Across the river, Lost Farm is now three years old and the 20-hole Bill Coore-designed layout serves as a perfect partner to the Tom Doak and Mike Clayton-penned Barnbougle Dunes. Lost Farm changes direction more than the twin loops of Barnbougle Dunes do, and there’s a little more variety in the settings. The first two holes and the 16th and 18th cover a low, flat plain whereas other fairways traverse ridges or valleys between tall dunes or expand across more open ground, such as at the spacious par-5 12th. This changing topography and landscape means there is a greater sense of solitude at Lost Farm.

Two of the short par-4s are simply divine. The 253-metre uphill 3rd can be driven with a tee shot that carries or passes a huge central bunker in the fairway, while tee shots struck safely away from this pit will leave an increasingly acute and awkward angle for the pitch shot the further left you veer. At the 14th, the challenge lies right before you with a generous fairway for a 263-metre par-4 but a shallow, raised green where nothing but a pinpoint approach will stay aboard. Perhaps the best hole is the par-4 5th, which is also the toughest. Tee shots here need to carry or be shaped around an enormously tall dune in order to set up a chance to reach the green in regulation. There is plenty of room left of this shaggy hill for those content to find the large putting surface in three shots.

Rippled wonderland: the 12th and 17th holes at Barnbougle Dunes.

Lost Farm has not one but two spare holes as that’s how many holes Coore ‘found’ and owner Richard Sattler decided to build all 20. Both extras are short par-3s, the first falling between the 13th and 14th holes and played from one hilltop to another with a multi-segmented green that feeds shots not hit the correct distance away from most cup positions. The other comes at the conclusion of the 18th and is a perfect ‘tiebreaker’ hole played in front of the clubhouse with a sharply sloping green.

The Golf Touring Company’s three-day getaways allow time to play both courses twice or more if you dare, giving travelling golfers enough time to familiarise themselves with both layouts and to learn the best angles of approach and the nuances that make them so revered.