[mike_malone]

 The strategy and tactics that this feature provide to the playing of a hole has always intrigued me. When was this started or did it evolve naturally?

[Pete Lavallee]

I would strongly suspect that before golf courses were irrigated it provided a chance for a lesser player to land the ball just past the bunker and still keep it on the green; especially if the player was approaching with a longer club.

[Mike Cirba]

Mike,

I think they had two specific purposes.

1) In the time when golf was still a largely non-irrigated ground game, landing the ball short and letting it run on was almost required on some courses, so the carry of these bunkers served much the same purpose as today's aerial game.

2) Visual deception, although I'm more dubious about this one.   I think some architects might have done this purposefully, but my gut tells me that our modern interpretation is generally incorrect and that most were simply trying to achieve purpose #1.

[John Chilver-Stainer]

Could it be that, as well as the above mentioned reasons, the excavation from these bunkers were used as "borrow" earth material for the moulding of the greens complexes?

[RJ_Daley]

John C-S, I think you are on to one of the reasons, along with the presents of seemingly too close for real strategy 'top shot bunkers' off of many tees on old courses.  Many of them both in green approaches and near tees have been filled in.  I think that those near the greens with room between them and the green for the running your bounding in shot, turned out to be a pleasant consequence and conscious placement in the old, firm and fast approach days, where they knew they couldn't just dig them out right infront of the green and that there needed to be some bound-in room, thus they are usually 20-50 yards infront. 

[mike_malone]

 I'm sorry to be unclear but I mean bunkers that are parallel to the line of play, start 5 to 20 or so yards before the green and hug the side of the green but not have a forced carry.

[RJ_Daley]

I can't think of a specific example, Mike, but could some of these be from old courses that were lengthened?  Could some of those you describe be where a green used to exist, but the green was set back further, and the space in between, left for a FW approach?  Maybe something like the old MacKenzie greenside B at 10, ANGC, where the green was set back, but the old green side bunker was so cool, they couldn't just fill it it.

[mike_malone]

  I'm confusing everyone here, even myself. Practically every hole has this type of bunker. It isn't a rarity. The greenside bunker starts well before the front of the green and extends right along the side of the green. I do find these to be visual hazards because from a distance one can believe the bunker starts at the green not yards before it. It is a simple idea but adds so much to the challenge of the game. A short mishit is left with a long bunker shot.

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