Yesterday, a discussion ensued about the types of bunkering that architects like Tillinghast and Ross created or favored. I contended that each created a variety of styles, and see it as overly-simplistic that we should think of Ross with all grass-faced bunkers, or Tillinghast only with all flashed sand to the lips like San Francisco Golf Club, for instance. I also believe that all restoration work should seek to determine what the bunkers looked like originally, instead of presuming that any of these architect's had a certain "style" that they just repeated ad nauseum across the country. Not only were they much more flexible and creative than that, but they sometimes utilized different looks on the same course or even same hole, depending on a number of factors.
I also contended that each was very site-specific in the types of bunkers they created, for aesthetic, practical, and functional reasons.
With that in mind, I'd like to offer the following from Donald Ross's book, "Golf Has Never Failed Me", on what we today call, "flashed up bunkers".
"Scooped-out Pits"
To provide this type of bunker, you must have undulating ground, as they can only be constructed on the faces of slopes or knolls.
I like them very much, as they usually have a natural appearance and are nearly always open to view, a desirable thing in all bunkers.
To keep them in condition, sand must be used plentifully. The whole scooped-out surface should be completely covered with it.
The designs for such bunkers are rather flexible, allowing you tomake some wide and shallow, and others narrow and deep."
Notice how he builds the bunker types based on the land he is given, along with aesthetic considerations.
He continues...
"Sunken Pits with Raised Faces"
A hazard of this kind is usually built on flat ground and is particularly serviceable on clay land, where digging is so expensive and drainage so uncertain.
By cutting a sunken pit out one-and-a half-feet deep, the face can be raised a like amount using the fill, giving a finished face of three feet. (This depth is arbitrary, and I simply use it by way of example.)
If the raised part is carefully designed and built, it can be made to appear quite natural. If you use a line and square in the building of this variety of bunker, the result is sure to have an artificialness akin to hideous. It's just as easy to break up all the lines and avoid such a regrettable result."
Once again, we see a blend of pragmatic considerations, mixed with a concern for artistry.
"Pot Bunkers"
Such bunkers are totally below the surface. They are most generally placed in the neighborhood of the green. Particular attention should be paid when locating them to secure good drainage."
Ross often located these on existing hillsides fronting greens, or on natural areas sloping away from greensites.
"Mound and Pot Combinations"
Where it is desirable to cover a large area of ground, hazards of this kind can be used advantageously. A mound and pot bunker combination is particularly helpful in dividing the line of play on parallel holes, it being equally hazardous for both holes.
The pits in such a combination may be shallow and the mounds should be covered with course grass. But it is not necessary to fill these shallow pits with any sand. Both high parts and hollows may be covered with coarse grass if desired."