  Luminous elliptical galaxies generally display a rich star cluster system,
whose properties provide strong constraints on the physics of galaxy formation
and evolution. Star cluster system studies, however, concentrate on galaxies
located in nearby or rich galaxy clusters. We acquired deep B and I images of
NGC 1600, a luminous elliptical in a galaxy group to study its star cluster
system. The images were obtained with the Optical Imager at the SOAR telescope.
The sample selection incompleteness was assessed as a function of magnitude and
image background level. Source counts were measured for different elliptical
annuli from the centre of NGC 1600, background subtracted, and fitted with a
Gaussian function. Colour distributions were derived as a function of
galactocentric distance for sources measured successfully in both filters.
Typical ages and metallicities were estimated based on single stellar
population models. A clear excess of point sources around NGC 1600 was found in
relation to the nearby field. The source counts were consistent with a Gaussian
distribution typical of other luminous ellipticals. The luminosity function
fits provided an estimate of the density of clusters at the different annuli
that could be integrated in solid angle, resulting in an estimated total
population of N_{GC} ~ 2850 star clusters. This yielded a specific frequency of
S_N ~ 1.6. The colour distributions show a hint of bimodality, especially at ~
20 kpc from the centre. Clusters in this region may be associated with a ring
or shell perturbation. Finally, the star cluster candidates were
cross-correlated to discrete X-ray sources and a coincidence rate of ~ 40% was
found. These are likely to be globular clusters harboring low-mass X-ray
binaries.
