Burnham & Berrow Golf Club ****

St Christopher's Way, Burnham-on-Sea, TA8 2PE

Nearest main town: Burnham-on-Sea

 

Some golfers find the out-and-back links an outdated layout, so they should be well warned off Burnham & Berrow, a very traditional course set on the North Somerset coast, with views of the Bristol Channel and the distant Glamorgan shore. Players who baulk at playing the course on this basis are, however, missing out, because Burnham & Berrrow delights in so many ways that the rigidness of the layout becomes a secondary consideration.

The out-and-back links was immortalized by St Andrews, a course that, when golf was first played, was essentially a fairway that stretched out for nine holes, then a fairway that stretched back for nine holes. Burnham & Berrow is just like this. A strip of coastal land that was left when the seas receded after the last Ice Age, it is sparsely vegetated with fine-bladed grass for fairways and wild, rough grasses forming the course's primary protection against good scoring.

The course has been altered many times in the twentieth century to cut out a lot of blind shots that existed and in particular to avoid hitting churchgoers who walked across the fairways to reach the church in the middle of the course. Steps have also been taken to preserve the plant life, which is abundant amid the wild grasses, particularly the orchids.

As befits a grand course, it is the finishing holes at Burnham & Berrow that prove the highlight of any round. The 15th is a long par-4, followed by the short par-4 16th, which requires a short pitch to a small, elevated green (a feature of Burnham & Berrow is the small greens, which slope in all directions). A long par-3 at the 17th that can require a driver at times precedes the finishing hole, a par-4 sculpted through small sandhills. The course will test all your shots and offers you some spectacular positions from which to play. If you're to score well, you'd better have your short game in good nick, as the chances are you will fail to hold many of the greens at your first attempt.

 

Secretary: Mrs E. Sloman                       

Tel: 01278 783137 Fax: 01278 795440

Professional: Mr M. Crowther-Smith

Tel: 01278 784545

Playing: Midweek: round £38.00; day n/a. Weekend: round £50.00; day £50.00.

Facilities: Bar: 11 am-11 pm. Food: Lunch and dinner from 11 am-9pm. Bar snacks.

Comments: Classic links with plenty of variety...Lovely links... Hard course when the wind is blowing... Vicious rough ... Excellent, knowledgeable staff...Magnificent links with some of the best greens anywhere...Not quite a traditional links but seaside golf at its best...Tough links with the character of an old smooth malt whisky... Best course in the UK for the price. Twilight fee is unbeatable value.

 

Bath Golf Club ***

Sham Castle, North Road, Bath, BA2 6JG

Nearest main town: Bath

 

Secretary: Mr P. Ware

Tel: 01225 463834 Fax: 01225 331027

Professional: Mr P. Hancox

Tel: 01225 466953

Playing: Midweek: round £28.00; day £32.00. Weekend: round £32.00; day £40.00.

Facilities: Bar: 11 am-11 pm. Food: Lunch and dinner from 11 am-7pm. Bar snacks.

Comments: A lot of thought required here...Accuracy rather than brute strength rewarded...Best in Bath...Ranks along­side some of Bristol's best...Views over the city and countryside.