Best Holes With One Bunker or Less

[JNC Lyon]

I thought of this topic while playing Ironwood with Kevin Lynch the other day.  This Scott Witter (former GCAer) design is very minimalist, and a few holes struck me as very cool.  My favorite was the short par four 6th.  Here, Witter gives the golfer maybe 80 yards of fairway and short rough that is very playable.  However, he tucked green back to the right and defended it with just one front-left bunker.  Thus, the golfer has 80 yards of room, but only 20 or so provides a decent angle to the green.  He accomplishes timeless strategy with width and one bunker.

That got me thinking about Sean Arble's repeated calls for limited, disciplined bunkering, and I thought about holes that use one bunker, or no bunkers, to great advantage.  Though Ironwood's sixth did not make the list (my beloved 6th at Deal made it instead), I complied my eclectic list of greatest holes with one bunker or less:

1. Brora, Par 4, 300 Yards (How about a drivable bunkerless four to open?  A sign this course is different)
2. Irondequoit, Par 3, 170 Yards (Great uphill tree on a quirky Ross course in Rochester)
3. Woking, Par 4, 420 yards (The central greenside bunker and the tiered green make for great interest)
4. Huntercombe, Par 4, 330 Yards (One of my favorite short fours)
5. Inniscrone, Par 3, 110 Yards (Controversial, but how hard can it be at 110 yards?)
6. Deal, Par 4, 320 Yards (My favorite short four in the world)
7. Burnham and Berrow, Par 4, 440 Yards (Sean A is a big fan, and the hole relies mainly on a canny spine for defense)
8. Inniscrone, Par 3, 230 Yards (A Bunkerless Redan!)
9. Addington, Par 4, 370 Yards (Uses the canyons to great effect, and the one saving bunker isn't really necessary)

10. Morgan Hill, Par 4, 370 Yards (Loved this double fairway and the hidden green)
11. Oak Hollow, Par 4, 430 Yards (Early Pete Dye)
12. Addington, Par 5, 470 Yards (Man vs. Nature)
13. North Berwick, Par 4, 370 Yards (THE PIT!)
14. Royal Dornoch, Par 4, 440 Yards (Foxy, and I still couldn't believe the green when I saw it)
15. Lederach, Par 4, 460 Yards (One bunker, but oh, what a bunker it is)
16. Addington, Par 5, 510 Yards (Roller coaster to the max, and pretty much shows everything Addington is about)
17. Prestwick, Par 4, 410 Yards (Only bunker is the Alps bunker)
18. North Berwick, Par 4, 270 yards (The ground and the car park are hazards here)

Most of these holes seem to be from only a very few courses, and most are from courses in the British Isles.  Concidence? I think not.

Let's see some eclectic 18s or just a few holes.  Also, maybe figure out what makes these holes so appealing.

[Mark Pearce]

4 at Deal and 13 at Silloth both belong in this list.

[Jamie Van Gisbergen]

Can I request some confirmation on what constitutes a bunker? Because there are a good number of holes at Tobacco Road that I would say have no bunkers, but they have sandy areas down both sides and strewn all about the hole. I don't consider them to be bunkers, however, and neither does the club nor the CGA as they allow players to ground the club in the sand. So, just some confirmation, please.

[JNC Lyon]

Jamie,

Use your discretion.  Name some holes, and everyone can argue about whether they qualify as "one bunker or less" holes. 

[Alex Miller]

18 TOC is a damned good one too. Does 17 only have the one?

[Jordan Wall]

Augusta 11
Cypress 9

[Matthew Mollica]

TOC 17 & ANGC 14 were the first two to pop into my mind.

5 at Lost Farm has none!

MM

[Bill_McBride]

18 TOC is a damned good one too. Does 17 only have the one?

Not if you include the Cheape's, Scholars and Progressing bunkers!



I have been in the Scholars bunker (after bailing out left into the rough with my first tee shot ever on TOC #17   ) and there is no play then but right side trying for an up and down bogey......

[Neil_Crafter]

Royal Adelaide #3
No bunkers at all and one of the best short par 4s in Australia.

[David_Elvins]

Matthew is right about 5 at lost farm, an amazing hole. 

4 at woodlands is a great hole. And as Neil pointed out, 3 at royal Adelaide isn't too shabby either. 

[Mark Pearce]

In fact, 1, 3 , 4, 7, 12, 13 and 17 at Silloth all have one or none and are amongst the best holes on a great course.

[Mark Chaplin]

5 & 16 at Paraparaumu Beach.

5 at Royal Ashdown

17 Old Walton Heath (was!)

12 Swinley Forest

[JNC Lyon]

5 & 16 at Paraparaumu Beach.

5 at Royal Ashdown

17 Old Walton Heath (was!)

12 Swinley Forest

12 at Swinley is an awesome par four, with a brilliant bunkerless greensite.  However, it actually has four bunkers.  It's a good example of a hole that should qualify for the list but has a couple of a throwaway bunkers that keep it out.  One of my tasks here was to identify holes that use discipline, don't overbunker, and remain great holes.

[Scott Coan]

You either have a bunker of you don't - a bit like the half-pregnant scenario...
I think a better dividing line would simply be bunkerless, but it's your thread
so I digress

5, 13, 16 at Paraparaumu Beach would have to be on every eclectic 18 of absolutely
pure bunkerless golf holes.

5 & 16 are short to mid-iron 3-pars that provide ample opportunity for birdies
but if you miss your target then you'd better think long and hard about how badly
you want to make par.  Oftentimes the better part of valour calls for just getting
your recovery shot anywhere on the green and escaping with bogey.  Frank Nobilo
was leading the NZ Open one year and took a quad on 5 instead of taking his
medicine.

The 13th would have to rank right up with the world's very best bunkerless par 4's.
At times brutishly long but with the right wind and a strong drive over the
precipice you can also be hitting wedge into the elevated punchbowl-like
green.  Tiger Woods pre-meltdown didn't touch par here in 2000 although he did
manage to hit the green once in regulation, only to 3-putt.

5 at Lost Farm easily an equal with PB's 13.  One of the greatest greens I've ever
played into.

[Mark Chaplin]

Oops didn't notice the bunkers on 12 Swinley!!

Scott how could I forget the "bastard" that is 13 PB? At least Tiger and I have one thing in common!

[Garland Bayley]

Bully Pulpit #15 has been called the best public par 3 in the US on this website.

Plus, I understand Ron Whitten loves it.

[Patrick_Mucci]

JNC,

Preakness Hills had three great holes with no bunkers, a par 3, a par 4 and a par 5.

The 236 yard 6th,
The 500 yard 10th and
The 380 yard 13th.

All three were quite unique with tremendous variety in their play.

The course was also unique in that many of the greens had bunkes behind the greens, some visible, some invisible.

[mark chalfant]

Yale's  365 yard  14th relies on rolling topography, and a small perched green

[jeffwarne]

1-4, 6-9 at Goat Hill.
Not many sandies there......

[Scott Warren]

A few mentions of some deserving candidates - 4 at Silloth, 6 at Deal and 5 at Lost farm the ones I'd second.

14 at NSW is a brilliant short four without any sand. 4 at Fishers Island (the Alps/Punchbowl hole) is another stunning candidate.

5 at Barnbougle Dunes!

[Alex Miller]

18 at Riviera

[Scott Warren]

And, for that matter, 5 at Riviera!

[Alex Miller]

Actually I just realized there are 2 small irrelevant bunkers on 18 at Riv, but only one on 12!

[Jim Nugent]

17th at TPC Sawgrass.  11th at Ballybunion (I think).  

ETA: I just saw the photo thread of RCCC.  Looks like it has a few, as well, including the 7th and 17th holes. 

[Sean_A]

Young JNC

I will humor you.  Choices are taken from only courses I know.  I tried to create a "course" with a decent flow and following my basic premise of short overall yardage, but still challenging for the scratch player.  All yardages are from daily tees.

1. TOC par 4 370
2. West Cornwall par 4 382
3. Woking par 4 420
4. Deal par 3 150 (tough to turn down Rye's 4th, but I want lots of par 3s)
5. Strandhill par 5 480 (tough to turn down Portrush's 5th, but I needed a par 5)
6. Deal par 4 320
7. Burnham par 4 444
8. Portrush par 4 376
9. Kington par 3 145

OUT = par 35 3087 yards

10. Portrush Valley par 5 496
11. Pennard par 3 184
12. Kington par 4 385
13. SEA HEADRIG par 4 460 (hard to turn down North Berwick, but I needed a ball buster par 4)
14. CALAMITY par 3 200 (couldn't do Sea Headrig and Foxy back to back!)
15. Harlech par 4 427
16. Aberdovey par 4 288 (hard to turn down Addington and North Berwick)
17. ALPS par 4 410
18. Kington par 4 285 (of course - the greatest finishing hole in golf)

IN = par 35 3135 yards

TOTAL = par 70 6222 yards

Ciao