Traps(sic) that don't Trap

[W.H. Cosgrove]

I spent the day playing yesterday with a junior self assigned amateur architect.  His one subject of discussion was 'traps that don't trap'.  

It is possible to run the ball through these bunkers and have the ball pop out the far side.  Typically, these hazards are short of the putting surfaces (20-30 yards).  The sand is pretty firm but lips tend to be high.  

My questions for the group are these:  1) Is this a drawback when the only players penalized by these bunkers are higher handicaps and women?  2) I suggested that the bunkers were placed where they were to create direction rather than hazard. 3)  What level of penalty should any hazard create? 1 Stroke, a half stroke or more or les? 4) Should bunkers always hold the ball after it has entered the hazard?

[Tom_Doak]

Should bunkers always hold the ball after it has entered the hazard?

I don't think that's necessary.  George Thomas rightly pointed out that bunkers weren't just there to penalize the players who got in them, but also those who missed wide of a bunker next to the green.  In that case, he pointed out, the sand shot could and maybe should be easier than the pitch over the bunker.

If the bunkers are twenty yards away from the green, though, that wouldn't apply.  In that case I wonder why they are there.

Bunkers should create differing penalties within a golf course.  If they were all a full-stroke penalty the game would not reward good play; if none were a stiff penalty they would be entirely pointless.

[W.H. Cosgrove]

Tom,
Thanks for the reply.  I think the bunkers exist for at least two reasons.  1) They protect shots from wandering into unfair areas.  2) They hide one side of the putting surface.  As they 'skyline' and hide the sides of the greens, they provide uncertainty without creating a direct penalty.  The bunkers on the opposing side of the fairway in both cases are very penal.

The original layout had 4 of these.  Two have been moved closer to the green.  In part, maintenance is in part responsible for the possibility of the ball running through the hazard.  

[Brian_Ewen]

Cos / Tom
I wonder if I could expand this thread and ask , " what about bunkers that dont trap and the ball doesnt pop out the far side " ?.

I have played several times a course on the Eastern Seabord of Thailand  called Khao Kheow CC . Designed by Perry Dye ( or Dye Designs inc.) , it has been built as a copycat of some of Pete Dyes famous holes , including a copy of Sawgrass's 17th Island Green .
So a lot of the course is built in a Stadium style , especially around the greens where bunkers are built into mounds . But the bunkers are very flat and shallow and with firm sand , I find that a lot of balls bounce in the bunker then career up onto the front of these mounds .
I remember having a particulary bad day and 75% of my shots that I would be expecting to be playing from sand , had me playing the ball at shoulder height on steep banking , with water on the other side of the green , I did not have an enjoyable day .

To someone who plays most of his golf in Scotland , I find this situation strange (I am trying not to use the word unfair) . I would expect one of these lies , once a season in Scotland , not half a dozen times in a round , as on this course .

To my untrained eye , surely the bunkers should have been built deeper , and is this not a case where the bunkers should hold the ball after it has entered the hazard ?

[James Edwards]

Cos

I would like to see bunkers of all shapes, sizes and depths with different strategic values all over the course.

Level of penalty should be determined by the waywardness of the shot in relation to the design in my opinion.  For instance shallower bunkers next to fairways with the occasional pot bunker further in towards the rough.

This answers part three of your question, half stroke for the fairway bunker and 1 stroke for the bunker in the rough.  Good examples of this are found at Hoylake, Lytham and St Georges, in England.

[Doug Siebert]

Good players aren't going to run the ball through the bunker and over the lip, their shots will be coming from up in the air.  Unless the sand is hard enough you get a big 'ol bounce in the trap.  But worse players who are more likely to top it or hit low screamers could benefit from this.  Of course, good players can benefit if they deliberately hit a low shot, either due to other reasons or because they have to (tree limb or whatever) and are trying to run through the bunker.  If you pull off a shot like that, you deserve to reap the benefits.

Anyway, traps 20-30 yards short of the green don't test good players at all, unless it is a par 5 or there's deep rough lining the fairway.  Such traps are a good way to pump up the slope, since they won't affect the course (scratch) rating.