A typically English way to start a competition. Note the cups of tea are never far away. That is Doc Hiseman on the left.
Ferguson's frightening 1st.
The wonderful 1st from ~100 yards out.
The 1st green from the 2nd tee.
The second from ~80 yards out. I really like the bunkering scheme here. The two short bunkers offer enough room to play the left to right run up, but it is very tight. If the length of the runup isn't judged accurately there is a third bunker waiting.
A closer look at the 2nd.
The 3rd from the front of the tee.
The approach of the 3rd to a punchbowl green short of the posting.
The 3rd green from the 4th tee. This photo shows the cool depression just short of the green (far right of photo) which sets this punchbowl apart from others.
The 5th from the front of the tee. There are three bunkers guarding this hole.
The very tough and much maligned 7th. The ridge you see feeding balls directly to the bunker on the left of the fairway at about 240 yards off the tee runs all the way to the green. This is one of my favourite features of the course.
From ~ 190 yards showing the ridge.
The approach to the par 5 8th. This hole recently added another set of tees on the other side of the creek which offers a bit more variety.
I never tire of looking at the 9th. This is from the 170ish tee marker.
Introducing Philip on the tee of the 10th.
A bell must adorn any proper links.
The wonderful 11th from ~45 yards short of the green.
The lovely 12th. One day I will get the Good Doc to see this hole as a greatun'
The 13th after a layup on this short par 5.
Robin is slowly warming to the 14th. A good par 3 with a clever green. The fallaway to the left is cruel, but ya gotta love it.
15th green - appoached from left of the photo.
This shot shows the dune which protects the left half of the green. This really is a wonderful hole and ends the best stretch of holes starting at the 11th.
This is a very funky mini-fairway on the 16th which just leads to this bunker. Very unique feature.
A monster African Animal like drive leaves this sort of view for the 18th.
We beat the rain.
I am not sure how Philip felt about the course, but Doc seemed more impressed with Burnham than last year. He especially noted some green features on the back nine which impressed him.
It is well known that I think Burnham is one the very best courses in GB&I and I would give it a 6.8 on the SRA Scale. There is no need to gush on about the course other than to mention the more I play the course the more the greens impress me. The course in general is difficult to pinpoint with any certain style (not surprising with all the archies who were involved in its evolution). The greens however, are even more varied. Today I really noticed how many greens have a sharp fallaway side to them which hadn't really sunk in before.
Ciao
Sean