Should sand landing on the green ever be a consideration when placing a bunker?

[ed_battye]

When considering the placement of a greenside bunker should the hazard ever be placed further away from the green for the primary reason of avoiding sand landing on the green from shots played out of the bunker?

Moving the bunker slightly away from the green has a slight (detrimental) strategic effect on the hole.

Should making the bunker deeper be a consideration?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Ed,

When USGA green specs called for a choker layer of sand, some suggested using the same sand for adjacent bunkers such that sand splash wouldn't conflict with the compositon of the green.

I've rarely seen sand splash be a real problem, although some have indicated that Merion had considerable buildup over the years, but, that buildup wasn't a substantive detriment to the golf course and playability.

[Bob_Huntley]

NO.

[TEPaul]

No.

It certainly is true though that particularly fronting bunkers do get daily sand splash which is basically like daily top-dressing which does cause constant build-up . It's provable that various bunker tops have grown even 3-4 feet over the decades and the section just over them of collar and green often turns into a bit of a turbo-boost to shots just clearly the top of the bunker.

[Jeff_Mingay]

At the Canadian Golf Superintendents Assocation convention a few years ago, I sat through a presentation by a Canadian golf architect whose entire design philosophy was based on such considerations.

"Keep greenside bunkers X number of feet from the green so sand doesn't splash on the surface. Don't bunker the side of the green where the cart path is going to be placed, so golfers have an unobstructed path to the green surface. Don't contour greens too heavily in favour of increasing speeds and pace of play... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." And so on.

This type of approach is so contrary to the principles upon which the world's greatest courses were design and constructed it's outrageous.

[Joe Hancock]

From a superintendents perspective....

The answer is still a resounding NO. If the course warrants the effort of maintaining such labor intensive things such as bunkers very close to putting surfaces, etc., then provide the resources (money), and let the super and his staff do his job. If the super takes the lazy way out and moves the mow pattern, lay down the law or get someone who will do the job properly.

Now, wasn't that easy?

Joe