Barnbougle Lost Farm

The verdict

Lost Farm is the second course at the Barnbougle property near Bridport, a farm turned links destination on Tasmania's windswept northeast coast. Where the older Barnbougle Dunes is intimate and quirky, Bill Coore's 2010 layout is broader and bolder, sweeping through dunes of genuine scale beside the mouth of the Forester River, with Anderson Bay glittering beyond the marram grass. The famous quirk is the routing itself: 20 holes, because Coore judged the short 13a and the closing 18a too good to leave on the drawing board.

This is pure modern links golf, firm fescue fairways that feed the running shot, green sites set naturally in the sand hills, and a wind that changes the course from morning to afternoon. It is public, walkable and superbly maintained, and paired with its sibling across the river it gives traveling golfers a two course destination that stands comparison with anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. For an Australian golf trip built around the modern classics, Lost Farm is essential.

The holes worth the trip

The opening stretch climbs straight into the big dunes, and by the time you reach the coastal holes along Anderson Bay the scale of the property is obvious: fairways 60 yards wide that still demand the correct half, and greens that accept a low runner far more readily than a forced carry into the sea breeze. The par 3s are the heartbeat of the course, varied in length and direction so the wind never lets you play the same shot twice.

The short 13a is the hole everyone talks about, a bonus par 3 of barely 100 meters played across a dune saddle, included simply because it was too good to cut. The 14th tee, set high above the beach, is among the great viewpoints in Australian golf, and the long holes that follow turn back into the prevailing wind and ask for honest, controlled ball striking.

The round ends with a second piece of generosity, the 18a betting hole beside the clubhouse, a short par 3 built to settle matches over a final wager before lunch. It captures the spirit of the place: Lost Farm is serious architecture worn lightly, a course that rewards the ground game and the thinking golfer, and it sends every group home arguing happily about which of the 20 holes was best.

Where to stay nearby

The natural base is the Barnbougle property itself, where the Lost Farm Lodge rooms sit above the course with views over the links and Anderson Bay, putting both courses, the spa and the restaurant within a few minutes of your first tee time. Staying on site is the way most traveling groups do it, two or three nights with golf morning and afternoon.

Bridport, ten minutes away, has additional cottages and guest houses, and Launceston, a little over an hour southwest, works as a city base with direct flights from Melbourne and Sydney. Many groups build a wider Tasmanian loop, pairing Barnbougle with the King Island courses such as Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes, or flying on to the Melbourne sandbelt for the classical counterpoint.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Barnbougle.