How close or far...

[PCCraig]

should bunkers be from the putting surface? At what distance from the green do they start to loose their effectiveness? Do they generally need to be a certain distance away for ease of maintenance?

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

I have always admired the bunkers from the sandbelt in Melbourne, where the bunkers look like they actually part of the green itself.

[Dave McCollum]

The conventional thinking is to leave enough room to turn a triplex.

[Patrick_Mucci]

I have always admired the bunkers from the sandbelt in Melbourne, where the bunkers look like they actually part of the green itself.
MWP,

I think greens with bunkers cut right into them present a most unique challenge, especially if the green feeds into them.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Once lost a job to Bob Cupp trying to honestly answer this question......

The pro types do like 2-3 feet, believing anything further doesn't "come into play."  Obviously, with the newfound PGA tour emphasis on tucking pins close, the closer the better to separate good shots from bad (at that level)  At lower levels of play, we don't want to get them too far from the green in most cases because it just makes for a tough bunker shot, but I can see leaving a few more feet of room for average play.  Think about it - if you have a circular 6K SF green (about 90 diameter) adding 3 more feet all the way around enlarges the target to  6900 (15%) and 8 feet all the way around enlarges it to 8425 SF (40% increase from the green, and 20% increase from a 3' collar)

IMHO, that extra space keeps a lot of balls from finding bunkers, slowing play, etc.  It also equates to that triplex turning distance at 8 feet, so I generally leave my bunkers about that far from the green.

 I find that I have to draw the 6 feet away (see the Ross thread on drawing plans to get them built as you want, not as depicted) because both green and bunker are cavities, and they tend to start cutting from wherever the construction stake is, and losing a foot or so from the intended dimensions.

I had a super recently tell me that ten feet from the edge is required for triplex turning.  Not ready to do that, although it has happened as some of my draftsmen like to graphically leave a bigger space just for plan looks.  That drives me crazy!

[Bill_McBride]

This is my vision of ideal:  Metropolitan in Melbourne.

[Sean_A]

should bunkers be from the putting surface? At what distance from the green do they start to loose their effectiveness? Do they generally need to be a certain distance away for ease of maintenance?

There should be no prescribed distance.  I know of many bunkers well short of greens that are terrific and some tight to greens which are terrific. 

Ciao

[Neil White]

I'd imagine a great deal on their effectiveness has more to do with their respective depth, type of face, and the ground which lies immediately adjacent to them.

I understand the requirement for a distance for maintenance but what really irks is when all bunkers around a green are exactly the same distance away from the edge of the green.

Neil.

[Tom_Doak]

Once lost a job to Bob Cupp trying to honestly answer this question......

The pro types do like 2-3 feet, believing anything further doesn't "come into play."  Obviously, with the newfound PGA tour emphasis on tucking pins close, the closer the better to separate good shots from bad (at that level)  At lower levels of play, we don't want to get them too far from the green in most cases because it just makes for a tough bunker shot, but I can see leaving a few more feet of room for average play.  Think about it - if you have a circular 6K SF green (about 90 diameter) adding 3 more feet all the way around enlarges the target to  6900 (15%) and 8 feet all the way around enlarges it to 8425 SF (40% increase from the green, and 20% increase from a 3' collar)

IMHO, that extra space keeps a lot of balls from finding bunkers, slowing play, etc.  It also equates to that triplex turning distance at 8 feet, so I generally leave my bunkers about that far from the green.

 I find that I have to draw the 6 feet away (see the Ross thread on drawing plans to get them built as you want, not as depicted) because both green and bunker are cavities, and they tend to start cutting from wherever the construction stake is, and losing a foot or so from the intended dimensions.

I had a super recently tell me that ten feet from the edge is required for triplex turning.  Not ready to do that, although it has happened as some of my draftsmen like to graphically leave a bigger space just for plan looks.  That drives me crazy!

I used to keep a picture of Kingston Heath handy in case a contractor told me it was "impossible" to have the bunker edges too close to the green.  I've seen a bunch of courses wrecked by rules of thumb like that.  The 1990's re-do of L.A. Country Club wound up with all the bunkers 8-10 feet away from the edges of the greens because that was what the contractor insisted on.

If you are giving more space between green and bunker so you don't slow down play, then why bother putting a bunker there at all?  To me, it's better to have one or two bunkers eating right up into the green, then to surround it with a bunch of bunkers that are so far away they don't matter.  And if you only have one or two bunkers covering 10-20% of the perimeter of the green, then the superintendent can find a way to work around that with his mowing patterns -- which he can't, obviously, if the green is surrounded.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Royal Melbourne East #16 - par 3.

[jeffwarne]

should bunkers be from the putting surface? At what distance from the green do they start to loose their effectiveness? Do they generally need to be a certain distance away for ease of maintenance?

There should be no prescribed distance.  I know of many bunkers well short of greens that are terrific and some tight to greens which are terrific. 

Ciao

Ding ding !!

In ultra firm conditions, the ones 20-40 yards short of the green are most terrifying, but in less firm conditions the ones nearer the green are quite relevant.
Regardless of turf condition, bunkers located at a variety of distances from the green are always going to influence SOMEBODY's thought process (or lack of)

[Thomas Dai]

Variety is nice.

Also, when there are very small areas between greens and bunker edges doesn't this impact on maintenance practices, eg mowing the fringes using ride-on mowers or hand mowers, and therefore an impact on workload/manpower/cost.

All the best.

[Nigel Islam]

I have always admired the bunkers from the sandbelt in Melbourne, where the bunkers look like they actually part of the green itself.
MWP,

I think greens with bunkers cut right into them present a most unique challenge, especially if the green feeds into them.

+1 to this. I love bunkers like that.

[Tom ORourke]

Both. I like a mix, but deep rough around a "non-close" greenside bunker often stops a ball from going in. Also, how big are the greens? Large greens do not need much space to a bunker as the shot is not demanding enough as it is. I also like the far bunker such as the ones Tillinghast used at Bethpage #13 and Winged Foot #1. They should not be in play too often but they do draw your eye and are not where you want to be. I have seen courses where greens shrink over the years due to mowing and what were once close bunkers are now not nearly as close. I do like the bunkers at Merion where almost every greenside bunker leaves you landing on a downslope unless you carry it high and far. Then it does not matter how close the bunker is to the edge. Picking one I would go for close, but too much of one thing is not a good thing.