Hey guys any Willie Park Jr historians out there. We are doing some tinkering with the bunkers at our club , Greate Bay in Somers point NJ
The golf course was originallly laid out by Willie Park Jr in 1923 and completed around 1925 for play Lots of the old Park features remain yet George Fazio did a fairly extensive renovation in the 70's adding more than 50 bunkers to the property. In all most of George's redo was IMHO quite good.
There are some bunkers I'm in favor of removing, but we are particularly aware of the need to redo the green complex on hole #4, specifically the left greenside bunkers. The small walkup between the two traps is constantly under stress , as most of the traffic enters the green thru a four yard wide alley between the flanking bunkers. A simple solution seems to be to conect the bunkers and divert traffic to front and back of the green , spreading out the wear. There is not 100% agreement from our committee on this, as
theire is division in our ranks whether to have the 1927/ 1940 or 1975 incarnation set the standard for architectural decisions and changes..
My feeling is that conditioning issues are paramount , and if an archtiectu feature precludes maintaining excellent conditions the feaure be damned. What say you to this