
Channel (Alternate Tees) Course
Burnham and Berrow Golf Club
About this course
The Channel Course at Burnham and Berrow serves as the club's second eighteen, complementing the championship links while offering members and visitors an alternative routing across the same distinctive Somerset duneland. The Hawtree family's involvement spans generations, with Fred Hawtree contributing to the layout's development and his son Martin later refining the design. The course occupies terrain similar to the main links—rolling sandy ground punctuated by dunes, with views across the Bristol Channel toward Wales. The routing makes effective use of the natural contours, though the holes generally play through slightly less dramatic topography than those on the championship course. The sandy soil provides firm, fast-running conditions typical of proper links golf, and the layout shares the same exposure to prevailing winds that test club selection and shot-making throughout the round. Several holes run along elevated ground offering coastal vistas, while others nestle into lower corridors between dune ridges. Burnham and Berrow's dual-course setup allows the club to accommodate its membership while maintaining the championship links for competitions and visiting societies. The Channel Course provides a genuine links experience in its own right, with the same turf conditions and strategic demands that characterize seaside golf in this part of England. Players encounter a variety of hole lengths and angles, with the natural movement in the ground creating interest around the greens and requiring thoughtful approach play throughout the round.
Quick facts
- Location
- Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England
- Access
- Public
- Year built
- 1977
- Designer(s)
- Fred Hawtree, Martin Hawtree
- Holes
- 18
- Par
- 70
- Length
- 5,813 yards
- Difficulty
- 70.1/116
Getting there
Most visitors to Burnham and Berrow Golf Club arrive via Bristol Airport, roughly an hour's drive southwest through the Somerset Levels - a journey that trades the hum of the M5 motorway for the wide, flat expanse of ancient marshland reclaimed from the Bristol Channel. The final miles along the coast road reveal glimpses of the Welsh hills across the water before the town of Burnham-on-Sea announces itself with Victorian seafront charm and, beyond it, the windswept linksland that has tested golfers since 1890. For those seeking discretion, private aircraft can touch down at Cardiff Airport across the estuary or arrange smaller field access nearby, though the drive remains the most fitting introduction - a gradual descent from inland England to the very edge of the Severn Estuary, where the club's dunes rise like sentinels against the tides.

FAQ
Common questions about Channel (Alternate Tees) at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club
Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.
Channel (Alternate Tees) was designed by Fred Hawtree and Martin Hawtree.
Yes. Channel (Alternate Tees) at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club is listed as welcoming public or guest play on Course Vaults.
Par at Channel (Alternate Tees) is 70.
Channel (Alternate Tees) plays 5,813 yards from the back tees on Course Vaults.
The slope rating at Channel (Alternate Tees) is 116.
Channel (Alternate Tees) is a 18-hole course.




