"Bunkers are like water hazards in links golf"

[Phil Benedict]

This is a quote from Padraig Harrington but it echoes the sentiments of most pros.  Tiger Wood's main strategy in playing a links course is to avoid the fairway bunkers at all costs, saying he has never hit a green from a fairway bunker on a links course.

Why has the spirit of links course bunkering mostly disappeared in the States, other than at a few special places like Oakmont? 

[Rich Goodale]

This is a quote from Padraig Harrington but it echoes the sentiments of most pros.  Tiger Wood's main strategy in playing a links course is to avoid the fairway bunkers at all costs, saying he has never hit a green from a fairway bunker on a links course.

Why has the spirit of links course bunkering mostly disappeared in the States, other than at a few special places like Oakmont? 

Why?

IMO, the average golfer (HCP 15-20) can't get out of a pot bunker, on average, unless he or she plays out sidieways, and nobody likes to do that.  On the other hand, the elite golfer knows the problem of pot bunkers and strategises to avoid them.  So....it is a boring exercise for the good player and a frustrating one for the average one, so modern archies avoid them like the plague

Rich

PS--one of the reasons that most of us on gca.com love pots is that we are in that limbohood from 5-15 hcp which makes us think we can play but subconsciously know that we can't.  So when we get into a pot it is like one of John Calvin's wet dreams--"I'm predestined to be here, but if I have enough faith I can get out!"

rfg

[Melvyn Morrow]

I do not disagree with Rich but perhaps would put it that the modern Architects design for the current players instead of designing a good all-purpose course that will stand upon it own merits.

It that old story of making everything easy, not wanting to cause the golfers any real challenge but allow him to think that he is beating the architecture each time. I feel in many cases that the average golfer is beating the design.

Pot bunkers and fairway bunkers should be real traps hazards, throwing down the challenge to the golfer. There is nothing wrong in retreating prior to continuing the attack, but this is not part of the modern mind set. Strategy or his inability to understand it, is I believe regrettably missing in the modern golfer. It’s that easy thing again. Just recently, I was told golf was easy, I expect if it was made hard or a real challenge some would throw their teddy bears out of their prams and run away to Mom complaining that some nasty man (sorry Tom) was ruining the game. Yet the problem if really to be told is the lack of actually teaching the modern golfer the game of golf. I do not mean the Rules or how to hit a ball but that understanding of what the game is about. The real inner quality of the game and the ability to see the game for what it is to each golfer. It’s not all about winning, but how the golfer has played that is important to the majority of golfers.

Having achieved an understanding regards the game, what do we get, bloody water hazards, Greens surrounded in water, just what the hell is good in a course with water hazards. They are no good to man or beast and quite frankly can kill the thrill of a game of golf stone dead. I am sorry to say this but my feeling is that courses with island Greens show a total lack of imagination of design. There is no alternative approach shot, no navigating the hole, no choice, so what is the test the challenge and ultimately the fun. The hole is lost before starting and perhaps the course is condemned by many golfers just for the reason it has an island green.

Fairways should have double penal traps for long hitter and the average golfer with opportunity to seek alternative ways to the pin. Challenge the golfer and make the game fun and interesting. Greens on islands should just be photographed for the front of a box of Chocolates IMHO. It’s not as if we do not have competent designers out there. Nevertheless, the answer still down to the induction of a new golfer – he should be advised that golfing is a challenging and fun, not easy and boring. 

Give me bunkers but deep bunkers, not shallow and a good fairway defence system against the long hitters, perhaps  two tiers of defence prior to hitting the ring of hazards around the Green, but keep the water and Green Island out of golf.

Melvyn

[Tim Pitner]

Rich,

I largely agree with your analysis, but I don't agree that avoiding fairway bunkers on a links course is a "boring exercise for the good player."  Unless one is prepared to do what Tiger did at Hoylake and play well short of the bunkers to take them completely out of play (which was only a viable strategy because of the extremely firm and fast conditions--he won't be doing that at Turnberry), the pros often challenge the fairway bunkers.  Norman on the last playoff hole at Troon and Harrington on the 72nd hole at Muirfield are examples where they risked going in the bunkers for the perceived reward . . . and lost. 

[Jim Carrigan]

This is a quote from Padraig Harrington but it echoes the sentiments of most pros.  Tiger Wood's main strategy in playing a links course is to avoid the fairway bunkers at all costs, saying he has never hit a green from a fairway bunker on a links course.

Why has the spirit of links course bunkering mostly disappeared in the States, other than at a few special places like Oakmont? 

Why?

IMO, the average golfer (HCP 15-20) can't get out of a pot bunker, on average, unless he or she plays out sidieways, and nobody likes to do that.  On the other hand, the elite golfer knows the problem of pot bunkers and strategises to avoid them.  So....it is a boring exercise for the good player and a frustrating one for the average one, so modern archies avoid them like the plague
...

rfg

Rich, interesting point.  I haven't played any real links golf yet, but I've played quite a few rounds at CommonGround, which employs a decent amount of fairway bunkering as one of its main defenses.  A number of those rounds have been with my wife who is a 31 hcp and is on the verge of breaking 100 for the first time.  I'm a 12, and I can generally strategize to avoid most of the fairway bunkers.  They aren't pot bunkers, but a number of them offer a 12 hcp an opportunity to get out safely with a well struck shot (3, 7, 10, 18).  A number of them are basically a 1 shot penalty, even for the 12 handicapper (5, 8, 9, 11, 15).  When my wife gets in any of these bunkers it is at least a 1 shot penalty for her.  She is happy just to get it out and back on the short grass. 

Phil, I think the spirit is alive and well at CommonGround, although it should probably be included in your exception of a handful of special places.

[JohnV]

IMO, the average golfer (HCP 15-20) can't get out of a pot bunker, on average, unless he or she plays out sidieways, and nobody likes to do that.  On the other hand, the elite golfer knows the problem of pot bunkers and strategises to avoid them.  So....it is a boring exercise for the good player and a frustrating one for the average one, so modern archies avoid them like the plague

Can't the same thing be said of water hazards?  Any player just has to drop out of them and most people like to do that less.  Given that, why are there so damn many man-made water hazards on American courses rather than fairway bunkers?

[JESII]

The medal play mindset is to blame as well...

[Phil Benedict]

IMO, the average golfer (HCP 15-20) can't get out of a pot bunker, on average, unless he or she plays out sidieways, and nobody likes to do that.  On the other hand, the elite golfer knows the problem of pot bunkers and strategises to avoid them.  So....it is a boring exercise for the good player and a frustrating one for the average one, so modern archies avoid them like the plague

Can't the same thing be said of water hazards?  Any player just has to drop out of them and most people like to do that less.  Given that, why are there so damn many man-made water hazards on American courses rather than fairway bunkers?

John,

I had the same thought.  You only lose a stroke in a penal bunker whereas you lose a stroke and a ball in water, yet American courses have a love affair with water hazards.

[Mike Hendren]

Bear in mind that Padraig does not have to purchase his golf balls.

Bogey

[Brent Hutto]

It's common to see a one-paragraph capsule summary of some golf course or another with a line like "water comes into play on 11 holes". And as any good American knows, once you put a number on something...a bigger number is better. It's the "goes to 11" syndrome.

[Peter Pallotta]

Phil - I have a little counter theory, i.e. that water is a more equitable hazard than sand. A water hazard doesn't discriminate; it penalizes the good player and the poor player in exactly the same way -- with a one shot penalty. A bunker, on the other hand, is duplicitous and mean-spirited; it appears to be more forgiving than water, but it is that only in theory, not in practice. If a good player and a poor player find themselves in the same bunker (fairway or greenside), the poor player will almost always pay a greater penalty (in strokes lost) than the good player. It is only at the hghest level (at Padraig's level) where that equation changes.    

Peter

[JC Jones]

It's common to see a one-paragraph capsule summary of some golf course or another with a line like "water comes into play on 11 holes". And as any good American knows, once you put a number on something...a bigger number is better. It's the "goes to 11" syndrome.

Well, it is one more higher.

[JMEvensky]

Phil - I have a little counter theory, i.e. that water is a more equitable hazard than sand. A water hazard doesn't discriminate; it penalizes the good player and the poor player in exactly the same way -- with a one shot penalty. A bunker, on the other hand, is duplicitous and mean-spirited; it appears to be more forgiving than water, but it is that only in theory, not in practice. If a good player and a poor player find themselves in the same bunker (fairway or greenside), the poor player will almost always pay a greater penalty (in strokes lost) than the good player. It is only at the hghest level (at Padraig's level) where that equation changes.    

Peter

I think you're right.For a lot of players,the only difference between a bunker and a water hazard is the loss of a golf ball.And most of those guys carry a ball retriever as their 15th club.

[RSLivingston_III]

I think the higher handicaps need to get off there butts and go practice fairway bunker shots. Every decent range I have been to has a practice bunker and...they look like they have never been used. Big surprise huh?
This whining is also why most all classic courses lost there fairway bunkers or they got turned into a flat pans not any deeper than a few inches.

[Paul_Turner]

Pot bunkers have become caricatures of themselves on the British Open rota...so deep and vertical.  

It would have been far better to keep them shallower and not rake the bastards!

[Michael Dugger]

It's a terrible analogy.

Must we quote Bobby Jones here, airplane crashes and what not?

I really dislike hearing pros make it sound like they are entitled to hit the green from a fairway bunker.  It's totally bogus.

With a deep and angry pot bunker you might not necessarily be able to hit the green every time, but in some instances you will.

And that's called golf...

[Melvyn Morrow]

Paul

Sorry, I do not agree. Pot Bunkers are one of the few left that work as a hazard. For some reason we have dulled all hazards, to I presume make life easy for the modern golfer.  Pot bunkers need to be hazards, in fact, all hazards are there to test and catch out the golfer. Make them shallow and there is a chance your ball may travel through the bunker, what sort of a trap is that.

We, I feel need to remember that a course has hazards to catch, teach and promote the game of golf including the individuals skill. You learn by your mistakes, those who pay attention, learn quickly. I can’t speak for you but how many times in the past has that voice said to you ‘go on you can do it’ pushing you to take the chance, to push yourself, to grab that opportunity because you feel you can rise to the occasion. Fail and you know all about the bunkers, walls, etc. that are just waiting to take you down a peg or two. That for me is the thrill of the game, not the guarantee that the course is easy, that I have got a free get out of the Bunker Card.  As I said previously, side or rear retreat from a bunker shows that you have learnt your lesson well, trying to recover ASAP and get on with the game. It seems that this is not how many play the game these days. It must be easy, with minimal hazards and as far as bunkers are concerned, the attitude appears to come through that they are a throw back to the Victorian age. Therefore, they should be watered down by making them either shallow or let us put a bloody lake around the green. Well, it may make the course look pretty but does it really add to the pleasure of a round?

Hazards are there to catch All golfers, not just the high scoring. This is were we see the quality of the Architect in trapping the quality player, however I feel that this is no longer the brief many clients want to give their architects. They want it to look easy, however it should only look easy because of the real skill of the golfers and not because the course has no teeth - IMHO.

Bunkers, traps and hazards should hurt the golfer’s progress and force him into thinking his game, hence why walking is such a critical part of the game.

Melvyn       

[Garland Bayley]

I think the higher handicaps need to get off there butts and go practice fairway bunker shots. Every decent range I have been to has a practice bunker and...they look like they have never been used. Big surprise huh?
This whining is also why most all classic courses lost there fairway bunkers or they got turned into a flat pans not any deeper than a few inches.

Are you kidding me?! It's all those whining low handicappers that can't get their birdies from a bunker that are too blame. Dr. MacKenzie told us that long ago. Go educate yourself!


See, we high handicappers are just as good at mindless stereotyping as low handicappers when we want to be.

[David_Tepper]

When were pot/stacked-sod wall bunkers introduced? When did they become common place on links courses? 

[Melvyn Morrow]

David

As mentioned previously sod bunkers are not new. There is a photo of Hell Bunker St Andrews with sods face holding up one wall dating from 1896.

Melvyn

[Sean_A]

Pietro is right, pot bunkers are unequal in the torture they dish out.  I say so what?  Every feature is unequal if we look at it from the PoV of the players' skill.  I don't mind pots if they are limited in their use.  I am not keen on having 75, 100 or 150 of the little bastards spread about the place like on championship courses, but a more reasonable number is alright.  The issue isn't their severity, its their severity in combination with their number and how they are placed.

Ciao

[Shawn Arlia]

The strategy of pot bunkers is superior than that of water hazards. Especially when the line of charm is protected by them. Thats the beauty of them. You have to think your way around the golf course. and if you want birdie, then you might have to flirt the dreaded things. maybe the correct play on a golf hole is not driver-short iron. Maybe you have to hit less club from the tee to avoid the hazard, and give yourself a mid or long iron approach.

[Paul_Turner]

I prefer this kind of "penal"  bunker.



The GB&I links basically had two ways of keeping bunkers difficult.

1)  Keep the lies perfect and make them ever deeper to maintain the difficulty... until they bear little resemblance to natural bunkers and become ugly, circular little pots with not much variety in recovery shot.

2) Keep the insides and the surrounds rugged, add some random chance/luck to the game and a whole slew of recovery shots depending on the lie.  Play a real golf shot!

[Mike_Clayton]

The Welsh Senior Open a few weeks ago was played at Royal Porthcawl.
I quickly came to the realisation that if you were in a bunker it was a bonus if three things happened.
1 - you had a swing.
2 you could get out
3 you could play at the hole - or down the fairway from a fairway bunker.
That happened about half the time.
It really reduced my level of sympathy for those who complain if bunker sand is inconsistent or they have a downhill lie (one of the most common complaints we hear) to almost zero - because in comparison bunkers here in Australia are not so difficult to get on the green or a decent distance down the fairway.

[Garland Bayley]

I prefer this kind of "penal"  bunker.



The GB&I links basically had two ways of keeping bunkers difficult.

1)  Keep the lies perfect and make them ever deeper to maintain the difficulty... until they bear little resemblance to natural bunkers and become ugly, circular little pots with not much variety in recovery shot.

2) Keep the insides and the surrounds rugged, add some random chance/luck to the game and a whole slew of recovery shots depending on the lie.  Play a real golf shot!

Newquay0001 by Garland Bayley, on Flickr