What's your PLAY?

120 yards?  No problem (shakin' in my boots!)

Only 110 meters or 120 yards, yet sheer terror!  How high do I tee it? Where's the wind?  What trajectory do I want?  What will the ball do when it lands?

How do I FIND the darn thing after I hit it?

All of these enter your mind on this diabolical par 3 at Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania.  Known for the gentle (HA!) breezes off the Bass Strait, Barnbougle is a spectacular course to go immediately on your bucket list.

But what of the "play" on this hole?  The day we played the breeze was 'UP', and I hit a knock-down 6-iron (!) with no tee that missed the green 10 yards right, then putted up to 2 feet and made a 3.  The key in this shot was TRAJECTORY, with a 'secondary miss' to the right of the green.  Sometimes knowing where you can 'miss' and still play is just as important as where you can hit it to.

And where are the locations to be avoided?  Short and left -- avoid at all costs!  Which makes the miss to the right even more important.

Could I have hit a 9-iron that far?  Maybe on my best day, but hitting it that high would have been ridiculous in the wind.  It was not about making a model swing - it was about how to PLAY!

Oh, did I say my shot ricocheted off a pullcart AND a player in the group in front of us?  (No, I didn't play for that...)  Sometimes you get good bounces...  ;)

Bob Duncan