192 - Burnham & Berrow Golf Club (Championship)

Location: Burnham-on-Sea, England

Rating: 8.3

After our 9 holes on the Channel course in the morning and a lovely lunch in their clubhouse we headed out on to the Championship course with the wind starting to pick up. What a lovely clubhouse by the way, very traditional but not old and stuffy. I get the impression they have invested a lot into it to make it light and spacious.

A lovely touch from the starter to put the South African flag up, my home country. I’d never come across Burnham & Berrow until I met fellow ambassador Alex and very glad to have stumbled across it, it is a stunning course.

The first hole looks relatively unassuming but with wind prevailing off the left and my fade (more slice really) it is quite tricky and I found myself playing my second off the 18th fairway. The 2nd is no let up with a narrow stretch of fairway bordered by that wispy stuff that swallows golf balls.

The following holes follow in the same vain twisting in different direction eventually reaching tricky undulating greens. The 9th is an awesome little par 3, 140 meters long but littered with bunkers all around the green, a green which plateaus on the top and drops off all around the front edges.

It was at this point my round started to pick up, the wind coming back across from the right allowed me to hit the driver more confidently but the 10th is a completely blind tee shot, you have to trust the locals and hope for the best.

I think one of my favourite features of the course was the par 3’s, 14 was an uphill shot to another raised green, no bunkers on this occasion but a big slope down to the left of the green  and the 17th hole flatter but again raised green and a smattering of bunkers.

Coming down the 18th, the further you can drive the more you can bite off the corner and the approach to the green has the stunning clubhouse in the background.

The course was in super condition, the fairways like carpets and the greens wonderfully looked after. Burnham & Berrow is a top 100 course with a down to earth, friendly feel to it.