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Hole 1

Hole Name

From The Tee A big feature of the hole.

From The Fairway The original first hole was a short blind hole over the top of the sand dunes to a green in a hollow just to the right hand side of the current practice ground. Following a report proposed by Harry Colt in 1913 to remove all the blind shots and to make the course more challenging by replacing the poor holes. His initial idea was to build a new first hole running north of today’s 1st to a green clo

On The Green

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Hole 2

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the range of hills which are clearly visible to the south west across Bridgwater bay.

From The Fairway

On The Green The Quantocks were England’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, being designated in 1956. This hole was previously played as the third hole before the first was changed. The hole was shorter before Colt moved the green back onto the plateau where it is today and opened for play in 1923

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Hole 3

Hole Name

From The Tee Named due to the punch bowl shape of the green. Originally played as the 4th hole the hole was created in 1897 by Charles Gibson when the course was extended to 18 holes after the lords of the manor offered to lease the whole of the warren to the Club in 1896 enabling them to extend the course as far as the church.

From The Fairway

On The Green Before taking on its sharp dogleg shape when the course was nine holes this hole was played to what is now the 15th green which was the far extent of the original nine hole course.

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Hole 4

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the Carboniferous Limestone Island which lies in the middle of the Bristol Channel and is often used as a driving line from the tee. The island is protected as a nature reserve and a SSSI. The Island is the only site in the UK on which wild peonies grow.

From The Fairway

On The Green

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Hole 5

Hole Name

From The Tee Name after Henry Shapland “Harry” Colt. PrO-Bably the most respected of all the architects of his day.

From The Fairway Accredited with being involved in designing over 300 golf courses worldwide (115 on his own including Sunningdale new, and Wentworth East and West) worked predominantly with Charles Alison, John Morrison and Alister MacKenzie forming Colt, Alison and Morrison Ltd in 1928.

On The Green

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Hole 6

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the 450 foot high hill that dominates the flat Somerset levels that surround it making it visible from many miles around.

From The Fairway Made of Blue Lias Rock from the Jurassic period and capped with Midford Sands. Site of an Iron Age hill fort. Also has an annual foursomes knockout Tournament (The Brent Knoll Bowl) named after it. The tournament was started in 1952 by long standing member Freddie Love with the desire to maintain good quality golf at Burnham.

On The Green The previous 6th hole which was formerly the 7th was built in 1910 by Herbert Fowler who had designed The Berkshire and Walton Heath and was a member at Burnham. It was a tough hole and remained in play for over 60 years. This hole is now occupied by the 13th fairway the green was in a position almost opposite the Berrow church between the existing ladies 13th tee and the 7th tees.

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Hole 7

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the windmill that was erected in 1926 by Plumpton of Cullompton to pump the water away towards the sea in this low lying part of the course.

From The Fairway This worked well and larger open ditches were dug in 1928, 1936, 1960 and 1961. Eventually the windmill became O-Bsolete and was dismantled in 1973. The brick foundations remained behind the 7th green beside the path from the left hand tee on the 8th hole until they were removed when the pond behind the 7th green was excavated in 199?

On The Green Originally played as the 8th hole on land to the right of the existing hole it was built as part of the 1910 course extension by Herbert Fowler following the Club taking up the option from the lords of the manor offering them the purchase of the lease for the whole Warren. The tee was close to the previous green and the green was to the right of the existing 7th green roughly where the pond is now

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Hole 8

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after Charles Hugh Alison who was partner with Harry Colt and John Morrison of Colt, Alison & Morrison Ltd. Alison was a member of Burnham for over 40 years and was also an accomplished cricketer playing four fist class cricket matches for Somerset County Cricket Club.

From The Fairway He served in both WW1 and WW2 decoding ciphers. One of Alison’s most respected designs is Milwaukee Country Club (1929), co designed with Colt, which was ranked among the top 50 courses in America by Golf Digest in 2007. Was a great supporter of Burnham and Berrow Golf Club and despite his commitments to designing courses all over the world and his reputation as one of the best, it is justifiable,

On The Green This hole was originally laid out as part of the 1910 extension by Herbert Fowler. However the final input of the Colt/ Alison team came in 1951 when Alison was asked to design a new 8th green. By moving the green back towards the 9th tee and raising it several feet he made a much more challenging par 5 hole. This was completed in 1953, one year after Alison died aged 70. Colt died in 1951 so this

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Hole 9

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the wreck of the Norwegian Barque SS Nornen which can be seen from the new back tee. The SS Nornen was wrecked in a gale in March 1867. The Burnham Lifeboat was launched and the ten brave oarsman managed to heroically save the crew of 10 together with their dog.

From The Fairway The ninth is a classic example of a MacKenzie par 3 hole and was designed in conjunction with Colt. Once again this hole formed part of his 1913 proposal but was completed and opened for play in 1923.

On The Green

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Hole 10

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the Battle of Spion Kop near Ladysmith in South Africa in January 1900 in the second Boer War where the British were defeated. Winston Churchill, Mohandas Ghandi and Baden Powell were all involved in the battle.

From The Fairway This will be the third time the name has been used at Burnham & Berrow. The first time was when the course was extended in 1901 for the 9th hole which was approximately 190 yards long and was played directly west-east over high sand dunes to a green close to today’s 11th green.

On The Green The second time was in the 1910 extension by Herbert Fowler for the new 10th hole which was very similar to the old 9th in that is was an west-east tee shot over the line of forty foot sand dunes. The tee was close to the winter tee on the right hand side of the ditch of the present 9th hole and the green close to today’s 10th green. At 225 yards long the carry for the drive was at least 170 yards

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Hole 11

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after The Berrow Manor which is close to this hole. It was the Berrow Manor who owned the land west of the Berrow Road which was a rabbit warren before it became a golf course.

From The Fairway

On The Green

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Hole 12

Hole Name

From The Tee Named for O-Bvious reasons due to its close proximity to the Berrow Parish Church, St.Mary’s. There has been a church on this site since before AD 1000. In 1790 the Berrow Church was close to the high water mark.

From The Fairway The golf course first reached the church when it was first extended to 18 holes in 1897. The course was extended past the church in 1901 creating one of the most renowned holes on the course, the Church hole which was played to the east of the church and at this time was the 10th.

On The Green Proposals to divert the course west of the church were approved in 1972 along with the construction of the Channel course. The existing hole, originally designed as a par 3 to be played from the top of the dune by the reservoir to the current green, opened for play in 1978.

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Hole 13

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the pill boxes that feature on some of the holes. You can see five pill boxes when playing this hole. (one on the 6th, three on the 7th and one on the 13th).

From The Fairway This hole opened for play in 1978 as part of the course diversion to the west of the church. The fairway is played down what was the previous 6th hole which was also moved to the west as part of the same project.

On The Green

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Hole 14

Hole Name

From The Tee One of the best loved and most famous holes on the course came into existence when the course was extended to 18 holes in 1897. Named after an old derelict mill which the tee was built next to approximately 50 yards behind the existing tee. The old mill was famous for the murder of a Mr. Hicks by his wife after coming home drunk once too often.

From The Fairway The hole changed very little until it was sold off in 1975. The tee shot was played at an angle across a sandy track called the ‘Old Kent Road’ which had a high bank on one side for almost the full length of the hole which can now be seen running through the back gardens in the houses to the left of the existing 14th hole.

On The Green Sadly the old mill hole was sold off in 1975 to help fund the course developments. A new 14th hole (The existing one) was built by remodelling the old 14th green and constructing a new tee to play the hole from the opposite direction.

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Hole 15

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the steep faced hollow on the right of the 15th fairway called “The Kitchen”. The 15th green is one of only two original greens. It was first played as the 4th green on the original layout from a tee close to today’s 3rd tee. In 1897 when the course was extended it became the 12th green played from a tee which today would be on the Berrow Green. At this time the 5th hole which was a re

From The Fairway

On The Green The 6th hole, 310 yards was played from a tee close the previous 5th green was played over a high sandy ridge to a green which was in the hollow behind today’s 5th tee. In the 1901 extension these two holes were combined to make one long hole of 456 yards. The two holes which were played onto the Common (11th & 12th) were abolished with the 11th tee used for the new 12th which now became another v

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Hole 16

Hole Name

From The Tee In 1891 a sandy track ran from the Berrow Church to the Berrow Inn across what is now the 16th hole. In those days it was the fifth hole and was similar to today’s 16th but with

From The Fairway

On The Green the tee much further back and right of today’s tee and the green fifty yards further on from today’s green. At 417 yards, bogey 5, it was the longest hole on the course. This sandy track ran across the 5th fairway and along the side of a huge sand hill to the right of the 5th green called “Majuba”. At this point it was a very unpleasant and unplayable track with deep pot holes and scrub. It was ca

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Hole 17

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the most famous sand hill at Burnham “Majuba” which is now used for the tees of the 17th and 3rd holes on today’s course. It derives its name from the battle of Majuba Hill near Volkrust, South Africa on 27th February 1881. It was the main and decisive battle of the first Boer War and the battle is considered one of the most humiliating defeats of British Arms in history. Some notable

From The Fairway In 1891 it was twenty feet higher than today and had a steep conical shape. In 1891 the 6th hole although only 160 yards in length was played directly over the top in an east-west direction to a green approximately 30 yards the other side of the sand hill (in the area between todays 2nd green and 3rd tee). When the course was extended to 18 holes in 1897 this became the 14th hole with a run of sho

On The Green

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Hole 18

Hole Name

From The Tee Named after the 100 foot high pillar lighthouse built in the 1830’s one of three lighthouses in Burnham-on-Sea. The other ones are the old lighthouse ‘Round Tower’ on The Esplanade which has been inactive since 1832, it has a castellated top and was lowered so that it was not confused with the High Lighthouse. The third is the ‘Low Lighthouse’ built in 1832 the nine legged wooden lighthouse situat

From The Fairway The original 18th hole was 267 yards long from a tee placed on a large sand hill on the right of today’s 18th fairway. It is still visible today and was used for years by Fred Bradbeer as a teaching tee. The drive was towards a narrow valley and over a large bunker to leave a blind shot over a ridge which ran diagonally across the fairway about 100 yards short of the green.

On The Green In 1901 the tee was moved back to make the hole 345 yards long and a better finishing hole. In the 1910 extension by Herbert Fowler he cleared the dunes around the old 17th green. This was a short blind hole of 122 yards over a huge dune to a small green which today would sit close to the middle of the start of the 18th fairway. He then moved the tee back close to the new 17th green to make a 440

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