[Jeff_Brauer]

Mark,


As I was typing the bit about raising bunker bases, I was thinking of a few bunkers on flat ground where the controlling element was the distance the drain tile had to run to the creek.  Sometimes, you need to raise the bunker floor just for that reason.  I mean, if that tile goes in at or below normal steam level, the bunker fills with water too often, leading to bad conditions.  You want the tile to run in near the top of a stream bank, so it drains in normal rains.  And, you don't want small tiles running at flat slopes, because they tend to clog.  In so many cases, hazards other than sand bunkers make a lot more sense near streams.


At La Costa, we considered sand bunkers on the 9th and 18th greens, but converted both to grass hollows (including one that is inspired by the Church Pews) deeming sand bunkers as impractical so close to the stream.  Of course, some would ask, why not just make the stream the hazard, but moving an existing green closer to the creek is a no-no from hydrology/flooding standpoint.


Short version - I agree with your posts that designing, locating, etc. sand bunkers involves a lot more than pure golf theory.

[Thomas Dai]

Is it likely that the rule change about bunkers effective 1st Jan 2019, ie drop out under a two stroke penalty, likely to effect the positioning, design, construction, maintenance of fairway bunkers in relation to all categories of player from big strong buck tour players to aged, low strength high hcp/ novice super-seniors? What about if it were only a one stroke penalty to drop out?
Atb

[Tim Gavrich]

In preparation for a tournament this week at The Fox Club in Palm City, FL, I went through the course on Google Earth from the tees I anticipate playing and in almost every case of a hole with a fairway bunker, I decided on a strategy whereby I'd lay up short of said bunker, because the longest club I anticipate having into any green is a 7 iron or so. It looks like I'm only going to hit ~3 drivers, because the fairway bunkers sit right where I'd land a driver and pinch the fairway enough to where the potential decline in approach shot distance doesn't seem worth it (e.g. I'd rather take the added difficulty of an iron vs. a PW relative to the added difficulty of hitting the pinched-in fairway vs. hitting to the fairway's wider point shy of the bunker).


I haven't played the course, but this makes me think the fairway bunkers are not serving their proper purpose, if all they're doing is blocking me from hitting a longer shot off the tee. Or is this an example of these bunkers indeed fulfilling a strategic purpose?


I'll be interested to see whether my playing partners will take these fairway bunkers on more readily.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Tim,


They say playing defense wins championships.  In football, but probably golf, too. 


I would probably wait until I saw the bunkers in 3D.  If shallow enough, maybe they are worth challenging.  If your driver is on (or off) that day, it might affect your strategy.  If your opponents are consistently putting wedge to five feet while your 7 iron isn't giving you enough birdie chances, you might change your strategy, etc.


That said, Tiger seemed to have pre-determined NOT to hit driver the last time he won the Open.   But, he was among the longest hitters out there, so laying up was a luxury he could afford, too.


Overall, though, yours is a good example of why I don't make the fairway hazards overly difficult, it discourages aggressive play, which is a high price to pay to artificially keep scores high, at least IMHO.  I agree the hazards placement are counter intuitive to strategy, based on your description.  Driver or lay up isn't really the only strategy you want to create with fw hazards, it gets boring.


It is also an example of why I use more math in my designs that some architects.  We know from many studies how much width low handicap ams need to hit the fw 66% of the time with their typical shots.  Pinch the fw much less than that, and the only logical play is to lay up.  Boring!

[Jeff_Brauer]

While there is no exact definition for a "good fairway bunker", the topic is great and one that should be covered in a good book 

Mark,



Your shameless self plug made me spend lunch re-reading your now classic book on hazards.  Lots of great stuff in there, including the survey of so many Golden Age architects on what they thought made for a good bunker.


A lot of thought goes into bunker design, and your summary of the 7 great attributes, i.e., placement, aesthetics, Naturalness, Deception/Illusion, Variety, Option Creation, and Promotes Ground Game (?) illustrates how multi faceted any attempted answer might be.  Also, the rankings of Ross, Mac and Tillie as to the importance (or quality of results) they placed on the various categories suggests each architect answers with a different blend of thoughts. No surprise that Tillie and Mac outshone Ross on aesthetics.


Again, good stuff.

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