[Ally Mcintosh]

A rather pointless quiz to see if you can guess which of our classic links courses have the most bunkers:

Below I list sixteen courses....

Trump Aberdeen
Portmarnock
Carne
Machrie
Ballybunion
The Island
North Berwick
Royal St Georges
Royal Lythym
Muirfield
Cruden Bay
Royal Troon
Carnoustie
Royal Dornoch
Brora
St Enedoc

The number of bunkers these courses have fit the below numbers:

12, 20, 37, 42, 47, 53, 61, 70, 82, 85, 87, 102, 111, 112, 148, 201

Can you get them in the right order? (no looking at Google Earth)

[Sean_A]

Jeepers...what a task!

I say

Muirfield 148

Lytham 201

St E 42

Sandwich 102

N Berwick 70

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

Jeepers...what a task!

I say

Muirfield 148

Lytham 201

St E 42

Sandwich 102

N Berwick 70

Ciao

Care to have a go at the other eleven?

I'll leave some guessing for a couple of days and then post answers to see if people want to draw some conclusions...

[Sean_A]

Cruden Bay  53

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

Carne - 12
Trump Aberdeen - 201
Muirfield - 148
Cruden Bay - 37
Brora - 47

Maybe more later. For now brain fade in setting in!.

atb

[GLawson]

I agree with Lytham at 201, it's the only one on the group I've played.  Cleveland actually designed a special 64 degree wedge for the club.

[Niall C]

Ally

I started a thread doing something similar a few years ago. I didn't use as nearly a wide list as yours, plus my memory is shocking and can't recall the answers, but of the ones listed below that I've played I'd guess the following;

Balmedie Int. - well there's 18 on the final hole alone, so..........112 ?

Muirfield - I seem to recall this had the most in Scotland so I'll go for 148.

Royal Troon - 85, if I recall correctly highly weighted to bunkers in first 5 holes and last few.

Brora - has to be minimal so 12 ?

North Berwick - 61, pure guess but that works out at 3.38 per hole which seems reasonable when allowing for 1st and 2nd.

Carnoustie - 70, don't think I'm far wrong with this guest as I recall how surprised I was given the courses fearsome reputation.

Royal Lytham - never played it but is it not notorious for having loads of bunkers ? 201 maybe ?

Cruden Bay - similar to Silloth so go for 53.

Royal Dornoch - 47 ?

Niall

[Eoin Riddell]

Dornoch 85😜

[Tony_Muldoon]

I say North Berwick has 42 and Deal has 50. Thus proving something very important that I can't quite put my finger on.


(Yes I know Deal wasn't on your list but I hope that whet's the appetite a little.).

[Richard Fisher]

Wasn't Portrush famous as the championship links with fewest bunkers? Patric Dickinson I think refers to this admirable characteristic in A Round of Golf Courses. On this theme, some celebrated courses have of course far fewer bunkers than was once the case: pre-war Harlech had almost double the number of sand bunkers that it does now, with the 18th almost an island green, three bunkers down the left-hand side of the now classically bunkerless 15th, cross-bunkers going to both the 12th and 13th fairways, and numerous others long grassed over. In recent years the rising water table has also caused the RStD Club to change a number of bunkers from sand to grass, including the hazard just short of the 2nd green, and the pair of tough fairway bunkers eating into the right-hand side of the 3rd. At the same time one or two bunkers that had been given up as redundant (to catch a second shot) have been re-opened to catch the modern drive (at the 3rd and the 5th, for example). GCA members will be pleased to note the removal at Harlech of a good deal of unsightly scrub, and the return of a number of sandy wastes, although the scale of the removal is as nothing compared to that currently in train at Porthcawl, where seemingly acres of gorse and scrub right of the 1st and around the 10th and 12th tees have been removed.

Isn't Lytham the champion for bunker numbers? There used to be an urban myth that the course possessed one bunker for each day of the year...

[Ally Mcintosh]

Wasn't Portrush famous as the championship links with fewest bunkers? Patric Dickinson I think refers to this admirable characteristic in A Round of Golf Courses. On this theme, some celebrated courses have of course far fewer bunkers than was once the case: pre-war Harlech had almost double the number of sand bunkers that it does now, with the 18th almost an island green, three bunkers down the left-hand side of the now classically bunkerless 15th, cross-bunkers going to both the 12th and 13th fairways, and numerous others long grassed over. In recent years the rising water table has also caused the RStD Club to change a number of bunkers from sand to grass, including the hazard just short of the 2nd green, and the pair of tough fairway bunkers eating into the right-hand side of the 3rd. At the same time one or two bunkers that had been given up as redundant (to catch a second shot) have been re-opened to catch the modern drive (at the 3rd and the 5th, for example). GCA members will be pleased to note the removal at Harlech of a good deal of unsightly scrub, and the return of a number of sandy wastes, although the scale of the removal is as nothing compared to that currently in train at Porthcawl, where seemingly acres of gorse and scrub right of the 1st and around the 10th and 12th tees have been removed.

Isn't Lytham the champion for bunker numbers? There used to be an urban myth that the course possessed one bunker for each day of the year...

The current iteration of Portrush has 57 bunkers.

I've tracked quite a few bunker schemes and how they have changed from old aerial photos. It is true to say that many have vastly reduced their numbers.

[Richard Fisher]

http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/waw031476

is a lovely, sharp aerial photo of Harlech in 1950 (the year the club staged the Home Internationals for the first time) indicative of the previous post. NB both the 13th and 18th, compared with the current situation.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I say North Berwick has 42 and Deal has 50. Thus proving something very important that I can't quite put my finger on.


(Yes I know Deal wasn't on your list but I hope that whet's the appetite a little.).

I won't answer North Berwick yet but I count 62 at Deal

Ally

[Tony_Muldoon]

I say North Berwick has 42 and Deal has 50. Thus proving something very important that I can't quite put my finger on.


(Yes I know Deal wasn't on your list but I hope that whet's the appetite a little.).

I won't answer North Berwick yet but I count 62 at Deal

Ally

I'll never learn about rushing an answer on here.

Looking at the sateleite there's even more on Deal before you put the greenside one on 10 back and more still on North Berwick.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Without the patience of Sean to resurrect my own thread every couple of days, I hereby give you the much anticipated answers:

1. Machrie - 12 bunkers
2. Carne - 20 bunkers
3. The Island - 37 bunkers
4. St Enedoc - 42 bunkers
5. Brora - 47 bunkers
6. Cruden Bay - 53 bunkers
7. Ballybunion - 61 bunkers
8. North Berwick - 70 bunkers
9. Royal Troon - 82 bunkers
10. Royal Dornoch - 85 bunkers
11. Trump Aberdeen -   87 bunkers
12. Royal St Georges -   102 bunkers
13. Portmarnock - 111 bunkers
14. Carnoustie - 112 bunkers
15. Muirfield - 148 bunkers
16. Royal Lythym - 201 bunkers

Draw your own conclusions.... There are a few I can see... Actually did this partly to show Trump Aberdeen doesn't have that many bunkers compared to other "big" courses despite its apparent huge number on holes like 4 & 18...

[Sean_A]

6 fer 6!  Mind you I only took a guess on courses I was pretty well aware of the number...give or take 10ish.  I would have guessed Dornoch, Troon, Portmarnock, Trump & Carnoustie were on the high half, but I didn't have clue as to actual numbers.  Its pretty obvious the champ courses and those with champ ambitions are heavy with sand....Dornoch being the outlier, but not by much.  Its not something I applaud, but there you have it.

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

6 fer 6!  Mind you I only took a guess on courses I was pretty well aware of the number...give or take 10ish.  I would have guessed Dornoch, Troon, Portmarnock, Trump & Carnoustie were on the high half, but I didn't have clue as to actual numbers.  Its pretty obvious the champ courses and those with champ ambitions are heavy with sand....Dornoch being the outlier, but not by much.  Its not something I applaud, but there you have it.

Ciao

Not sure Dornoch is the outlier there with Trump and Troon both having the same number... For order of completeness, here are the other Open Champ type courses:

Royal Portrush - 57 bunkers
Royal Cinque Ports - 62 bunkers
Royal Liverpool - 75 bunkers
Turnberry - 83 bunkers
Royal Birkdale - 116 bunkers
Royal County Down - 117 bunkers

[Sean_A]

6 fer 6!  Mind you I only took a guess on courses I was pretty well aware of the number...give or take 10ish.  I would have guessed Dornoch, Troon, Portmarnock, Trump & Carnoustie were on the high half, but I didn't have clue as to actual numbers.  Its pretty obvious the champ courses and those with champ ambitions are heavy with sand....Dornoch being the outlier, but not by much.  Its not something I applaud, but there you have it.

Ciao

Not sure Dornoch is the outlier there with Trump and Troon both having the same number... For order of completeness, here are the other Open Champ type courses:

Royal Portrush - 57 bunkers
Royal Cinque Ports - 62 bunkers
Royal Liverpool - 75 bunkers
Turnberry - 83 bunkers
Royal Birkdale - 116 bunkers
Royal County Down - 117 bunkers

Dornoch is the outlier for champ play. 

Ciao

[Niall C]

While not a large number, I'm surprised by Brora. The fact that it didn't register with me as having quite as many bunkers as that, is that a sign of good design ? Conversely, the fact that I thought Balmedie International had a lot more, does that suggest that the bunkering at least is jarring ? Or perhaps its the other way round, can't make up my mind.

Niall

[Jon Wiggett]

While not a large number, I'm surprised by Brora. The fact that it didn't register with me as having quite as many bunkers as that, is that a sign of good design ? Conversely, the fact that I thought Balmedie International had a lot more, does that suggest that the bunkering at least is jarring ? Or perhaps its the other way round, can't make up my mind.

Niall

No Niall, the jarring bit is the use of the words 'classic links' to describe it Ally, you should know better.

Jon

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