White Sand

[RobertWalker]

Is "Fluroescent White" sand the most obnoxious thing to see on any course? I hate it, and we will really know the end is near when the British Courses start deploying it on their courses. I like dirty yellow-brown sand. I also like the grey sand at Sand Hills.

[Henry Fownes]

White, grey, brown, gravel, coral. As long as it holds a hoofprint it's ok with me.

[jim_lewis]

The color of the sand is not among to top 100 things that I care about when judging a golf course.

[Slag_Bandoon]

  Locally used sand adds a bit o' honesty to a course.  Aspen Lakes in Sisters, Oregon has red cinder sand. It works because it's of the area.
 
 Bright white sand is like a loud sales pitch. Tone it down, buddy. I aint buyin' it!

[RobertWalker]

Color of Sand is one of the top 8 things that I look at when judging a golf course. Slag hits the nail on the head.

[Steve Wilson]

Is there any relationship between the choice of the bright white sand and its texture.  Or is it purely cosmetic?

[RobertWalker]

I think it all started with Augusta when they started using a mineral called felspar instead of sand. It was mined near Spruce Pine, NC. Maybe Tom Doak knows for sure.

[RobertWalker]

.......and I think it was cosmetic and textural.

[Rj Struthers]

Not a big fan of bleach white, except maybe in Puerto Rico or the tropics. Gotta think it should match the area and or type of golf course.More manicured course should have finer sand, rougher ones courser.Most importantly it should not plug unless one is really unlucky, or bones one under a lip.

[TEPaul]

It's heretical because sand and sand bunkers are the old standby feature from the beginnings of the game, but I would like to see someone do something ceative without any sand at all. Maybe just feature some really creative humps and hollows, carom areas or gravity golf.

What are these things that they called "scrapes" long ago? They sound good to me. I think someone should do some really well designed "scrapes".

[RobertWalker]

TEPAUL
Sand Hills comes close to what you are talking about.

[Tim_Weiman]

Robert Walker:

If I'm merely looking at a golf course I might care about the color of the sand.

If I'm playing the course, the texture of the sand means a hell of a lot more, especially because I've never been a very good bunker player.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Robert Walker, TEPaul, Slag,

So in Florida, where sugar sand, which is quite white, is the natural soil, you would
opt for a sand and sand color other than that which is found naturally, and in abundance in this particular section of the country ?

[RobertWalker]

Pat Mucci:
Good question.
I accept local sand, and would live with the bright white sand of Florida. I just object to loading train cars with sand and shipping it and dumping it in big pits on golf courses hundreds of miles from its origin when there is local stuff available.

[Geoff_Shackelford]

Atlanta Athletic's white sand does surpass anything ever seen in golf in terms of hideousness. The TV camera lens could not deal with it, like when a newscaster wears a striped shirt and it looks like you are watching through fumes.

Jim, how come you don't look at the color of the sand. Doesn't that play a role in judging some of the elements listed on the Golfweek ballot? Naturalness, beauty, aesthetics?

[Slag_Bandoon]

  Pat,  White is alright if it's harvested locally and feels natural to the look of the environs but making the decision by wirtue of its whiteness has a pushiness about it that tends to make me not appreciate a bunker design or its placement as much.  It screams opulence and I just don't feel natural in all that 'presentation of perfection'. Like whiter makes it better.  
 Barona Creek has wonderful bunkers, very dramatic in that 'spotlight white' but they would be just as beautiful and interesting if they were toned down to match the naturalness on site. IMHO.
Besides, my irises (irisi?) don't react very quickly from the nuclear blast of white sand to green glance after a couple o' drams o' spirited libations.  
   

[Patrick_Mucci]

et. al.,

It would seem that sand obtained locally, would best reflect the natural settings.

The other factor is playability and particle size, important considerations, I think.

Other factors can be, rainfall, bunker pitch, and wind.

So, with the introduction of more variables, local sand may not be the solution to the combination of problems/considerations.

I don't particularly care for bright white sand as it bothers my eyes, but there may be times when white sand may be prefered or necessary.

This isn't a black and white issue.