How non-golf player Richard Sattler saw the potential & seized the opportunity to transform his cattle & potato farm into one of the best champion links golf courses in the world. The former shearer, who’d never played golf before, took a massive risk on backing the idea of developing a top-quality links course amongst the pristine sand dunes of his coastal stretch of North-East Tasmania, and ended up having to underwrite the 2-year building project of Barnbougle Links course, The Dunes. But he quickly realised the concept of building a wilderness experience for golf might mean they could create a whole new market for themselves in remote Tassy, and that’s exactly how Barnbougle became not just a local, but a world golf destination.

Years of hard slog battling huge hurdles in his business journey in the island state of Tasmania – from the devastating Pilots’ strike of 1989, and the ’91 recession which saw interest rates of 20%  mean almost crippling debt – equipped Sattler with the experience, tenacity and passion to go all out on the Barnbougle experiment. But it paid off, and handsomely. Not only has Sattler expanded his links courses empire, but Barnbougle sits comfortably in the Top 50 golf courses in the world! And it remains one of the few courses in Australasia, where those golf enthusiasts who make the pilgrimage, rarely come away disappointed! 

Hope you enjoy Part 1 of my chat, on the roller coaster business ride of golfing entrepreneur and empire builder Richard Sattler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.