Fiercest Individual Bunkers in American Golf

[Tim Bert]

Adam:

If there was a 15-foot deep bunker to the right of the 17th green at Sand Hills, it's the wind that dug it, and it's probably been filled back in by now.  Similar to the bunker in front of 18 green at Pacific Dunes that someone asked me about.

Tom:

I think you are referring to my question about the green in front of #18 earlier in this thread.  I'm not sure how your comments apply to that bunker.  Are you saying it has been altered?  I visited twice - 2003 and 2005 - and both times the bunker in question was the same.  It wasn't so much the depth as the edges of the bunker curling in and over the airspace that made it so nasty.  As I mentioned, there seemed to be a good number of spots in that bunker where I couldn't even figure out how to take a swing at the ball.

I can post a picture if that would help.

[Chris Kurzner]

The left greenside bunker on the 6th at Pacific Dunes

That indeed is a bugger.  I left a few in there last year.  This year I'm aiming right off the tee.

[Dan Smoot]

The front right at PacDunes #18 is the bunker that I have probably played away form more so than any other.

Tom, since you started the thread, I'm interest in your thoughts on it.  

When we visited Bandon, a couple of us dropped balls in the bunker at #6 just for kicks.  We both got out, though I'm not sure either of us landed it on the green (I know I rolled off the back slope.)  The one at #18 looks like there are some spots where you couldn't even make a swing at it.  The overhanging jaws are brutal.  I might just quit my round if I ended up in there since I was on the last hole anyway.

I put myself in the bunker at PD #6 the first two times I played it.  I am not a quick learner.  It is not the worst bunker on the course to get out of but it brings to the forefront all the reasons why you don't want to be there.

I am fearful of the bunker at #18.  I am waiting for an opportunity to watch someone have a Phil Mickelson moment trying to get out of it if they are in the right spot.  It sure seems you can touch both side of the bunker just standing there.

[Tom_Doak]

Dan and Tim:

That greenside bunker on 18 at Pacific has really taken a beating over the years ... the winter wind comes right over the pro shop and scours the sand out of that one, so the middle section where it goes through the dune has been cut deep a couple of times [that part was less than a foot deep when we built it, and we've filled it in once only to have it scoured out again].  

I really have my fingers crossed that none of the matches in the Curtis Cup will end in that bunker; but, that said, they should be giving it a really wide berth.

[Tim Bert]

Tom,

I think it is safe to say that if the participants have a chance to inspect the course and end up in that bunker on #18, then they probably deserve to lose the match.  If it looks anything like it did when I was there, you simply don't miss into this bunker...



Another view from within...

[Tim Gavrich]

How do we measure the "fierceness" of a bunker?  Is it just depth and size?  I'm sure that there are many bunkers that are not terribly imposing on their own, but the length of the shot one must play out of them adds to the difficulty.  I could be wrong, but it seems that a majority of the bunkers discussed in this thread are greenside--that is, no more than 30 yard away from any pin.  Couldn't a worthy candidate be a bunker which leaves the player with 40-70 yards to the hole?  I haven't played the courses being discussed in this thread, but one bunker that comes to mind is on the 11th at Pawleys Plantation.  Seeing as it encompasses four oak trees and lies about 100 yards from the middle of the green, one must play a chip shot with an 8 iron or so to a green running away.  It's a flat bunker, but the rest of the shot dictates its fierceness.

If memory serves, theres a bunker to the right of the 5th green at Tot Hill Farm which is comparable to the DA in size (but not  depth), but is occupied by a large boulder in the right half of it.

Does not the difficulty of these bunkers change with changing hole locations?  I'll say for high certainty that changes in pin placement do not affect the difficulty of the right bunker at Yale #8.

[James Bennett]

The Devil's arsehole is not a bunker, it is a small internal out of bounds area that is front right of a delightful short par 3.

 

James B

(note - if you are unplayable in a bunker, you must either replay the shot you played into the bunker, or take relief in the bunker with a penalty shot of course.  If you have been there and do not have super-human powers then it might as well be OOB.  Apparently the Emperor is super-human, unlike that other Tommy Nakkers (the Japanese one) that had a not so brief encounter with the Road Hole bunker).