Fill in the bunkers!

[Dan Herrmann]

Forget all the controversy.  Let's get to what really should be done - fill in about 750 of those bunkers at WS.  You'd never miss them, maintenance costs would decrease, and the course would be ready for the next major in '15.

What think you?

[Brad Klein]

Dan, the problem is precisely that maintenance costs would NOT change!

[Dan Herrmann]

Brad,
Are those superfluous bunkers kept "wild"?

[MikeJones]

Why are some people on this DG so dead set against anything different and why are people so concerned about the maintenence costs? If they can afford it, is it a problem?

[Mike H]

If I remember right I believe the commentators said that most of the bunkers do not have rakes and are not maintained. 

[Greg Chambers]

Of course they're maintained, otherwise they'd be full of weeds.

[Gary Slatter]

Fill in 1000 of them!

Brad: maintenance costs!   the expense is not the issue, rulings are.   

[Jason Connor]

Of course they're maintained, otherwise they'd be full of weeds.

Bingo.

[Anthony_Nysse]

If I remember right I believe the commentators said that most of the bunkers do not have rakes and are not maintained. 

An interview was done with Golf Course Superintendent, Chris Zugel, and he sated that each and that "in play" bunkers are prepared every morning and though out of play are raked and weeded at least once a week.
  That being the case, if those bunker were seeded and left to be natural, of course, maintenance costs would go done considerably

[Niall C]

Maybe, just maybe, the bunkers have a practical use, one that the GCA thought about at the time, and that is that given the steep elevational changes when going off fairway, he thought it would be easier to find the ball, and that this might speed up play plus give the players some interesting recovery situations. Just a thought.

Niall

[Mark Smolens]

Niall, most of those bunkers are so very far out of play that I find it hard to believe that Mr. Dye's thoughts involved them making it easier to find balls. Dustin Johnson's drive was at least 40 yards up that hill on the right. I've played the Straits with some bad golfers, but even from the non-back tees (which are well to the right/south of the tees they used in the tournament) I've never seen anyone hit it that far off line to that area. . .

[PCCraig]

Sure most of the bunkers are "out of play" for 99% of us. But the course would look just plan stupid with only a few bunkers. The man-made "dunes" are really a job well done considering it's in the middle of Wisconsin.

Just because one player grounds his club in a bunker which is a 100yards offline doesn't mean all the bunkers should be filled in.

Does anyone here really think Herb Kohler cares about his maintenence costs? He has a course packed with people paying $300+ and his course has two majors and two on the way. Why would he care?