DCronan,
In addition, you get to get a sense of the consistency of the bunker as you enter it and take your stance.
And, you can often gain additional information by just visually examining the condition of the bunker/sand.
You can't do that on a putting surface.
You can't look at it and say, this is an 11 versus a 9.
We're not that good
Jim,
The same people who delight in achieving very high, very unrealistic speeds are the same ones who seem to delight in making the course diabolically difficult.
At one club I'm familiar with a group of young Turks wanted to stiffen the defenses on the course.
Grow the rough, narrow the fairways, speed up the greens.
So, the President sent me their petition and asked me to comment.
My response was simple.
Who are they toughening the course up for ?
I stated that not one of them was able to break 80 in qualifying for the club championship, hence the course's current defenses seemed more than adequate to challenge the best golfers in the club, so why toughen it up, why punish those of less ability.
The result was that the status quo was maintained.
But, their thinking was dangerous.
They just wanted to build the course's reputation by making it difficult to impossible, and in doing so, ruining the golfing experience for the members and their guests.
The same attitude prevails when it comes to green speeds.
To a degree, televised weekly PGA Tour events and Majors are the culprit.
But, those guys are the best golfers in the world.
That's all they do, play golf for a living.
I don't want my cardiologist or dentist upset when he sees me on Monday morning.