Photo: Wikimedia CommonsBurnham & Berrow Golf Club
Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset · Designed by Founded 1890; later Herbert Fowler, Harry Colt & Alister MacKenzie · Est. 1890
Burnham & Berrow is a classic championship links in the huge dunes of the Somerset coast, looking out over the Bristol Channel to the hills of Wales. Founded in 1890, it gave the young J.H. Taylor his first job as a professional — he would go on to win five Open Championships — and the course was refined over the decades by a roll-call of great architects including Herbert Fowler, Harry Colt and Alister MacKenzie.
The links runs through some of the most dramatic sandhills in England, with narrow, humping fairways, blind shots over dune ridges and small, well-defended greens. It plays to around 6,700 yards, par 71, and asks for precision as much as power. A little white lighthouse and the tiny St Andrew's church are among its landmarks.
It is a genuine championship test — a regular final-qualifying and amateur-championship venue — yet remains friendly and well-priced for visitors, and pairs naturally with the North Devon links down the coast.
Holes worth knowing
- 1The blind shots over the dunes — Burnham's narrow, humping fairways and dune-hidden greens demand trust in the line as much as any links in England.
- 2The closing stretch by the sea — small, cleverly bunkered greens make par a good score to finish on the Bristol Channel wind.
Highlights
- Championship links in dramatic Somerset dunes
- J.H. Taylor's first professional post
- Refined by Fowler, Colt and MacKenzie
- Great value for a course of its pedigree
Good to know
- →The club gave J.H. Taylor his start; he went on to win five Opens — one of the founding fathers of professional golf.
- →It is a course of blind shots and small greens: trust the marker posts over the dune ridges and take one more club into the well-guarded, wind-swept greens.
- →The little St Andrew's church and the squat lighthouse on the beach are local landmarks; Burnham-on-Sea has a long sandy front and the shortest pier in Britain.
- →Nearby, the Somerset Levels and the legend-steeped Glastonbury Tor and Wells — England's smallest cathedral city — make characterful day trips.
- →It pairs naturally with Saunton and Royal North Devon down the coast for a West Country links tour; Bristol airport is an hour away.
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