Best places to play golf in Tasmania

Online Sport Editor·NZ Herald·

3 Jun, 2024 07:00 AM10 mins to read

Cape Wickham's beauty must be experienced first hand to be truly appreciated. Photo / Will Toogood

Home to four of the top-ranked golf courses in the world, Tasmania’s premier greens are as competitive as the players swinging clubs, writes Will Toogood

“You’re only here once.”

Be prepared to have that sentence run through your mind every time you address your ball on a golf trip to Tasmania. That sentence will shape your thought process each and every time you step up to take a shot during your time on the Apple Isle.

It will dictate your club selection, your shot selection and even your ball selection as you toss up whether to tee off using a fresh ball or an old one.

You will be overcome with the urge that golfers the world over feel when playing a top-ranked course for the first time. The urge to dismiss any notions of playing safe and instead attack the pin at every opportunity.

My advice would be to listen to the voice in your head; drive that green, try that flop shot and never, ever lay it up.

But proceed with caution because while you should listen to that voice telling you “You’re only here once,” you should not believe it.

It’s lying to you - you will be back.

How to plan the ultimate Tasmanian golf experience

Tasmania is home to four of the top-ranked golf courses in the world - below is a guide on how to plan and execute a trip to what is truly a golfing paradise.

Before we begin, something you must take into account in Tasmania while you play golf is the fact that you’re playing on an island situated in the Roaring Forties, a belt of strong winds in the Southern Hemisphere, and chances are it’s going to be a bit blowy. After you watch a 40-something man hit a driver on a 112m par three, you’ll understand.

Barnbougle

Your first stop should be Barnbougle, located just outside the seaside town of Bridport, about an hour’s drive from Launceston, where you have an 18-hole course (Barnbougle Dunes), a 20-hole course (Barnbougle Lost Farm) as well as a 14-hole short course (Bougle Run) featuring par threes and fours.

Where to stay: Much like the golf courses, you have two options. First is basing yourself at the Dunes course. The Dunes Cottages offer you a real “stay and play” vibe, with a practice chipping green literally on your doorstep and a short 100m walk to the Dunes clubhouse. Two bedrooms make each cottage ideal for a couples getaway or a group of four happy to bunk down together. There are also luxury and premium villas available for those with a bigger budget.

Alternatively, basing yourself at the Lost Farm Lodge offers resort-style accommodation. This is recommended for larger groups or smaller tours looking to experience the social side of golf. The sports bar located downstairs has sport aplenty on the screens and a fine selection of local beverages available, or so I’m told.

How do the courses play? Barnbougle Dunes (rated no. 11 in the world by US Golf Digest) and Barnbougle Lost Farm (ranked no. 23 in the world) share a similar name, but they could not be more different in their approach to golf.

Dunes is a classic links course style, beautifully carved out of the farm that once stood in its place. You can very easily under-appreciate the truly awe-inspiring course design and construction that has taken place. This course is hard, there’s no other way to describe it. If you had to, you could describe it as a long day on the course. Long in the best way possible, though, as any success at any moment on this course will become a lifelong memory.

You will find greens that run with the pace of a classic British links course and some flat-out intimidating tee boxes with blind shots into a fairway with no green in sight. It is a place where scenery and golf come together.

The 271m par four fourth hole was a personal favourite, featuring the largest bunker in the southern hemisphere.

There’s a reason Dunes held the top-ranked position in Australia for so long - this course is designed to challenge. A round here will tell you in no uncertain terms whether you have any business teeing it up at the premier golf courses of the world.

The Dunes cottages offer a 'stay and play' experience. Photo / Will Toogood

Lost Farm by comparison is a much more forgiving course. It was designed with the philosophy that traditional, strategic golf is the most rewarding with a minimalist approach. Where Dunes is carved out of the scenery by a designer, Lost Farm looks as though it’s been part of the landscape forever, so ensconced is it in its surroundings.

The first thing you will notice is how wide the fairways are, the par five first hole sets the tone for this. Tread with caution, though, as overconfidence leads to the use of the “Irish Drop” rule, where a drop is taken from the rough with a one-stroke penalty,

With Dunes, the unforgiving nature can drive a casual golfer to picking up and sulking in the cart. At Lost Farm, the fairways allow for even the most erratic off the tee to find short grass with relative ease. That is not to say this is an easy course, having a caddie to guide you around would save a number of strokes as you approach the greens as the best line to the hole is not always apparent.

The 263m par four 14th hole is the most satisfying hole I’ve played. With the right wind, the green is drive-able and the voice in your head will be telling you: “You’re only here once,” so pull out the big stick and have a crack.

Recommendation: Play Dunes on day one, then Lost Farm on day two. The inverse would lull you into a false sense of security, only for Dunes to rear and send you packing back to Aotearoa with a snapped five iron in your bag. Should you emerge from the Dunes unscathed after day one, you will be able to fully enjoy the delights of Lost Farm full of confidence.

King Island

A fact often overlooked about Tasmania is that it is part of an archipelago of more than 1000 islands. The third largest of these is King Island, situated in the Bass Strait and home to fewer than 2000 people.

It is also home to two very special golf courses.

You can fly to King Island direct from Launceston or Melbourne - depending on the weather this will either be routine up-and-down (much like your golf game) or a potentially life-altering experience that will have you questioning just how much you really like golf.

Ocean Dunes Golf Course

Play enthralling golf beside the Great Southern Ocean and amongst imposing sand dunes at Ocean Dunes. Photo / Adam Gibson

Best described as a modern take on a classic links course, the first four holes at Ocean Dunes would go toe-to-toe with any course in the world as far as the opening to a round goes. The 131m par three fourth earns its status as the signature hole for the course and offers an early chance for “closest to the pin” bragging rights to be established with a priceless backdrop.

How does the course play? Ocean-backed greens and dramatic approaches will have you pining for more on the holes that take you inland.

But as you do wind back inland, the course opens up and offers a chance to find the perfect line to the green, as much as it offers more of an opportunity to find your ball.

Few places in the world let you experience ocean spray in your face and the strangely aromatic scent of decaying seaweed while battling internally with the decision of whether to pull your driver out or not (listen to the voice).

Enter the back nine and should you be lucky with fair weather there are realistic scoring opportunities owing to the crafty insertion of some short par fours.

Ocean Dunes’ layout means that a cart is essential, a walk of more than 400m between holes does on some occasions make it a little disjointed in terms of the overall experience but the stunning scenery will mean there is no shortage of conversation.

Where to stay: At the time of writing, Ocean Dunes did not have on-site accommodation available but construction is underway, with the expectation of taking bookings within 12 months (from May 2025). Fortunately, Ocean Dunes is less than 10 minutes from King Island’s largest town, Currie, which has bed and breakfast, hotel and Airbnb options.

Cape Wickham Links

You may find other golfers are not all you need to watch out for on the course in Tasmania. Photo / Will Toogood

The biggest challenge you will face when you play at Cape Wickham is not that this can be a devilishly difficult golf course in some places. And it’s not the fact that on most days you will play 13 of the 18 holes with a buffeting headwind. It’s the fact that you’ll be so distracted by its breathtaking beauty that you will forget you’re playing golf altogether. You simply cannot escape it.

Where to stay: On-site accommodation is available and highly recommended. The view from each of the cabins looking back toward the iconic lighthouse is worth the price of your plane ticket itself. While the clubhouse was in a temporary state at the time of writing, the view comes to the rescue again and reminds you of the real reason you are there.

How does the course play? Even the biggest Sunday hacker will have heard something about Cape Wickham. The best thing you can do before you head there is to erase anything you may have seen or heard from your memory, come into it with no expectations and you will have your mind blown.

That is because, despite Cape Wickham’s reputation, it is a remarkably playable golf course. It begins and ends with two of the most visually stunning holes anywhere in the world, the 18th in particular is widely regarded as the benchmark worldwide for finishing holes.

Spectacular views aside, what really earns Cape Wickham the number one course ranking in Australia is the design. The fairways are wide enough but require a precise line if looking to score and higher handicappers will not feel as intimidated at the tee box as you might at Barnbougle Dunes, for example.

Cape Wickham's beauty must be experienced first-hand to be truly appreciated. Photo / Will Toogood

Greens do throw up some tricky undulation, but your journey there will be a far more pleasurable experience than on other top courses around the world.

The 375m par four 18th hole at Cape Wickham is impossible to describe with words alone; it must be played to be appreciated fully. Hitting some 150m from tee to the fairway across Victoria Cove (a sheer cliff leading down to a beach that remains in play) presents an opportunity to finish your trip on the best note possible with a safe drive.

Whatever the outcome, you will walk off the 18th green itching to give Cape Wickham another go - which is encouraged by significantly lower green fees for your second round.

Recommendation: Ocean Dunes first, Cape Wickham second. Depending on your arrangements you could get to King Island mid-morning and still make a comfortable tee time to get a round in on your first day. This is said with all due respect to Ocean Dunes but you really do want to experience Cape Wickham as the last stop on your journey.

Give yourself two days and a night at Cape Wickham, play the course twice and try the King Island Beef selections from the clubhouse menu. You’ll be grateful for this tip.