Two of the best links courses built in the last fifty years sit on a sheep farm in northeast Tasmania, an ocean and a continent away from anywhere. Barnbougle exists because a potato farmer named Richard Sattler said yes when Tom Doak pitched him on turning his duneland into a golf course. Now it's the trip that golf nerds whisper about.
Barnbougle Dunes (Doak/Clayton) and Lost Farm (Coore/Crenshaw) sit a short walk apart, both built on genuine Bass Strait dunes that play firm, fast, and angled into the wind the way links golf is supposed to. Dunes has the sharper edges and the more famous holes — the 4th and the par-3 7th over the dune do not photograph as well as they play. Lost Farm has 20 holes, more space, and the case can be made it's the better course. You will play 36 a day and want to play 36 more.
Dogleg's Pick Courses
Where to Play
In order of conviction. Every course on this list was chosen deliberately.
Barnbougle Dunes
$100–$175Tom Doak and Mike Clayton's 2004 routing through Bass Strait duneland — the course that put Tasmania on the golf map. The 4th is a short par-4 with a green tucked behind a dune, and the par-3 7th plays blind over a wall of sand to a green you can't see until you walk up. Firm, fast, and the wind decides which holes are easy on any given day.
Lost Farm
$100–$175Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw built 20 holes here in 2010 — yes, twenty — across bigger, more sprawling dunes than its older sibling. More room to swing, more variety in the par-3s, and a case to be made it's the better course. The bonus 13a and 18a holes give you somewhere to settle a bet.
Bridport Golf Club
Under $50A nine-hole community course on the coast that's been there since 1923 and costs about twenty Australian dollars. It's not Doak or Coore, but it sits on the same stretch of Bass Strait and it's the right way to land back on earth after two days of bucket-list golf. Pay at the honor box if nobody's around.
Bridport Golf Club — a nine-holer on the coast near Barnbougle that's been there for a century and charges AUD$20. Play it the morning before your flight out. It's the palate cleanser after two days of world-class.
Where to Stay
Lodging Picks
Ranging from splurge to smart. Pick based on what the group wants and how much time you'll actually be at the hotel.
Barnbougle Dunes Lodge
$$$The on-site lodge above the Dunes clubhouse. Rooms are simple and comfortable — think upscale country motel, not luxury resort — and you can roll out of bed onto the first tee. Book here if Dunes is your priority round and you want the shortest walk to a beer after 36.
Lost Farm Lodge
$$$Bigger, newer, and a notch nicer than the Dunes lodge — the rooms have proper views over the course and Bass Strait. Most groups end up here because the restaurant is the better of the two on property. Same caveat applies: this is not a resort, the bar closes when dinner ends.
Barnbougle Cottages
$$$Multi-bedroom cottages on the property for groups of 4–8. The right call if you want your own kitchen, a couch to fall asleep on, and a place to pour your own whisky after the bar closes. Book early — there aren't many of them and they go fast in summer.
Bridport Resort & Holiday Park
$$Ten minutes down the road in Bridport town if the on-site lodges are full or the rate is too rich. Cabins and motel rooms — nothing memorable but it gets you a bed and you're still close enough to make morning tee times.
Peppers Silo Hotel
$$$Converted grain silos on the Tamar River in Launceston. The right call for the night you fly in or fly out — it's an hour from Barnbougle but a much better hotel than anything closer to the course. Rooms in the silo towers are the ones to book.
Stillwater Seven
$$$$Seven boutique rooms above the best restaurant in Launceston, in a converted 1830s flour mill. Splurge for the arrival or departure night if you care about food and don't need a chain hotel. The breakfast is worth getting up for.
Where to Eat & Drink
The Right Restaurants
9 picks across the full range — the big dinner out, the post-round decompress, and the morning before an early tee time.
Lost Farm Restaurant
modern australianThe better of the two on-site dinners by a clear margin. Tasmanian produce — local beef, fresh-off-the-boat seafood, Pipers River wines — served in a room with floor-to-ceiling windows over the dunes. Book ahead, it's effectively the only show in town after dark.
The Dunes Restaurant
clubhouseThe Dunes clubhouse dining room — the casual, post-round option. Pub food done well: parmas, steaks, fish and chips, cold beer. Where you eat lunch between rounds and where the early-flight crowd grabs dinner before bed.
Bridport Hotel
local pubThe pub in town, ten minutes from the course. Schnitzels, pints, locals at the bar who'll ask how you played. Go here if you want a break from on-site food and the chance to drink with people who aren't golfers.
Flying Teapot Cafe
cafeThe Bridport breakfast spot. Decent coffee — not always a given in small Tasmanian towns — and the bacon-and-egg roll that gets you to the first tee. Order at the counter, sit on the deck if the wind cooperates.
Stillwater
fine diningLaunceston's most serious restaurant, in an old flour mill on the Tamar. The tasting menu leans hard into Tasmanian produce — abalone, wallaby, local oysters — and the wine list is the deepest in the state. Book this for the arrival or departure dinner.
Black Cow Bistro
steakhouseThe Launceston steakhouse. Tasmanian beef, dry-aged, cooked properly — about as good as steak gets in Australia. Order it medium-rare, get the bone marrow to start, and don't bother looking at the chicken on the menu.
Geronimo Aperitivo Bar & Restaurant
italianThe Italian on Charles Street in Launceston. Pasta made in-house, decent wine list, and the kind of room where a foursome can make some noise without bothering anyone. Good lunch stop on the way out of town.
Mud Bar & Restaurant
seafoodRiverside spot in Launceston with a kitchen that punches above its weight on seafood. Order the oysters and whatever fish came in that morning. Sit on the deck if the weather plays.
Pickled Evenings
indianLaunceston's go-to Indian — properly spicy, generous portions, BYO wine. The right call for the night you've eaten enough Tasmanian beef and need a break.
Beyond the Course
When the Group Needs a Break
All of these are mandatory.
Bay of Fires Day Trip
An hour and a half east of Barnbougle, white-sand beaches with orange-lichen boulders that look photoshopped. Pack lunch, take the long route, swim if you've got the constitution. The drive itself is the activity.
Book this experience →Bridestowe Lavender Estate
260 acres of lavender that bloom in December and January — rows of purple stretching to the horizon. Sounds like a girlfriend activity but the photos are unreal and it's 30 minutes from the course. Quick stop, worth the detour in season.
Book this experience →Pipers River Wine Region
Tasmania's best cool-climate wine country, halfway between Launceston and Barnbougle. Jansz makes the sparkling, Bay of Fires Wines does the chardonnay and pinot. Build a tasting tour into the drive and have a designated driver.
Book this experience →Cataract Gorge
A river gorge inside the Launceston city limits with a chairlift across it and walking trails on either side. Hour or two of light hiking before your flight if you've got time to kill. The chairlift claims the longest single span in the world.
Book this experience →Tamar Valley Drive
The river valley north of Launceston — wineries, a platypus reserve at Beauty Point, and the Batman Bridge if you want a photo. Easy half-day loop on a non-golf afternoon or a layover day before your flight out.
Book this experience →Pro Tips
Before You Book
Barnbougle Dunes is the original and the classic: Tom Doak and Mike Clayton design on the Bass Strait coast, flat duneland, pure links. The round that put Tasmanian golf on the map.
Lost Farm is Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw's addition next door: longer, more challenging, and just as good. Play both — they're 200 metres apart.
Fly into Launceston (LST), then 2.5 hours northeast to Bridport. Or charter a light aircraft directly to the property airstrip.
The season runs year-round but the Bass Strait wind is always a factor. Embrace it — the conditions are what make the golf.
Bridport Golf Club charges AUD$20 for nine holes on the coast. Play it the morning before you leave.
Dogleg's Advice
Most groups underbook. Three nights minimum, four is better — you want at least two cracks at each course because the wind reroutes everything from one round to the next. And don't skip Bridport Golf Club on the way out. Twenty Australian dollars for a hundred-year-old nine-holer on the coast is the right way to land back on earth.
What to Know
Getting here is the price of admission: LAX to Melbourne, Melbourne to Launceston, then an hour by car to the lodge. Plan on Southern Hemisphere summer (November through April) and pack for four seasons in one round — Bass Strait does what it wants. The on-site lodging is comfortable but this is not a resort with a nightlife scene; the bar closes when the last group finishes dinner.
Who This Trip Is For
✓ Best for
- →Golfers making a dedicated Barnbougle pilgrimage
- →Architecture enthusiasts: Doak, Clayton, Coore & Crenshaw in one tiny location
- →Anyone who wants the most remote and most purely golf-focused trip in the Southern Hemisphere
- →Groups who want no distractions and 5 days of nothing but golf and food
✕ Not for
- →Groups who need urban amenities: Bridport is a small farming and fishing community
- →Mixed groups where non-golfers need entertainment: this is golf destination, full stop
- →Anyone with a short travel tolerance for a 1-course resort in rural Tasmania
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