We all have different tastes and preferences and one of the great things about life is that they are allowed to change. Leaving Australia in 2000, one of the saddest
moments was waving good-bye to Hahn Premium, literally the perfect drop. Even the green bottle that it came in was a work of art. Back in North Carolina, there was little to do but muddle on and keep trying different brews. Finally, I was introduced to the fine products by the Leinenkugel family with their winter wheat ale in particular proving life isn't so grim after all. A dream come true would be to taste test Hahn Premium to Leinenkugel to see who comes out on top.
Similarly, I haven't been to the southwest of England in ten years, and thanks to Sean Arble's now posted In My Opinion piece Golfing the Warren, I would like to taste test Westward Ho! and Burnham & Berrow all over again. Always a long time fan of Westward Ho! (easily in my world top 50), the undeniable strength of Sean's words and photographs has me questioning why I have never been equally as fond of Burnham. In numeric format, Sean highlights six of Burnham's strengths and then takes us on a hole by hole tour of the course.
Certainly the prospect from the clubhouse window is one of the most enticing in golf with its broad view across the rumpled ground of the first and eighteenth ending in some tall dunes in the distance. The course gets off to a quick start and its finish is among the best anywhere. Apart from highlighting just how great some of these holes are, what Sean's piece does so well is diffuse concerns over the few holes on the front nine along the marsh and the stretch of holes heading home from 11-14. Somehow, my one round there didn't leave me confident as to how good those holes were. For instance, I wonder if the spine that feeds into the seventh green really functions well given that it falls over the softer turf? Nonetheless, Sean rallies to the support of these hole and given how many times he has played the course, it would be a foolish man to argue with him.
Just like he did with his FABULOUS piece on Pennard, Sean's photography highlights the great ground contours and how the various architects incorporated them into the holes for over a century. Along with Alison, Colt was here and designed eight new holes as part of two plans that he drew up in 1913 and 1925. However, if you were inclined to nitpick, I think I might take issue that just because Colt went with all plateau greens for the one shot holes at Burnham, does that make them great as a collective set? The individual one shotters are each very good to even outstanding but to systematically take away the ground game from all of them on such a windy site seems a bit cruel and I wish a different solution had presented itself, at least at the new 14th (For instance, the open greens at 3rd and 6th at Sand Hills are the perfect foil to the elevated knob green at 13th and the tightly defined target at 17th.)
In a separate conversation with Sean, he makes the great point that Burnham & Berrow enjoys both 'whimsical moments' while still requiring stout hitting as defined in today's modern game and sums Burnham up in an email by writing that it 'is a wonderful course that gets better with intimacy.' Darwin is among the course's admirers and buried in the text is this excellent quote from him that Sean found: “It is the modern fashion to despise sandhills, but if you come to Burnham to scoff at them you will remain to pray - pray that the wind will not blow so strongly in your teeth that you cannot get over. These hills revive some of the ancient joys and sorrows of the gutty era, when you were quite simply and naturally pleased with yourself for having hit the ball far enough and high enough. I really do not think that there is any other course which on a windy day gives so much zest to life by its tee shots.” Yes, there have been plenty of changes here but there is no doubt that the course remains full of zest. Why more people don't fly into Bristol and make a trip of Burnham & Berrow, Westward Ho!, St. Enodoc, Saunton, Pennard, and Porthcawl, I'll never understand ( don't do what dummy did here and take a ferry from near Tenby to go see Old Head and Mt. Juliet
).
Along with Mark Rowlinson, no one knows this part of the world better than Sean and hopefully, we can all encourage him into doing a profile on Beau Desert or Kington one of these days. In the meanwhile, studying this Somerset gem is time most enjoyably spent.
Cheers,