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Josh Tarble

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The question is simple.  Is Augusta National an ideally bunkered course?  Let's put aside bunker shaping and sand type for this conversation. 


Garland Bayley

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2015, 02:11:53 PM »

Probably too many bunkers behind the greens. I don't think many of the current architects would put so many behind greens. It is almost as though they are there for visuals more than strategy.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Tim_Weiman

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2015, 02:35:57 PM »

Probably too many bunkers behind the greens. I don't think many of the current architects would put so many behind greens. It is almost as though they are there for visuals more than strategy.


Do you believe that applies for the 12th hole?
Tim Weiman

Jeff_Mingay

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2015, 02:37:29 PM »
I wrote about this in Golf Course Architecture magazine after attending the Masters in 2012. I couldn't find a link to that article, but if interested, here's the text:

Bunker Blitz at Augusta?

Towards the end of his life, at the point in the early 1930s when he and Bobby Jones designed the Augusta National Golf Club, Alister Mackenzie became a strong advocate of the restrained use of purely penal bunkers. His Bayside course on Long Island, New York (which no longer exists), opened in 1932 with just 19 bunkers on eighteen holes.

In an article in The American Golfer the following year, Mackenzie wrote: “On many courses there are far too many bunkers. The sides of the fairways are riddled with them, and many of these courses would be equally interesting if half of the bunkers were turfed over making them into grassy hollows.”

By this time, Mackenzie had (at least in part) made his reputation by designing some of golf’s most stylish sand hazards. But he considered the routing of the golf course and the design of the greens to be of paramount importance. If each hole was laid-out to take advantage of every feature and contour to create interest and strategy, an abundance of artificial sand bunkers was simply unnecessary.

Mackenzie brought this approach to the former Fruitlands Nursery property at Augusta. With input from Jones, he devised a brilliant routing over a steep property then designed an incomparable collection of pitched and heaving greens to enhance the interest and strategy of the layout. With reliance on topography, plus greens that demand solid ballstriking and heady play, Mackenzie and Jones agreed that not many sand bunkers were required at Augusta. Their original plan, which has long been recognised as one of the most revolutionary concepts in the history of golf course architecture, included 36 bunkers.

“I then consulted Bobby Jones as to the possibility of eliminating some of these as I thought it might be possible to do so without detriment to the interest and strategy of the course,” Mackenzie continued. “After careful study, we decided to leave out fourteen of them, leaving only twenty-two bunkers in all.”

When Augusta opened for play in January 1933, 14 of the course’s ultra-wide fairway areas and eight green complexes were without bunkers. Four holes were entirely devoid of sand. Many significant and well-documented changes to the original design of Augusta have been made since, including the removal of original bunkers and the installation of a number of new hazards. Today, Augusta features 44 bunkers.

I was fortunate to attend this year’s Masters. While walking around studying the course, I was reminded that bunkers have very little to do with the genius of the design. I then wondered: how many of the sand hazards at Augusta could be considered purely penal, and eliminated without detriment to the interest and strategy of the course?

A bunker on the outside bend of the fairway at the par five second immediately comes to mind. This bunker was installed at the suggestion of Gene Sarazen during the mid-1960s, and does nothing to enhance the strategy and interest of the hole. It’s a purely penal hazard. Ben Hogan immediately condemned it, along with two fairway bunkers at the eighteenth installed a few years later, reportedly in an attempt to Nicklaus proof the home hole.

Jack himself designed a cluster of four bunkers left of the third fairway during the 1980s that’s clearly at odds with the overall bunker style at Augusta. And these particular hazards do nothing to enhance the interest and strategy of a brilliant short par four made by its unique, L-shape green elevated atop a small plateau, surrounded by tightly mown slopes and knobs.

Bunkers behind the fifth, seventh and eleventh greens may prevent balls from reaching worse fates, but applying Mackenzie’s strict rule, they’re unnecessary as well.

Similarly, a greenside bunker at the fifteenth, near the front right corner of the putting surface could go. This bunker was installed during the mid-1950s, replacing a mound which would presumably complicate recovery play just as well.

Sacrilege it may be, but I also wonder if the course’s last remaining ‘Mackenzie bunker’ at the tenth is required. This bunker was a greenside hazard at Augusta’s original tenth green. It’s now some fifty yards short of a green created by Perry Maxwell in 1935. Some 370 yards off the Masters tee, the bunker could also be considered purely penal, and is mostly a decorative remnant these days. The same can be said about four bunkers near the green at the legendary par five thirteenth, which Mackenzie described as bunkerless at the time it was originally designed.

That’s a total of (at least) fifteen bunkers that could, theoretically, be eliminated at Augusta without detriment to the interest and strategy of the course, leaving twenty-nine in all, just seven more than the course featured on opening day.

Sand bunkers continue to be a pet peeve for a majority of golfers. And they’re high price line on most golf course maintenance budgets. Yet bunkers are a crutch in contemporary golf course design. If a hole looks too plain, bunkers. Too easy, more bunkers. Frankly, there’s no sophistication in this approach; particularly in light of today’s economic realities and the desire to encourage more people to take up and continue to play golf.

Granted, not many courses possess the incredibly solid structure that Augusta exemplifies. But this seemingly pointless exercise begs another interesting question: If Augusta could hypothetically lose as many as 15 bunkers with little to no affect on the interest and strategy of the course, how many more superfluous sand hazards throughout the world of golf could be eliminated on the same grounds?

Every site and every project is different. But this is definitely something to think about. Perhaps, as Mackenzie stressed nearly 80 years ago, we should only be building bunkers where they genuinely enhance the interest and strategy of the course.
jeffmingay.com

Sven Nilsen

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2015, 02:42:47 PM »
A well written piece, Jeff.  Enjoyed it.

Not sure if the center line bunker on the 11th that was removed very early on would add anything to the course, but it was another original feature that has gone by the wayside.
"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Garland Bayley

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2015, 02:44:37 PM »

Probably too many bunkers behind the greens. I don't think many of the current architects would put so many behind greens. It is almost as though they are there for visuals more than strategy.


Do you believe that applies for the 12th hole?

Wouldn't you classify those as penal, not strategic? Would you suggest a current architect that would put them back there on the 12th?
Those at 12 would seem not to be for visual effect imo.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2015, 02:49:40 PM by GJ Bailey »
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

jeffwarne

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2015, 02:45:15 PM »
I wrote about this in Golf Course Architecture magazine after attending the Masters in 2012. I couldn't find a link to that article, but if interested, here's the text:

Bunker Blitz at Augusta?

Towards the end of his life, at the point in the early 1930s when he and Bobby Jones designed the Augusta National Golf Club, Alister Mackenzie became a strong advocate of the restrained use of purely penal bunkers. His Bayside course on Long Island, New York (which no longer exists), opened in 1932 with just 19 bunkers on eighteen holes.

In an article in The American Golfer the following year, Mackenzie wrote: “On many courses there are far too many bunkers. The sides of the fairways are riddled with them, and many of these courses would be equally interesting if half of the bunkers were turfed over making them into grassy hollows.”

By this time, Mackenzie had (at least in part) made his reputation by designing some of golf’s most stylish sand hazards. But he considered the routing of the golf course and the design of the greens to be of paramount importance. If each hole was laid-out to take advantage of every feature and contour to create interest and strategy, an abundance of artificial sand bunkers was simply unnecessary.

Mackenzie brought this approach to the former Fruitlands Nursery property at Augusta. With input from Jones, he devised a brilliant routing over a steep property then designed an incomparable collection of pitched and heaving greens to enhance the interest and strategy of the layout. With reliance on topography, plus greens that demand solid ballstriking and heady play, Mackenzie and Jones agreed that not many sand bunkers were required at Augusta. Their original plan, which has long been recognised as one of the most revolutionary concepts in the history of golf course architecture, included 36 bunkers.

“I then consulted Bobby Jones as to the possibility of eliminating some of these as I thought it might be possible to do so without detriment to the interest and strategy of the course,” Mackenzie continued. “After careful study, we decided to leave out fourteen of them, leaving only twenty-two bunkers in all.”

When Augusta opened for play in January 1933, 14 of the course’s ultra-wide fairway areas and eight green complexes were without bunkers. Four holes were entirely devoid of sand. Many significant and well-documented changes to the original design of Augusta have been made since, including the removal of original bunkers and the installation of a number of new hazards. Today, Augusta features 44 bunkers.

I was fortunate to attend this year’s Masters. While walking around studying the course, I was reminded that bunkers have very little to do with the genius of the design. I then wondered: how many of the sand hazards at Augusta could be considered purely penal, and eliminated without detriment to the interest and strategy of the course?

A bunker on the outside bend of the fairway at the par five second immediately comes to mind. This bunker was installed at the suggestion of Gene Sarazen during the mid-1960s, and does nothing to enhance the strategy and interest of the hole. It’s a purely penal hazard. Ben Hogan immediately condemned it, along with two fairway bunkers at the eighteenth installed a few years later, reportedly in an attempt to Nicklaus proof the home hole.

Jack himself designed a cluster of four bunkers left of the third fairway during the 1980s that’s clearly at odds with the overall bunker style at Augusta. And these particular hazards do nothing to enhance the interest and strategy of a brilliant short par four made by its unique, L-shape green elevated atop a small plateau, surrounded by tightly mown slopes and knobs.

Bunkers behind the fifth, seventh and eleventh greens may prevent balls from reaching worse fates, but applying Mackenzie’s strict rule, they’re unnecessary as well.

Similarly, a greenside bunker at the fifteenth, near the front right corner of the putting surface could go. This bunker was installed during the mid-1950s, replacing a mound which would presumably complicate recovery play just as well.

Sacrilege it may be, but I also wonder if the course’s last remaining ‘Mackenzie bunker’ at the tenth is required. This bunker was a greenside hazard at Augusta’s original tenth green. It’s now some fifty yards short of a green created by Perry Maxwell in 1935. Some 370 yards off the Masters tee, the bunker could also be considered purely penal, and is mostly a decorative remnant these days. The same can be said about four bunkers near the green at the legendary par five thirteenth, which Mackenzie described as bunkerless at the time it was originally designed.

That’s a total of (at least) fifteen bunkers that could, theoretically, be eliminated at Augusta without detriment to the interest and strategy of the course, leaving twenty-nine in all, just seven more than the course featured on opening day.

Sand bunkers continue to be a pet peeve for a majority of golfers. And they’re high price line on most golf course maintenance budgets. Yet bunkers are a crutch in contemporary golf course design. If a hole looks too plain, bunkers. Too easy, more bunkers. Frankly, there’s no sophistication in this approach; particularly in light of today’s economic realities and the desire to encourage more people to take up and continue to play golf.

Granted, not many courses possess the incredibly solid structure that Augusta exemplifies. But this seemingly pointless exercise begs another interesting question: If Augusta could hypothetically lose as many as 15 bunkers with little to no affect on the interest and strategy of the course, how many more superfluous sand hazards throughout the world of golf could be eliminated on the same grounds?

Every site and every project is different. But this is definitely something to think about. Perhaps, as Mackenzie stressed nearly 80 years ago, we should only be building bunkers where they genuinely enhance the interest and strategy of the course.

Well put Jeff.

The Nicklaus bunkerfest on 3 I find particularly galling as they were installed where many players used to play left and/or short of the fairway bunker there when it was all fairway to establish an ideal angle to the right to left sloped green.
Shocking that a player revered for his strategy as a player would remove such a feature and make the hole more one dimensional-though maybe not that shocking ::) ::)
Modern technology has introduced the idea of driving the green now no many play the hole quite differently than the old choices though.

What I find most interesting is that we're talking about a course with 44 bunkers, less than 1/2 of what most modern courses have, though double what was there originally.

« Last Edit: April 06, 2015, 02:58:35 PM by jeffwarne »
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

Sven Nilsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2015, 02:48:45 PM »

Probably too many bunkers behind the greens. I don't think many of the current architects would put so many behind greens. It is almost as though they are there for visuals more than strategy.


Do you believe that applies for the 12th hole?

Wouldn't you classify those as penal, not strategic? Would you suggest a current architect that would put them back there on the 12th?


How is a bunker behind a green, that saves you from hitting off of a grassy/bushy/flowery hillside, penal?  Its been a while, but I remember prolonged searches behind the 12th green for those that missed the bunkers, resulting in the guys having to retee.

It isn't strategic either, unless you choose to play long to take the water out of play.

"As much as we have learned about the history of golf architecture in the last ten plus years, I'm convinced we have only scratched the surface."  A GCA Poster

"There's the golf hole; play it any way you please." Donald Ross

Peter Pallotta

Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2015, 02:50:43 PM »
Yes, thanks Jeff. Well written and informative piece.

When reading about Dr Mac's limited use of bunkers, his approach struck me as an elegant, under-stated and actually quite middle-of-the-road expression of some of Max Behr's ideas. In an almost un-dramatic way, Dr Mac was hiding the architect's hand, and helping to create a field of play where, if the golfer got himself into trouble, it was -- or felt like -- his own doing.

Peter

Sean_A

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2015, 03:02:11 PM »
Josh

So far as I am concerned, if there is a standard for bunker placement and economy of use, the early rendition of Augusta is it.  Seeing the old aerials of Augusta about 15 years ago completely awakened a how it should be moment for me.  Of course, I would never want every course bunkered like old Augusta, but old Augusta should be at the forefront of archie's thinking.  I always thought that if every bunker had to be literally justified by the archie and any justfication couldn't be used more than 3-5 times, then we wouldn't have so many mundane bunker schemes serving as pretty road maps.

helping to create a field of play where, if the golfer got himself into trouble, it was -- or felt like -- his own doing - very fine thought Pietro.



Ciao
« Last Edit: April 06, 2015, 03:03:58 PM by Sean_A »
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Josh Tarble

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2015, 03:20:17 PM »

Probably too many bunkers behind the greens. I don't think many of the current architects would put so many behind greens. It is almost as though they are there for visuals more than strategy.


3 holes with bunkers behind the green is too many?

Jim Nugent

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2015, 03:22:23 PM »

What I find most interesting is that we're talking about a course with 44 bunkers, less than 1/2 of what most modern courses have, though double what was there originally.


And a number of those original bunkers didn't really come into play for good golfers.  The effective number was even less. 

Ryan Bass

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #12 on: April 06, 2015, 03:29:52 PM »
Nice piece Jeff.  My only POSSIBLE disagreement would be regarding the bunker on 10.  I completely agree that it does not come into play during the Masters.  There's no debate there.  Does it have strategic merit for general member play?  Seems like it might prevent a run up approach or come into play for those playing the hole as a par 5 by necessity or due to a poor drive. 

Josh Tarble

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #13 on: April 06, 2015, 03:30:26 PM »
Excellent post Jeff.  Very enjoyable to read.

However, I would argue the bunkers behind a couple holes are completely necessary.  As it currently stands (not to go into whether the original 7th was better or worse) the rear bunkers on 7 require an even more exacting approach and dictate the strategy even more than the fronting.  No one wants to be in those back bunkers because they can't stop the bunker shot.  Same with 12.  

And Sean, I completely agree.  The bunker scheme is diverse with no one schematic being overused.  Even with the new bunkers, it's extremely well done and hardly overkill in my opinion.

Carl Rogers

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #14 on: April 06, 2015, 03:40:53 PM »
So the consensus is ANGC is not the standard for how or how many bunkers a course should have.

For myself, pragamitically and selfishly, the courses in SE Virginia have gone into a Sand Pro (and no other maintenace mode).  They have areas of packed hard hard sand and areas with 8 to 10 inches of fluffy sand.  To play out of them effectively, one needs local knowledge of each section of each bunker.  Fearsome hazards. 

I am taking on the attitude that a course should have very few, but difficult and properly maintained bunkers.
I decline to accept the end of man. ... William Faulkner

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #15 on: April 06, 2015, 03:47:33 PM »
The question is simple.  Is Augusta National an ideally bunkered course?  Let's put aside bunker shaping and sand type for this conversation. 

I wouldn't want all courses to be based on any "ideal".

Augusta works with the number of bunkers it has, because it also has
 
(a) severely contoured greens on nearly every hole, and
(b) five holes with water in play that lessen the need for bunkers [although, funny enough, #12 and #13 and #16 are among the most heavily bunkered holes on the course]

If you change the mix of those other things [or how many trees are in play, or other factors], I would think the "ideal" bunkering would change, too.


Howard Riefs

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #16 on: April 06, 2015, 03:55:25 PM »

How is a bunker behind a green, that saves you from hitting off of a grassy/bushy/flowery hillside, penal?  Its been a while, but I remember prolonged searches behind the 12th green for those that missed the bunkers, resulting in the guys having to retee.


Graeme McDowell lost a ball in 2011 and Greg Norman in 1999.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2012-04/augusta-12th-hole-guy-yocom
"Golf combines two favorite American pastimes: Taking long walks and hitting things with a stick."  ~P.J. O'Rourke

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #17 on: April 06, 2015, 04:40:51 PM »

The question is simple. 
Is Augusta National an ideally bunkered course? 

Josh,

The bunkering at ANGC is ideal for ANGC.

You have to understand the topography and scale of the property.

One can't just overlay the bunkers at ANGC on any course.


Let's put aside bunker shaping and sand type for this conversation. 



Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #18 on: April 06, 2015, 04:44:56 PM »

Probably too many bunkers behind the greens. I don't think many of the current architects would put so many behind greens. It is almost as though they are there for visuals more than strategy.


3 holes with bunkers behind the green is too many?

With some architects believing one is too many, then yes three is too many. However, I think if you revisit the course you will find 5.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #19 on: April 06, 2015, 04:54:20 PM »

Probably too many bunkers behind the greens.

Garland,  3 bunkers is too many ?  ?  ?


I don't think many of the current architects would put so many behind greens.

GCGC has 10, NGLA has 9


It is almost as though they are there for visuals more than strategy.

The bunkers on #'s 7, 12 & 13 are highly functional, how can you state that they're more for visuals than strategy ?  ?  ?



Josh Tarble

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #20 on: April 06, 2015, 05:01:07 PM »
Of course I don't mean an exact copy of Augusta's bunkering.  To think that would be silly.

What I mean by ideal is just what Jeff stated in his far superior post:  fewer, better placed hazards.  In my thinking, Augusta should be the poster child for that style.  Not an exact copy, just the affects of well placed bunkers.


Jeff_Brauer

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #21 on: April 06, 2015, 05:47:01 PM »
Josh,

I think history shows that ANGC was in fact, the dominant inspiration for how a course should be bunkered from 1932 until mostly now, although you could argue that its influence waned a bit when Golf Digest's "Best New" Awards, in conjunction with easier flowing money to golf course construction, both from about 1990 on, took over.

I think the basic idea still prevails with fewer, better placed (i.e., only where "in play" for the better golfers) although the GD rankings and a few other factors (boredom with the standard look, need to make holes look better from surrounding housing/real estate?) led us to start placing more and more cosmetic bunkers for other reasons.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #22 on: April 06, 2015, 05:50:58 PM »

The bunkers on #'s 7, 12 & 13 are highly functional, how can you state that they're more for visuals than strategy ?  ?  ?[/color]


There's a bunker behind 7?

EDIT: Well I got caught by inaccuracy of info on our beloved internet. Google Earth certainly shows bunkers behind 7.

With regards to 12, one poster above suggested the reason is for the bunkers behind 12 is to prevent lost balls in the azaleas. Now if that isn't bunkers for visuals, I don't know what is. Unless of course you can convince me that the azaleas are strategic. ;) If you take out the visual azaleas, then the need for bunkers to keep the balls out of them disappears.

But then, bunkers behind 7 means 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 16 all have bunkers behind them. So it seems Patrick would maintain that 1/3 of the time you have to make the strategic decision not to hit the ball over the green. Me, I think the old boys at Augusta National just like to see and have seen all those visuals.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2015, 07:09:28 PM by GJ Bailey »
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Jason Topp

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #23 on: April 06, 2015, 06:14:29 PM »
How much does the need for good photographs of a golf course cause additional bunkers to be built?

Carl Rogers

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Re: Is Augusta the Standard for How a Course Should Be Bunkered?
« Reply #24 on: April 06, 2015, 08:39:46 PM »
How can ANGC be a standard?  It is the 1/10000 th of 1 percent. 
Should the question be the "ideal" of how a course should be bunkered?
I decline to accept the end of man. ... William Faulkner

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