Should the buffer be eliminated ?

[Anthony Gray]

After last week's PGA Champioinship at AAC, I think this thread deserves another look.  Every time you looked, you saw golf balls trundling into bunkers at AAC.  Honestly, to me it got fatiguing because the slope of the land seemed to have acted as a magnet, drawing balls into penal bunkers.

Cripes - does EVERY bunker need to have shaved surrounds with slopes that propel the ball to doom?

  Isn't this consistant with the bunkers in Scotland? Has it been adapted here? Seems they all funnel the ball into the hazzar.

  Anthony

[Alex Miller]

After last week's PGA Champioinship at AAC, I think this thread deserves another look.  Every time you looked, you saw golf balls trundling into bunkers at AAC.  Honestly, to me it got fatiguing because the slope of the land seemed to have acted as a magnet, drawing balls into penal bunkers.

Cripes - does EVERY bunker need to have shaved surrounds with slopes that propel the ball to doom?

I don't think it was the surrounds, but rather the abundance of bunkers that made it seem repetitive.

[Bradley Anderson]

I would agree with the sentiment that the rough should be shaved back to allow more errant shots to find fairway bunkers, but I can think of a lot of classic fairway bunkers that were just poorly placed for various reasons: fill material, eye candy to frame dull terrain, because sand was cheap to buy and haul back in the day.

[Bill_McBride]

Ha ha, this has been my pet peeve for years!   When I was green committee chair, I used to take our young superintendent into the office, fire up the computer, and ask, which do you prefer?



Or,



And you?

[Melvyn Morrow]

Bill

One is a hazard, the other seems to be Green Candy. All those bunkers yet poss. only two may come into play with a fair golfer. The ones around the Green I can understand but not the set back down the fairway as they do not seem to be in the line of play. so pointless IMHO.

Melvyn

PS You knew I was not going to say anything bad about the first photo, its poetry in motion or to the frustrated player its ‘Oh Sh@t not again’, don't you just love it when a plan comes together   How many times have taken that particular walk in the sand?

[Kevin Jackson]

I think it only works to have the grass cut to fairway length if it is a "pot" bunker and there is no real bank or slope surrounding the bunker.  Wouldn't it be awfully hard to mow a grass bank with a greens mower set to fairway height?  It would slide into the bunker and would be terribly tough to maneuver. Cutting banks with a standard push mower  set to rough height (average Joe's lawn mower) is tough enough.

[Dan Kelly]

It all depends on what you're thinking as the ball is descending. If you're thinking, "Get in the bunker!", it's the bunkers that need work, rather than eliminating the buffer strip. If you're thinking, "Stay out of the bunker!", then the strips should go.

Perfect.

[Bill_McBride]

Bill

One is a hazard, the other seems to be Green Candy. All those bunkers yet poss. only two may come into play with a fair golfer. The ones around the Green I can understand but not the set back down the fairway as they do not seem to be in the line of play. so pointless IMHO.

Melvyn

PS You knew I was not going to say anything bad about the first photo, its poetry in motion or to the frustrated player its ‘Oh Sh@t not again’, don't you just love it when a plan comes together   How many times have taken that particular walk in the sand?

Three rounds at Hoylake and only got in one of those mothers on the 10th hole once!

That was the first time, the ball scooted completely across the fairway!   The next two times I hit the ball so far left we sent out a team of Sherpas!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill

One is a hazard, the other seems to be Green Candy.


The fairway bunkers aren't "Green Candy" and neither are the bunkers immediately adjacent to the green, they're very functional

All those bunkers yet poss. only two may come into play with a fair golfer.

That's not true, especially when a golfer's tee shot has landed in the DZ bunkers or in heavy rough.
From there, approaches often find the more distant bunkers.
Besides, it's a short hole, why shouldn't it be well protected ?

The ones around the Green I can understand but not the set back down the fairway as they do not seem to be in the line of play. so pointless IMHO.

The most certainly are in the line of play.

[Patrick_Mucci]

After talking to a number of superintendents, I think it's a multi-faceted issue.

# 1  The culture of the club
# 2  The Superintendent's influence
# 3  And this always seems to be the issue or part of the issue,...... money.

[Dan Herrmann]

How would it affect maintenance?  By dulling blades due to the sand?  By requiring more manual work?  Thanks!

[Melvyn Morrow]

Patrick

Sorry mate but in my opinion the fairway bunkers are in the Rough, and the Green bunkers are just overkill. IMHO, this is exactly what is wrong with our game today, it’s just Green Candy which certainly is lacking in its form and yes it’s vision.  It worries me that we produce Holes like this one, although not played this Hole, so tell me how affective are the bunkers, they seem to be rather shallow – also how firm is the sand, normal loose or well compacted?

Sorry, but just do not like these types of Holes as they offer little and are reliant upon bunkers as the only hazard yet not placed to make a golfer think just catch a wayward shot – that’s not design in my book. I rate this type of Hole as decorative well-manicured but totally pointless. The only thing missing is a water feature then it would look like a chocolate box hole, full of promise until you find only soft praline centres. Golfers need more than soft centres, they need something more substantial.

No Patrick, this is not my type of Hole which seems to shout easy, ride me and use your toys as I am not here to offer any real challenge or test of your skill  - the equivalent to a weak wet handshake, but as we know it takes all sorts to make up our mad world or ours.

So Patrick I regret to say I disagree with you on this one, but then I always prefer a hard nut to crack that a soft centre.

Melvyn

[Dan Herrmann]

Melvyn,
Can a water hazard ever be placed off the fairway?  If so, why not a sand bunker hazard?

[Melvyn Morrow]

Dan

I do not want a water feature; I was just saying that it would finish off the picture, but then we must not forget its meant to be a golf Hole. What about an old stone wall cutting across the fairway in a useful location would make the golfer think, something I believe this Hole is really lacking some good honest basic thought for the game of Golf, but then that's just my opinion for what it’s worth.

Melvyn