Best artificial beach bunkers

« **on:** July 04, 2009, 03:58:31 AM »

HI,

Just wondering if there have ever been any really great artificial 'beach' (or sandy lake edge) bunkers built? Usually they sit wet and look out of place. Can anybody provide photos of great man-made beach bunkers where the water is lapping up against the sand?

scott

« **Reply #1 on:** July 04, 2009, 11:07:43 AM »

Estancia has one left of the green on a par 5 on the back nine, I think 15. The bunker just fades into the pond. It looks great, but is a bit unusual for a desert course. There are a few very expensive houses on the other side of the pond, and I guess that the bunker paid for itself many times over when the lots were originally sold.

« **Reply #2 on:** July 04, 2009, 12:10:53 PM »

I think the very first beach bunker I saw was at Doral (Blue) and it is still the prettiest I have seen...

« **Reply #3 on:** July 04, 2009, 12:48:48 PM »

I believe that the beach bunker at Doral is no longer there. It's al grass around those palm trees.

True Blue in Pawleys Island has a few beach bunkers/waste areas that are nicely tied in, I'd say.

« **Reply #4 on:** July 04, 2009, 02:15:09 PM »

Caledonia has several really cool ones. Those are the first ones I can remember ever seeing and still my favorite to this day.

« **Reply #5 on:** July 04, 2009, 06:11:30 PM »

Isn't there one at Bandon Trails? I believe it is hole #6, the long uphill hole. There is the pond on the left, but the first bunker on the right fades right into a little pond of its own. I dont know if it is always like that, but it certainly was when I played it in march... First time I had ever seen a "beach bunker".

« **Reply #6 on:** July 04, 2009, 10:18:17 PM »

Scott,
There are many great ones, #14 at Pine Valley immediately comes to mind. Don't have time to post photos.
Mark

« **Reply #7 on:** July 04, 2009, 11:05:54 PM »

Legends On The Niagara has one on the Battlefield course, near Niagara Falls, Ontario.

« **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2009, 12:04:56 AM »

I don't have a picture, but #14 at Tobacco Road has one that blends fairly naturally into the water and back into the green surround.

« **Reply #9 on:** July 05, 2009, 04:10:40 AM »

Quote from: Mark_Fine on July 04, 2009, 10:18:17 PM

Scott,
There are many great ones, #14 at Pine Valley immediately comes to mind. Don't have time to post photos.
Mark

Hi Mark,

Yeah, that is a good one, but is it natural or artificial? As that site is naturally sandy, I suspect it may be natural sand. As I am sure you are aware, making beach bunkers becomes a lot harder when you have to consider lining the bunkers, draining them, dealing with variable water heights etc.

scott

« **Reply #10 on:** July 05, 2009, 10:49:59 AM »

There seem to be 100's around the Chicagoland area as in the late 1980's Dick Nugent went on a Beach Bunker tear.

« **Reply #11 on:** July 05, 2009, 11:19:40 AM »

Pat,

Yes he was! I think he did some at Sand Creek in Chesterton, IN in 1974. There was one at Kemper Lakes in 1977 and I recall one at Briarwood (now maligned as not fitting the rest of the course about 1980)

It did seem like a neat idea. I even continued it after starting on my own for a while. I have one at Tierra Santa in Weslaco, TX Stallion Mtn. in Las Vegas, NV and a few others. I have heard reports that nearly all of them have been taken out. As mentioned, the bottoms don't drain and get sloppy. If you look at the Doral photo, you can see its really raised a foot or so above water to avoid that, but apparently wave action or some other factor still caused it to be removed.

I have trouble imagining that Strantz or anyone else can get them to work any better than I could! As such, while a neat and different feature, they will probably dissappear for a generation until some young gca comes up with what he/she thinks is a "new idea" about 2055. And then, the process will begin again!

« **Reply #12 on:** July 05, 2009, 11:25:12 AM »

Quote from: Jeff_Brauer on July 05, 2009, 11:19:40 AM

Pat,

Yes he was! I think he did some at Sand Creek in Chesterton, IN in 1974. There was one at Kemper Lakes in 1977 and I recall one at Briarwood (now maligned as not fitting the rest of the course about 1980)

It did seem like a neat idea. I even continued it after starting on my own for a while. I have one at Tierra Santa in Weslaco, TX Stallion Mtn. in Las Vegas, NV and a few others. I have heard reports that nearly all of them have been taken out. As mentioned, the bottoms don't drain and get sloppy. If you look at the Doral photo, you can see its really raised a foot or so above water to avoid that, but apparently wave action or some other factor still caused it to be removed.

I have trouble imagining that Strantz or anyone else can get them to work any better than I could! As such, while a neat and different feature, they will probably dissappear for a generation until some young gca comes up with what he/she thinks is a "new idea" about 2055. And then, the process will begin again!

Nugent placed one on the 17th hole of Wilmette GC (the par-5) and it couldn't look more out of place than in Wilmette, IL

It's a nice idea in principal, but in the end at Wilmette, it became a ideal place for goose poop to float ashore.

« **Reply #13 on:** November 26, 2024, 07:24:52 PM »

I played Bay Hill this past weekend and was disappointed to see the beach bunker on the 17th hole was grassed over.

Who is current consulting architect?

« **Reply #14 on:** November 26, 2024, 10:05:17 PM »

I could swear that I just saw a beach bunker the other day, but maybe I dreamed it? Old Barnwell and The Tree Farm don’t have water hazards, and we certainly didn’t build a beach bunker at Pinehurst #10.

« **Reply #15 on:** November 26, 2024, 11:52:28 PM »

JCB by Duncan Chrslett, on Flickr

Does this count?

« **Reply #16 on:** **Yesterday** at 04:21:06 PM »

Wow this thread goes way back! I remember losing a project a long time ago over beach bunkers. A very vocal member tried to tell me that beach bunkers were Not a classic design feature. In my Master Plan, I proposed replacing a formal bunker they had along a water feature with a more natural looking beach bunker and he thought I didn’t know what I was doing (at least he was sure it wasn’t a classic feature). I hate to argue with members but when I showed him and the rest of the master planning committee photos of Pine Valley #14 and then multiple pictures of classic links courses built along estuaries with their natural beach bunkers he got up and walked out of the room. I learned it is best not to embarrass members even if they think they know it all $:-\$

« **Reply #17 on:** **Yesterday** at 05:10:38 PM »

Way back Scott asked for natural-looking artificial beach bunkers...
The Doral image is close as it looks like a beach first.

To me, the 14th at Pine Valley looks like a natural beach with a green on it, not a beach bunker.

« **Reply #18 on:** **Yesterday** at 05:15:36 PM »

Bulls Bay has them on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th up against the salt marsh. Talked to one of the assistants about the grasses along those holes. I would think they would get a lot of salt kill and they aren't Paspalum. He said the bunker/waste areas will get water but the fairways won't unless a hurricane hits. They also have a back up green on the 3rd. I've played the course twice and played them both.

« **Reply #19 on:** **Yesterday** at 11:28:03 PM »

Cape Hole at NGLA

« **Reply #20 on:** **Today** at 03:13:23 AM »

Quote from: PCCraig on July 05, 2009, 10:49:59 AM

There seem to be 100's around the Chicagoland area as in the late 1980's Dick Nugent went on a Beach Bunker tear.

Yeah I used to play a Nugent course in the Rockford area called Aldeen that had a bunch of them.

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