"Good" (?) blind bunkers!?

[TEPaul]

As a spin-off from the "Most Unusual Looking First Three Holes" thread, it should be mentioned that the first three holes of NGLA have a number of totally blind bunkers that can really get your attention the first time you get in one of them.

The nest of bunkers at the inside of the dogleg (which itself is blind) on NGLA's 1st hole certainly get the attention of a player who is trying to play conservative on the tee shot. The opening hole turns a lot more sharply at the base of the hill than most anyone is aware of when you play the course the first few times. Obviously, the reason is you can see any part of that "turn" from the tee.

I've always played the tee shot on #1 with an iron, never a driver, and a number of times those tee shot irons looked really good in the air and on a great line. When I got down there too many times I found my tee shot in one of those totally blind bunkers on the inside of the dogleg at the base of the hill.

After that I always tried to hit those tee shot irons way out to the right with a draw (it seems like I was aiming in the direction of the second green). When I did that correctly I'd always find my ball in the middle of the fairway in the ideal position. Nevertheless that line and tee shot with an iron is so deceptive vis-a-vis the proper direction. It always seemed to me when I hit those tee shot irons in the middle of the fairway that the ball should be way out to the right in the rough when I got down there.

Those bunkers on the left are totally blind but I think they're great. Would today's golfers completely object if a modern architect did that?

And then there was the old blind bunker way over the hill on the right on #2.

The most extraordinary and effective blind bunker on those first three holes, though, has to be the one not that far from the front of the 3rd green over the "Alps" hill.

It seems to have become taboo to use totally blind bunkers shortly after the creation of NGLA.

Merion and its philosophy on bunkering may've been one of the reasons for that. The likes of Wilson and Flynn proclaimed, even in writing, that bunkers should not be blind.

Nevertheless, those blind bunkers on the first three holes of NGLA remain some of the most effective psychological hazards I'm aware of.

[Ally Mcintosh]

i played portmarnock links the other week (a 1995 bernhard langer / EGD creation, not the old course - still pretty good though)...

on the 12th hole, i hit a perfect tee shot about 290 yards down the very middle of a narrowish fairway... at the very last moment, i lost sight of the ball... being a links course with gentle undulations, i didn't find this unusual in the slightest...

...when i was about 250 yards down the fairway, i still couldn't see my ball... then 20 yards further on, this bunker just appeared in the dead centre... it was back to front... the ground just fell away and the lip was facing back to the tee... the far side of the bunker was relatively flat... my ball was in it... it was so blind, i almost fell in to it...

i think it was a new addition but may be wrong...

...i'm not sure this is relevant but i can tell you this... it was severely annoying...

[TEPaul]

Ally:

Are you a woman? It sounds like it with that first name of yours.

If so, you have no damn business hitting a tee shot 290 yards!!!

Who in the Holy Hell do you think you are---some 20 year old mad-man bomber?? Back off, gal, you got 14 clubs in your bag, you know?!  

[Ally Mcintosh]

Ally:

Are you a woman? It sounds like it with that first name of yours.

If so, you have no damn business hitting a tee shot 290 yards!!!

Who in the Holy Hell do you think you are---some 20 year old mad-man bomber?? Back off, gal, you got 14 clubs in your bag, you know?!  

i'll be sure to not use the 5-iron off the tee next time, anyway...

...i am not a woman... i have received communication addressed to ally mcbeal on not one but two different occasions however...

i'm sorry if i hijacked the thread for my own mundane account but it was to make the point that i didn't see the point in this particular blind bunker in the slightest (especially if it was added in as a design change at a later date)... i can't unfortunately comment on NGLA...

[TEPaul]

"...i am not a woman... i have received communication addressed to ally mcbeal on not one but two different occasions however..."

Ally;

You're not?

Well, damn it to Hell. I thought you were one of the few great contributors on here who was a woman. I've thought that for a while.

Is there any chance you could turn into a woman or at least post like you're a woman?

GOLFCLUBATLAS.com needs you to be a woman.

Perhaps I shouldn't couch this in the form of a question. Perhaps it should be more like----look, pal, if you aren't willing to turn into a woman or at least post like one you will heretofore be suspended from GOLFCLUBATLAS.com.

And if you report hitting any more 290 yard drives you will be thrown off this website permanently!

[Patrick_Mucci]

TEPaul,

The reason that I like Blind Bunkers is that they don't disrupt the continuity of the land.

In retrospect, but, with a spoty memory, I can't think of a blind bunker that I didn't like.

[TEPaul]

" I also like blind bunkers because they niggle at a player on the tee and if one does find a blind bunker they are nearly always going to complain."

Sean:

Cool term and good observation.

Personally, I think the greatest architects were also by far the best nigglers.

Woofff---you want to be extra careful not to elide a certain letter and typo that word in this day and age, don't you?

[Kalen Braley]

As a follow up Sean, if you work in the accounting business, be careful of using the word Niggardly....it already got one prominent gov't official canned...  

[Mike_Cirba]

Kelly Blake Moran is probably the only modern architect who I've seen dare to create blind bunkers from the tee.   I'm not including blind bunkers behind greens, because there are plenty of those, but that's sort of wimping out.

[SPDB]

Disclaimer: I have never seen this bunker in person.

This looks to be one of the sneakiest little blind bunkers that I've never seen. And it's a hungry/feeding bunker to boot.

European Club, #3 (Photo credit: Aidan Bradley  www.golfcoursephotography.com)



From left of the fairway, you can barely make out the bunker
 

[Adam Clayman]

I'm not sure how I feel about BB's.

I know i'm not a fan of Blind water hazards, so, I suspect I don't mind a BB as much as a BWH.

I like it when there's some sort of a clue that danger exists. Or, the reverse bunker on the 13th at Ballyneal. It's like an iceberg, about ten percent is visible, while the remainder is hidden from view as the lands drops off into one of those pesky repetitive swales.

I'll tell you what Tom Paul, I'll get you out at BN, if you'll do the same for me at National.

[Andrew Summerell]

The only time a blind bunker annoys me is when there was no other playing option given. Most I’ve seen in my travels have allowed me to play short, or to the other side of the fairway, or the other side of the green, etc.

Of course, any blind bunker can cause trouble first time around.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

Kelly Blake Moran is probably the only modern architect who I've seen dare to create blind bunkers from the tee.   I'm not including blind bunkers behind greens, because there are plenty of those, but that's sort of wimping out.

Kelly has two at Lederach which work very well with the play of the hole.  The first, on the second hole, is on the left side of the fairway and invisible even to the first time player.  As the best approach is from the right side of the fairway, it serves to collect pulled tee shots.  Players may or may not be able to reach the green from here, if they find themselves in it.  It is possible to get around the green in 2 and then up and down for par.  

The third hole features an entirely blind bunker from any point in the third fairway--it is hidden on the far side of a rise in the fairway.   Note, however, that, much in the manner of Garden City, it is visible when the player is on the second tee--a taste of things to come. It serves to confound the layup second shot, as the bunker is situated between 70 and 50 yards from the green.  The player is thus given a choice to lay back of it, have a go over it and try for an up and down from below the putting surface, or just go for the green straightaway.  It is possible to hit a long bunker shot out of it, or a running shot, to advance the ball up onto the green in three and have a putt at birdie.  What further presses the issue is that the area to lay up laterally with it is very tight indeed--wetlands right--and the fairway falls off into patchy rough left.  It's a good hole.  

[Mike_Cirba]

Doug,

There is also a really good one on 17 at Morgan Hill.

All,

Slightly unrelated, I've seen where the Gary Player design group developed some really well-protected chipping areas at Jasna Polana.   You have to aggressively take on some white-sand bunkers to reach them, but oh...the reward!!!  

[Richard_Cutler]

Blind bunkers seem to get a bad press and most GCA's don't seem to like them. I have lots of memories of earth moving and shaping just to so we can see the top 10-12 inches of a revetted face from the tee. If strategy calls for a bunker and the landform tells us it should be blind then blind it should be. Many of the best bunkers on the east coast scottish links are blind so why do so many shy away from them? Course guides can keep the uninitiated up to speed.

[Brad Swanson]

I believe there is a blind bunker off the tee on #17 at Wild Horse.

Cheers,
Brad

[Willie_Dow]

Tom - Blind bunkers seem to be like blind holes, which were discussed on a previous thread.

My question is based on my lack of knowing the current tally of points for rating courses, not having done ratings since they were instituted.

How are these obstacles considered for course ratings ?

[Ally Mcintosh]

you all seem to like them.... does anyone at all see the ridiculousness in the blind bunker i stated at the top of the page or do you just think that i'll know better the second time i play?... also consider the fact that the bunker was flat facing the front thus not really creating too much of a hazard...

why should we rely on course guides when we hit a ball down the middle of the fairway?...

...am i missing the point?... and no, i don't expect or wish golf to be "fair"...

thank you

[Scott_Burroughs]

I'm not including blind bunkers behind greens, because there
are plenty of those, but that's sort of wimping out.

Ever see a course that had blind bunkers behind all 18
greens?      That would be overkill, wouldn't it?  

Kelly has two at Lederach which work very well with the play
of the hole.  The first, on the second hole, is on the left side
of the fairway and invisible even to the first time player.

This one?  Is that the bunker you mentioned that can barely
be seen in the middle?  If so, it's slightly visible.  Or is that
one greenside?  (Hmmm....who was hitting first here, having
just birdied the previous hole?   ):
 

The third hole features an entirely blind bunker from any point
in the third fairway--it is hidden on the far side of a rise in
the fairway.   Note, however, that, much in the manner of
Garden City, it is visible when the player is on the second tee-
-a taste of things to come. It serves to confound the layup
second shot, as the bunker is situated between 70 and 50
yards from the green.  

Here's that blind bunker on #3 from behind the green:

[Craig Disher]

Scott,
At least after the first couple holes you should know what to expect - if you're paying attention. Those back bunkers seldom pose a problem for short hitters.  


A distinction can be made between blind bunkers that must be carried and those - usually around greens - that are placed where an approach can run into them. I think the former are more unpopular than the latter - for "fairness" reasons ("It's all out in front of you..." etc).  RTJ Jr. built some on his course at Turning Stone and they create a further challenge since the carry is played into the prevailing wind.



The 5 bunkers nearest the tee are on a slope running away from the tee and are blind. The rest are visible. Playing the right side gives a significant reward but with a significant risk, particularly in a stiff or gusting wind. I have a photo from the tee somewhere around here - if I find it, I'll post it. FWIW, I think it's a terrific hole.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

I'm not including blind bunkers behind greens, because there
are plenty of those, but that's sort of wimping out.

Ever see a course that had blind bunkers behind all 18
greens?      That would be overkill, wouldn't it?  

Kelly has two at Lederach which work very well with the play
of the hole.  The first, on the second hole, is on the left side
of the fairway and invisible even to the first time player.

This one?  Is that the bunker you mentioned that can barely
be seen in the middle?  If so, it's slightly visible.  Or is that
one greenside?  (Hmmm....who was hitting first here, having
just birdied the previous hole?   ):
 

The third hole features an entirely blind bunker from any point
in the third fairway--it is hidden on the far side of a rise in
the fairway.   Note, however, that, much in the manner of
Garden City, it is visible when the player is on the second tee-
-a taste of things to come. It serves to confound the layup
second shot, as the bunker is situated between 70 and 50
yards from the green.  

Here's that blind bunker on #3 from behind the green:

Good pictures Scott!  That was a good day--good football game that day, too  Good outcome
The bunker is the one on the left, it's hidden even in the photos, that even us tall guys can't see; it's kind of on the line between the parked carts and the men on the green in the first photo.

I think I know who hit first there...  We would have had a hell of a round as a Best Ball--wouldn't it have been 3 or 4 under for the day?  I birdied 1,5,8; I think you birdied 3,9 and 1 or 2 other holes, right?  

Thanks for the pictures!