"Bunker Guy"

[Bob Jenkins]

At my home course in Vancouver, we have been advised of the hiring of a new employee on the greens crew whose job is strictly that of setting the pins each morning and "monitoring the bunkers for playability".

Our monthly newsletter says in part :

"Our goal with having [Bunker Guy] is to increase the playability of our bunkers and to have consistency within a bunker. Do not mistake this for consistency throughout the golf course; that is a virtual impossibiliy and the desire of members round North America to have that at their golf course is known as the "Augusta Syndrome". The USGA itself, in an attempt to discourage that attitude, specifically tries to have the bunkers in the US Open play differently from one hole to the next (even bunkers on the same hole)".

I had always been of the impression that consistency is a goal for all bunkers on any given course.

Is this in fact the position of the USGA? I would have thought the opposite.

Bob Jenkins

[Jeff_Mingay]

Bob,

This is the position of the USGA. In fact, here's an excellent article from the March/April 2009 Green Section Record:
http://www.usga.org/turf/green_section_record/2009/mar_apr/bunker_consistency.pdf

I submitted a very similar article to be published ClubLink's member magazine, here in Ontario, just last week.

[TEPaul]

JeffM:

Thanks for linking that USGA article on bunker maintenance. I printed it out and I'm going to take it to our Green Committee meeting on Wednesday. That is another example of how the USGA should not be so automatically blamed for some things as much as they sometimes are on here. If one took the time to read many of the articles from the USGA and their Green Section they would likely get a fairly different impression on where the USGA is coming from on a number of issues to do with architecture and maintenance.

[JMEvensky]

JeffM:

Thanks for linking that USGA article on bunker maintenance. I printed it out and I'm going to take it to our Green Committee meeting on Wednesday. That is another example of how the USGA should not be so automatically blamed for some things as much as they sometimes are on here. If one took the time to read many of the articles from the USGA and their Green Section they would likely get a fairly different impression on where the USGA is coming from on a number of issues to do with architecture and maintenance.

I did the same.

However,if your members are like mine,they don't care.If a bunker is less than immaculately raked,they start bitching-even when they're told the ongoing cost.Surprisingly,when they're told that : A) bunkers are hazards,and B) for 99% of them,bunkers are virtual "unplayable lies" irrespective of maintenance,it just pisses them off more.