These bunkers are all about economics and
practicality. Economically this golf course
has never been exactly "flush" with excess
cash and that is the main reason why it has
retained a kind of wild and wooly look. Too
much money usually brings about frivolous
additions to the golf course that tend to
detract over time.
Practically, this gravelly sand does tend to
stay put during the very high winds that the
area experiences, but with the side effect of
putting an exclamation point on the whole mission
of The Sea Ranch to be as low key on the land
as possible. And that goes for all design elements
there from the road layout to the architectural
standards for all structures. Originally planned
by Oceanic California (now Castle & Cooke) in
the mid-60's as a 10 mile long housing tract,
the nascent environmental movement of the
time eventually dictated a slashing in half of the
expected homes in deference to the setting.
So, when Bob Graves was given just a wee sliver
of this land in the early 70's, part of his charge was
to make the course itself fit in without too much
superfluous effort. The bunker design being flat
was obviously a part of that. As for the islands in
the bunkers, I'm not too sure, but they could be a
riff on Muirfield's following a visit to Scotland by Bob.
Just a guess as I don't recall for sure.
In any event, when we did the new nine in 1994, we
tried like hell to make the new fit with the old which
meant stifling ourselves to a degree. As is discussed
here often, sometimes the smartest thing an architect
can do when working with an existing course that
has a modicum of architectural character is to supplant
his own ideas du jour in favor of going with what is
there already. So thank you Tom Huckaby for your
reply that we seem to have pulled that part of it off.
And yes, Ed you are right, the greens have shrunken
somewhat, but the bunkers were some distance away
from the greens to begin with. I can say with some
certainty that this was a nod to mechanized mowing
between the bunkers and the greens.
Finally, as Pete Galea surmised, the pebbly sand is very,
very local and, thus, very cheap in comparison to USGA
penetrometer-tested tres chic ultra white bunker sand.
However, I don't think the folks there would have gone
with that even if we did have more money in the
budget for better bunker sand. Isn't this the reason why
so many lesser known British Isles seaside courses remain
humble, because they can't afford not to be?