Are sand features that are over 50 yards long an architectural crutch?

[Joe Hancock]

With a nod to Richard Choi and his fine threads about Chambers Bay, and to Pat Mucci concerning his thread about water....

The pictures of #5 at Chambers Bay show a fine before and after illustration. Yet, the current version makes me ask the question, at what point is a sand feature a crutch? I've never seen or played a hole that had a bunker that went on and on that I've ever thought was brilliant.

Thoughts?

Joe

[Stephen Davis]

How long is Hell's Half Acre?

[Joe Hancock]

Stephen,

I don't know. But for the sake of discussion, let's assume it's approximately 209 feet long x 105 feet wide. That's about a half acre....

Is the first 100 feet of sand needed, architecturally speaking, to challenge the golfer? Or would "hells half of a half acre" do the trick?

Joe

[Mark_Fine]

Ever watch the Players Championship at The TPC Sawgrass?

[Joe Hancock]

Starting to remind me of the game where you can only respond to a question with a question....

[BCowan]

Joe,

   I love the bunker that is shared on #14/#15 at Inverness.  Very unique, I don't think it was originally 50 yards, but it was extended around 00' and I think it is fairly unique.  The bunker is parallel to each of the holes.  I apologize for it might only be 41 yards, not sure.  

[Joe Hancock]

The 50 yard measurement isn't the important part of the discussion...

[John Kavanaugh]

All 18 holes at Pinehurst #2 are bordered on both sides their entire length by sand features. 

[Josh Stevens]

So would that include the 18th at Pebble?

I cant think of too many of that length top of my head, but I suspect that some are just eye candy and some serve a valid function.

The 18th at Pebble is probably both, but its primary function I suspect is to reduce the risk of going for the green by reducing the severity of punishment for a miss.  If missing the fairway by 1 inch means you are in the drink then I suspect  most would chicken out.  But with that long bunker, missing by an inch now only costs perhaps half a shot, and so worth a crack.

Last week Mike Clayton came out to my club and changed bunker.  The old one was perhaps 25m long and 3m deep on steep side of a green set high on a hill.  If the bunker were not there, the slope is so severe that misses would kick hard downhill 40m away from the green into the trees, and so to an extent the bunker was there to make life easier.

For a variety of reasons, the bunker was last week divided into two smaller bunkers, with perhaps a 8m gap in between them.  The bunkers themselves are still severe, but I am waiting for the first committee member to pitch one into that gap and kick 40m down the hill into the trees.  Will be screaming blue murder I suspect

[Wade Whitehead]

Pinehurst #2 is full of sand features that are hundreds of yards long.

WW

[Patrick_Mucci]

How long is Hell's Half Acre?

Stephen,

HHA is incredibly functional, both on the drive and on the second shot.
It also comes into play when errant drives are hit.

It's length causes the golfer to carefully weigh his options on his second shot.
Without that length, carrying it would not be a challenge.

It is a hazard/bunker that can't be avoided.
The golfer has to attempt to traverse it at some point.

I thought Joe was referencing flanking bunkers.

[Joe Hancock]

Thank you Pat, for clarification. I really was thinking of flanking type bunkers.

[Peter Pallotta]

Joe - I think we have for so long decried 'eye-candy' in all its forms that perhaps we've thrown out the baby with the bath-water. Which is to say, in terms of pure 'functionality' I can agree with you whole-heartedly, especially since I know you are neither trying to hamper an architect's freedom nor confine/define hazards in too narrow a penal-strategic construct. But, off my 'interesting' thread, I leave open the slight possibility that an architect with enough talent and taste (and of course the right site) could manage to fold some 100 yard long sea of sand so seamlessly into the overall fabric of the course and so elegantly combine the aesthetic, strategic, and psychological aspects of such a bunker that it would be a truly evocative, engaging and memorable feature. I'd love to see someone pull it off one day to our satisfaction. I'd also love to see you then hit a high-cutting 3 wood out of it!!

Peter

[Joe Hancock]

Peter,

Thanks for that. As far as the 3 wood, well...I've downsized the bag, so it'll have to be a high cut driver off the deck. Still do-able, but unlikely.

Joe

[Peter Pallotta]

Ha ha -- I marvel that you can say that its "do-able" and yet still have us all thinking of you as a modest fellow and an average golfer!! 

Peter

[Tommy Naccarato]

Crazy Joe,
for me it would all depend on if it was a natural place for sand to occur, or could occur. Say like the long sand features of the fairway of #10, 11, and 14 at Rustic Canyon which border on the creek bed, or in the natural dunes, and even unnatural dunes that were for a time, potato fields at Friar's Head. It certainly works well there! All occurring where sand features are or could be present.

Max Behr said:

“The concept of embracing natural features, no matter how quirky they may be, was difficult for architects because “it is so easy to retreat within the order of the mind and escape the disorder of nature.”

 

He also said,

“Sand is now being used, not solely for its legitimate purpose—-a hazard--but as a species of lighthouse to guide the player in estimating distance. Thus a crutch is thrown into the landscape upon which the eve of the golfer may lean…

So your right Crazy Joe. It is a crutch when nature is not observed and wrongly created.....

[Matt_Cohn]

I think they are the farthest thing from a crutch — I think they're extremely practical. Consider a hole whose best angle into the green is from the right side of the fairway, so you want to place a hazard just off the fairway on that side. How would you best present this challenge to players with a wide range of driving distances, from 175 yards to 325 yards? Why not a long bunker covering that entire distance? Is there something superior about covering that distance in 7 or 8 bunkers instead of just one?

[Mark_Fine]

Joe,
Sand down the sides of holes is about as original as it gets from a design feature!  Clearly today many of these sand hazards are more formalized but many are VERY functional.  It is a flanking hazard just different than trees or rough or water or OB,... 

As I have said here many times, great design is all about variety and proper balance of design features.  ANY design feature if used too much can begin to suck and get old fast!

[John Percival]

Joe,
Of course, if done poorly. Almost a concession of design block.
However, as a means of controlling pace, they can be a significant benefit...
...imagine a play area adjoining a severe stretch of vegetation or water. The sand serves as a buffer and collects many shots before they disappear, thus significantly reducing potentially long searches and speeding up play.
Also, the long version vs many smaller bunkers/swaths helps reduce maintenance with mowers, though it would be better if such areas were considered waste areas and left alone rather than be groomed.

[cary lichtenstein]

so the answer is yes and no and sometimes but not others but probably

[jeffwarne]

YES,
Unless the soil/terrain is actually sandy i.e. unturfed soil al Pine valley, Pinehurst

[archie_struthers]

Sand features done correctly can save water, improve aesthetics, and save maintenance costs.

We had an area at our home club that was not a primary playing area but was in play. It was very hard to grow and maintain grass there , and had been a source of trouble for years for various reasons. By returning it to a natural sand area we accomplished improvements to the course while saving money on maintenance . Looks much better and plays better .   It's a great tool for architects and superintendents!

I'm not a big fan of huge , obviously manufactured bunkering , but that's a personal thing.

[David_Elvins]

NO

They are an extravagance, not a crutch. 

[Tom_Doak]

Long sand bunkers ARE a crutch.  And they're boring.

Also, Hell's Half Acre is actually almost an acre and a half.  It is 400 feet to carry by 150 wide.

[Steve Lapper]

Tom, et.al.

   Would anyone looking at the lengthy bunker down the right side of #5 at Bethpage Black think it a crutch or boring???

   Perhaps long, nearly unending bunkers in the aggregate lack some value, but I'd agree that on properties with very sandy soils and some situations they are uniquely strategic.

Cheers!