There was a furious Taxi ride to the Sydney Airport, at the end of which all the guys and all our gear arrived just on time.  Was it an easy load? Air transport in ‘Strailia’ requires planning.  Something like 61# of baggage is allowed within the limits of the ticket price.  Over that, one gets out the Visa for lots more fare.  A Golf clubs avec accoutrements weight in at 33#.  

Quite frankly one partner spends lots of time packing making sure his outfits are just right.  Now, that translates into the trespass of a Cardinal Sin. In the interest of the “Privacy Act”, I shall not go farther.  JC wears virtually nothing, and AC travels fast and light,  and Moi?  My old cotton shirts from 1990 speaks for themselves. 

Off to Tasmania we flew.  Ok, so a bit over weight, we were. Maybe 1.5 hours to Hobart.  JC had arranged things perfectly once more.  Van, hotel, and here comes some luck.  That day began the World’s largest Wood Boat Festival in Hobart.  Seeking the restaurant took us to the Harbor, and there every PUB was full.

The Map of Tassie, they call it.  Double entendre, it turns out.  What do you think?  The Aussies are nothing but people WITH imagination.  I caught on PDQ. 

I could spend “billions and billions” of bites here to tell the story, but really, Things began with a restaurant.  The food was just astonishing.  This is supposed to be about golf.  A fat, happy golfer, on the otherhand, cares little if double bogies are on the card. 

Another story will tell about Tasmania.  Things are clean, people are friendly.  Maybe there was this mountain top retreat with which some took exception, but not this explorer.  No strangers on that porch front, grog aplenty, smiles and cap tips to travelers along the byway.

 See Barnboogle Video of Lost Farm

Barnboogle Dunes was the destination.  It’s new sister, Lost Farm was next door, both fitted onto the extreme Northeast Coast of Tasmania, a Glasgow to Dornoch drive from Hobart.  Modern design can accommodate LINKLAND so that not every bulldozer in the Cat inventory must be employed to create an astonishingly beautiful Golf Course much like the old ones.  Unlike Whistling Straights, and like Bandon Dunes, modern design specialists can create wonder for the golfer.  One gets the feel of 4^th through the 12^th of Royal Portrush.  Some of Lahinch is there. One or two of Oregon’s Bandon reveal the modern touch.  These people who design know their business.  

The sea never threatens any shot, but some close views keep one’s attention away from the shot.  The grass waves in the wind maybe much like Dorothy felt in Kansas.   A three club wind is common, so don’t get comfortable.  Only, this is on the other side of the planet so the wind blows the other direction.   

Common to many Linksland courses, fairways are wide off the tee. Bunkering is carefully placed so that a poor shot results in most times a need to advance the ball to safety with little chance for GIR. The 2nd shot, always a bit more gamble with bunker penalty in view. Alastair ManKenzie’s influence exits everywhere.  He won the Australian golfer’s heart by working hard in the 1920’s with some quality design.  

Both courses are fun.  Barnboogle Dunes the superior, in my opinion, offers more challenge, but it is at least completed fully.  Lost Farm, not quite so. Oh the holes are complete, but details like walking paths, a few ditches, and Club House amenities not quite so.

On one trudges with his faithful trolley.  These things weigh nothing, push like a feather, keep on keeping on.  

All in all they bring back the game of golf as something even more social than we have come to understand it.  Ok, so one cannot haul an ice chest full of beer. At the end of the round, that same beer is so fine. Fit for a people to enjoy while bragging about their personal best. 

Here is a common indecision.  What happens over that scrub…just how far must one carry the next shot?  There might be a caddie that can tell you but the mind out on the land gets confused since it does not agree with the eyes.  

These are the two Featured Linksland courses in Tasmania.  We noticed one outside Hobart, but time cut us short and without major published Notoriety we skipped it.  This Barnboogle Dune development is very nicely done and stands along any of the new Linksland projects worldwide as a place to explore. 

Once one adds the landscape along the way, Bruny Bay Oysters, the sea so blue it soothes, and the really nice people still living a slower time; it is worth the energy to get there.