Bunkers: same location but different styles

[Tom_Doak]

I recall a story form Ireland, whether it's a true story or not I don't know.

A visitor went into the Pro-shop after finishing his round on a links course and complimented the courses condition but mentioned how there seemed to be too much sand in the bunkers.

The Pro replied along the lines of "Well, the sand around here's only about 100ft deep, so how much of it exactly would you suggest we remove?"!

atb

When I was at The Open at Troon (it wasn't Royal yet) in 1982, Gary Player was quoted in the local paper after his practice round as saying he thought there was too much sand in the bunkers.  They went to the greenkeeper for his response and he said, "I don't know what to say.  As far as I know the sand goes all the way to China."

[Tony Ristola]

Reading a couple of other threads on bunkers convinces me even more that the modern bunker is a "cop-out".  
Does anyone think that a well manicured bunker where the ball rolls away from the edges and into a well raked lie is a hazard that intimidates a good player.  Doesn't this type of "hazard" actually keep a ball from rolling further away in many situations.  IMHO if a bunker with many variables, whether it be lie, grasses, slope, hairy etc, is much more intimidating and will make a good player think much more about missing into the same location than if it is a well maintained modern bunker.  Of course I guess we could say the same thing about taking grain out of greens also , variables continue to be removed.

It sounds like Australian bunker maintenance to me. It's a pretty clever method of reducing maintenance if you can locate local sand that compacts on the face of the bunker. Of course, to accomplish this, you have to leave the banks alone. In places where wages are high, it's a wise move.

The architect can always add variables to make bunker shots less predicatble. Whether the club keeps these elements is another story.

[Terry Lavin]

I don't care if a well maintained bunker doesn't provide enough challenge to a great player. They're one-percenters. They'll still bitch anyway.

[Jon Wiggett]

I don't care if a well maintained bunker doesn't provide enough challenge to a great player. They're one-percenters. They'll still bitch anyway.

The thing is Terry that a bunker with minimal maintenance doesn't make it particularly harder for an average player so not raking helps level the playing field as you might say

Jon