Lost Farm is remarkably different from Barnbougle Dunes, a product of both the natural landscape and the vision of the designers.
Working with more length perpendicular to the coast, course designers Coore and Crenshaw achieved a variety of hole orientations that work well with the prevailing coastal wind.
This doesn’t mean it hasn’t its fair share of coastal holes – in fact, some argue that the holes hugging the water at Lost Farm are better placed to expose the views of the Bass Strait.
Each hole leaves the shot placement and hole management squarely in the hands of the golfer, which is perhaps the biggest difference in course styles from the Dunes. Whereas the Dunes enforces a straightforward approach, Lost Farm grants the golfer more discreet options off the tee, as well as alternatives when approaching the green.
That is encouraged by the vast area that many of the fairways cover, requiring twice the number of sprinkler heads to irrigate – good news for the erratic drivers out there. While there is certainly more forgiveness in fairway width, the portion between fairway and thick marram grass rough is almost non-existent, another contrast to its neighbor across the river.