Burnham & Berrow Golf Club

Wij waren hier met een groep van acht man en werden fantastisch ontvangen. De Nederlandse vlag hing uit, een heel mooi detail dat we enorm konden waarderen. De baan was uitdagend, met hier en daar een paar blind shots die hem extra interessant maken. De greens en fairways lagen in goede staat. De hoge rough maakte het soms lastig om je bal terug te vinden, maar gelukkig lag ik daar niet al te vaak in. Al met al een geweldige ervaring. Een baan die ik zeker nog eens wil spelen.

In Engeland is golfen op een linksbaan een must. In het type landschap waar golf geboren is komt er toch een speciaal gevoel naar voren. De channel course gespeeld. Met lage zon en stevige wind. Prachtig hoe zo’n baan erbij ligt. De inrichting is minimaal. De schoonheid maximaal. Om enigszins op de greens te scoren moet je van goede (Engelse?) huize komen. De channel course is zeer betaalbaar. De 18 holes is een stuk duurder en wordt interessanter naarmate je hcp lager is. Ik hoop er nog eens te komen.

Club Burnham&Berrow offers an excellent combination of 18+9. I recommend starting on the nine-hole Channel course. It is a full-fledged course with a length of nearly 3,000 yards. The main course is on its right side, so you can tune in to lots of dunes, bumps, and great holes. The first five holes are superb. The main course has only two weaker holes (7 and 8). On the ninth, there is a turn on a short par 3. The tenth drive is played blind between two poles. The 12th hole has a green next to a church with a cemetery, which is the symbol of the course.

Burnham & Berrow's dunes are dramatic; the greens undulate wildly, and there is seldom a flat lie anywhere. Meanwhile, the views are gorgeous, and there is a good chance of spotting wildlife (it is the only course on which I have encountered a snake!). It is a great pleasure despite being one of the most challenging courses in the UK. This was my third time playing it, and I hadn't reached 30 points during any round. Although my excuse this time was a sprained toe that required me to hire a buggy. I doubt my injury made much difference on the first hole because it is a demon – weaving through grassy mounds and inside a deep bunker before reaching a fiendish, layered green. Historically, punchbowl putting surfaces were omnipresent at Burnham & Berrow, but over the years, they have disappeared, replaced by more varied greens. However, the third had remained, hidden behind a sandy dune at the end of a dogleg par-four. It's a super hole. The clearance work on the seventh has improved the vistas out to sea and revealed three Second World War defence bunkers, distracting from the menacing pond down the right. The work has also uncovered a raised eighth tee, which will improve the angle to the par-five, which was part-designed by Harry Colt's partner Charles Hugh Allison following an original work by Herbert Fowler. Colt and Alister MacKenzie also had a hand in Burnham & Berrow's design, explaining the variety of holes. The final six holes comprise the most memorable stretch in my eyes. The 12th, recently updated by Martin Ebert, is a sublime par-four that snakes uphill to green, falls off to the right, and is framed by a knotty bush. Slopes and run-offs are a key feature at B & B and become more pronounced as the round progresses. On the tough par-three 14th, I was ten feet below the green with my second shot after missing the target to the left. Fortunately, I was able to pop the ball to 12 feet. My favourite hole is the 15th – a par-four into one of the course's original bowl greens, hidden behind a grassy bank. Moving the ball in from the right could reap reward. The finale is a classic – a long bending par-four in front of the clubhouse. A definite sting in the tail. It completes a round at one of England's premium courses but one of the least stuffy. This may be an Open qualifying venue, but everyone feels welcome and is always left with a sense of "must come back."

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.