The least expensive way to maintain sand bunkers up to modern standards

[Jeff_Brauer]

Had another gca tell me this in very animated fashion.....


Why spend hundreds of thousands on bunker liners, sand, machine or hand raking, etc., when just allowing golfers (at least under the "relaxed rules of golf" to smooth their lie every time they go in a bunker?


If supermarkets are saving money by going to self serve checkout, how long should it take golf to adopt self serve bunker raking before their shot in addition to after?

[Peter Pallotta]

At a run-down local course I know the new owners instituted a local rule, ie lift clean and place in any bunker. It took me all of five minutes -- and one 'sand save opportunity' -- to fully embrace the concept!

PS - they called it a 'temporary' rule but it was in place for months and as far as I know still is, 2 years later

[Brad Steven]

Lift, clean and place is acceptable in every tournament around (except USGA) when conditions dictate so why not in a bunker?  Not maintaining them would in fact, lead to conditions that would dictate.  Highly practical and frankly, anything that makes the game more affordable (an indirect result I'd assume) and more fun is good with me. 

Had another gca tell me this in very animated fashion.....


Why spend hundreds of thousands on bunker liners, sand, machine or hand raking, etc., when just allowing golfers (at least under the "relaxed rules of golf" to smooth their lie every time they go in a bunker?


If supermarkets are saving money by going to self serve checkout, how long should it take golf to adopt self serve bunker raking before their shot in addition to after?

[Jason Topp]

Nooooo!


The essence of the game is to play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it.


The solution is fewer bunkers.

[Mark_Fine]

If that speeds up play and makes people happy and saves money (it should do all three), go for it.  You can always play it as it lies for tournaments, etc. 


I still believe bunkers are hazards but I realize most golfers don’t view them that way.  They are now perfectly prepared playing surfaces.  You can’t win all the battles.

[Jerry Kluger]

Why not just make it lift clean and place through the green?  I doubt that any course other than a very inexpensive muni would have players that would accept bunkers in that condition. I played a very good semi-private/public course which simply did not have the funds to maintain their bunkers so they allowed for lift, clean and place in bunkers and playing out of red clay or other dirt just ain't golf.  They chose to spend the money they had to resurface the greens from bent grass to champion Bermuda - half of the players liked the decision and the other half did not. 

[Thomas Dai]

Bunkers are obstacles and obstacles shouldn’t be treated as expensive to maintain manicured sand gardens.  Treat them as obstacles, scruffy and unkempt and thus inexpensive to look after.
And obstacles are of course best avoided. Go around them, go over them but don’t go in them unless you wish to suffer the consequences.
Atb

[Brad Steven]

Many people feel that way but the inconsistency of the penalty, particularly on courses/holes with smaller bunkers, where one time your lie is perfect, another its in a footprint, is tough to take.  Isn't the inherent hazard or penalty that you have to hit the ball out of the sand - usually not being able to hit the ball directly and needing a different technique than greenside chipping or putting? The vagary of often used, unkept bunkers would drive me insane.  For those courses that can't maintain the bunkers well, placing the ball in a good spot just seems a practical solution.   

Bunkers are obstacles and obstacles shouldn’t be treated as expensive to maintain manicured sand gardens.  Treat them as obstacles, scruffy and unkempt and thus inexpensive to look after.
And obstacles are of course best avoided. Go around them, go over them but don’t go in them unless you wish to suffer the consequences.
Atb

[Brad Lawrence]

If that speeds up play and makes people happy and saves money (it should do all three), go for it.  You can always play it as it lies for tournaments, etc. 


I still believe bunkers are hazards but I realize most golfers don’t view them that way.  They are now perfectly prepared playing surfaces.  You can’t win all the battles.

I don’t remember hearing anyone suggest that bunkers aren’t hazards. I do want them to be “perfectly prepared playing services“ but even if so, they are still hazards best avoided for most golfers. Bunker play might be the best part of my game, but I would still rather take my chances in most cases from grassy areas near the green. Tour players are getting up and down less often from sand than otherwise.

[Peter Pallotta]

Bunkers would still be hazards if we had lift clean and place, but only if they'd been design as hazards in the first place!
In my experience with average courses, the majority of bunkers *weren't*. Build some real hazards first -- 6 foot deep, Open-style sod faced pots -- and we could lift clean and place all we want and they'd *still* be hazards!!

[Kalen Braley]

I think golfer expectations have changed for good.  Smooth greens, well-conditioned fairways, fairly uniform rough, etc... and manicured bunkers.  Sure maybe at a run-down muni its fine to just say "fuck it", but would this work for any course that hasn't just given up?

[Carl Rogers]

Last time I played Tobacco Road, the starter informed me that the bunkers we're played as "lift, smooth & place".

[Tom Bacsanyi]

This is all lovely conversation, but how many of you have played courses with truly horrible bunkers? Like basically soil with grass/weeds growing out of them and hardpan (or super soft dirt) lies? My guess is not many. My guess is most of you would strenuously object to truly terrible bunkers. The truth is bunkers are fairly binary. They are either really quite nice, or total shit. It's very hard to find a fine in-between. And make no mistake about it, routine bunker maintenance is a total time suck, and creates opportunity costs that negatively affect other areas of the course.


But someone will say, "they hardly do anything to the bunkers at Pac Dunes or (insert any UK links course)!"  True that, however you can't compare a sandy site to the typical American clay-soiled site. Apples to oranges.


The way to save costs on bunkers is to not have them. Or more realistically, as few as possible. If we are talking about a very low-budget place, the best thing to do is to grass them in.

[Terry Lavin]

Last time I played Tobacco Road, the starter informed me that the bunkers we're played as "lift, smooth & place".

That strikes we as an unacceptable concession by a golf course. Bunkers are, by definition, a hazard, and any dumbing down on this basic rule of golf may speed up play, but it won’t do anything to protect the integrity of the game.  Go to TopGolf.

[Carl Rogers]

Last time I played Tobacco Road, the starter informed me that the bunkers we're played as "lift, smooth & place".

Well, of course, you are correct. 


But the other side of this facility management problem is:
- making the game much much harder for the less skilled
- far higher maintenance costs per much more personnel and equipment required to maintain all the bunkers at TR ... higher greens fees

That strikes we as an unacceptable concession by a golf course. Bunkers are, by definition, a hazard, and any dumbing down on this basic rule of golf may speed up play, but it won’t do anything to protect the integrity of the game.  Go to TopGolf.

[Brad Lawrence]

This is all lovely conversation, but how many of you have played courses with truly horrible bunkers?



I see more courses with horrible bunkers than great ones.  Most of the well manicured golf courses have sand that is far too soft for most good bunker players’ taste. In my opinion, perfectly manicured sand is such that you could putt in there, just like after a rainstorm. I don’t know anything about building and maintaining a bunker, but as far as playability, 95% of them have too much sand for my taste.

[Sean_A]

My take has been the same for 25 years.

In most cases, far less bunkers

Better, more efficiently placed bunkers

Difficult to get out of, but there should be the option to take a penalty stroke as is the case with water

Should be decently maintained, mainly by golfers with rakes. Footprints etc is daft

Ciao

[Jeff Schley]

I'd be curious to know the average # of bunkers by designer for their courses. The original #, not what has popped up since. Bunkers require maintenance and depending on the size, depth, edging etc. can take considerable maintenance that IMO isn't worth the investment. Less is more, a good example is Kankakee Elks, with less than 1 per hole.

Interesting article that mentions the number of bunkers on some classic courses, but they have resources to maintain them: https://www.golfpass.com/travel-advisor/articles/trapped-the-10-golf-courses-with-the-most-bunkers-in-the-world
Many are famous venues that host major championships and pro tournaments - Shinnecock Hills (estimated 160 bunkers) in New York, Muirfield (147 bunkers), Kingston Heath (145 spread across 19 holes), Merion's East Course (131), Royal Birkdale (123), Pebble Beach Golf Links (118),  the Old Course at St. Andrews (112) and Carnoustie Golf Links (112). No surprise there.

[Thomas Dai]

A wee tweak to the Rules of Golf ought to alter matters.
Instead of the current 2 shot penalty to drop out of a bunker make it a 1 shot penalty (like ponds etc).
That way bunkers could be scruffy, unkempt places cheap to maintain and once again best avoided. If a players ball goes in one and the player doesn't fancy the situation they can take a penalty drop or, alternatively if the player fancies their chance of executing the shot, well, let them give it a go if they want to.
atb

[archie_struthers]

 


I'm with the one shot penalty to leave the bunker...it allows for a myriad of maintenance decisions that work.

[Kyle Harris]

WHY IS THIS A THING?


Drop your damn egos. Nobody gives a shit that you don’t break 90.


Hit the ball. Stop whining. Clean up after yourselves.


Problem solved.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Kyle,


Well, it's just an idea.  Golf, because of its staunch traditionalism tends to be slower to change than perhaps society at large.


I doubt the pick, rake, and clean bunker idea will be implemented everywhere across the board, but for everyday golf, it may be the easiest, cheapest solution to giving the desired good lie in the bunker.  And, it would sure eliminate complaining about it, if the golfer has the op to create it himself.  And, if it reduces bunker raking by the maintenance crew to once per week or less to soften the sand and prevent weeds, that may be a big financial help to many courses.


A lot of us complain about how golf construction and maintenance keeps getting more complicated and expensive in response to rising maintenance standards.  This is potentially one easier solution.  It's sort of like the old joke about getting a truck unstuck from under the bridge.  All sorts of proposals involving expensive and difficult things, until a small child suggests just letting the air out of the tires to lower the truck.

[Jim_Coleman]

   I just played Sheep Ranch for the first time.  I had heard about how it was such an amazing course and that it had no bunkers.  Well, it was an amazing course.  But it had plenty of bunkers.  I have no idea how many - certainly dozens, maybe triple figures.  What it didn't have was sand in the bunkers, just grass.  But they looked like bunkers, defined holes like bunkers, provided aiming points like bunkers, made the course interesting and beautiful like bunkers, and were a pain the the ass to get out of, maybe more so than bunkers.

[Kyle Harris]

Jeff Brauer,


If you desire a good lie in a bunker you’re expecting way too much from the bunker.


Don’t drive the truck under the bridge in the first place.


And if you do, by all means let the air out of the tires. In other words, hit the ball.

[Jaeger Kovich]

Clean up after yourselves.


Problem solved.

If only the world were so simple!