[David_Madison]

Patrick,

My home course, Governors Club, in Chapel Hill, NC has nine par 4's and 5's without any fairway bunkers. The course was designed by Jack Nicklaus roughly 22 years ago. The course is very challenging, with lots of water, as well as deep and difficult greenside bunkers. There are only a total of 32 sand bunkers on the entire course.

[David_Madison]

Robert Trent Jones designed on of the courses on the RTJ Trail in Alabama without a single one. Can't remember which course, as I played in over ten years ago, but I believe it was at one of the northern sites.

[Jonathan Mallard]

Fairway bunkers are so overrated ... and so many architectural experts seem to think if there is not a fairway bunker to avoid that there is "no strategy".

Can you provide an example of how to provide strategy without fairway bunkers when offering/protecting preferred fairway locations?
Fairway mounding,severe downhill/sidehill lies?
Or are you saying finding those preferred angles/locations is its' own reward and doesn't always need to be a risk reward/strategic decision?
Thanks

Jeff:

Why do you have to overtly protect everything to make it interesting? I'm thinking that for most, if not all, golfers that can't make it to the PGA tour, it gets plenty interesting playing from where their shots wind up, instead of where they intended them to.

It would also tend to slow the pace of play down given the average skill level out there.

[Tom Walsh]

I'm fairly certain RTJ's Old Warson CC in St. Louis has no fairway bunkers. 

[Mark Saltzman]

Fairway bunkers are so overrated ... and so many architectural experts seem to think if there is not a fairway bunker to avoid that there is "no strategy".

Can you provide an example of how to provide strategy without fairway bunkers when offering/protecting preferred fairway locations?
Fairway mounding,severe downhill/sidehill lies?
Or are you saying finding those preferred angles/locations is its' own reward and doesn't always need to be a risk reward/strategic decision?
Thanks

Jeff, I have just played a few of Maxwell's courses in Oklahoma.  His fairways have more tilt on them than any I have ever seen. I noted that he (assuming course is still true to original design) would create small plateaus in the fairway that could be found if the player challenges the high side of the fairway.  Finding the plateau would mean both an approach from a flat lie and a preferred angle into the green.

Other methods would include trees, water and OB ( )

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