the course's most demanding tee shots. Thread the drive between fairway bunkers and run the ball up onto the diagonal green, protruding from the dunes.

A tee shot aimed at the left verandah of the clubhouse will leave you with an open shot into the green. With its valley of sin short right, the sand hills back and left, and beach all down the right, you won't find many prettier settings in which to finish your round of golf.