The Abstract Art of Bunker Design

[Adam_F_Collins]

Thinking about bunkers -

We are told that they exist in golf because of natural, sandy areas on the early links courses which added interest to the game.

Over time, their shapes have become abstracted, until they have taken on a visual language of their own. Many of the bunkers at Augusta National are actually quite abstracted when you compare them to the original natural forms that served as their inspiration. The "bunkers" of old - the grassy dunes and sandy "blow-outs" of the linksland have evolved to become amoebas, geometric shapes (circles and ovals), animals such as fish and monkeys, and even logos and other symbols.

Today, bunkers are areas of sand which are placed as challenges for golfers and as aesthetic aspects of the landscape design.

Two questions:

1) What are some of the most "abstract" bunker designs you have encountered - and how do you feel about them?

2) What are some of the ways in which architects have/do come up with these shapes? Are they done on the ground? Sketched? Do some architects have a sketchbook of interesting bunker shapes which they hope to utilize in designs as opportunities present themselves? - What kinds of approaches do we know of?

[Dan Herrmann]

These are great questions from back in the day.  I'm surprised Adam's post didn't get any replies back then, so let me start.

1.  I think the Jones boys have some pretty abstract bunker designs - ones that nature never would have created herself.  Unnatural, some only seem to serve to "improve" the looks of a hole.

2.  I'm assuming they're developed in design, on paper/or on a CAD tool.

I also think the question on "bunker templates" is a very good one.  Wish I knew the answer

[Jeff_Brauer]

Adam,


Good question and worth of an answer.

I think most gca's study their favorite bunkers.  I would bet MacKenzie would lead the pack in the abstract bunker field, with Thomas close behind.

That said, there is a real difference in the artistry of theirs, and the artistry of most who seek to emulate, including me.  It is probably due to dozer construction, and the tendency of dozers to cut capes and bays a little too symetrically, unless specifically guided by the architect.

When I measure attractive bunkers, the thing that struck me is that the size (width and height) of each cape or bay of bunkers were different, rather than all being a blade wide.  They can range from as little as 10 to as much as 30-45 feet wide, and each should be different than the one next to it.

I also notice the the most attractive noses come in at different angles, and not 90 degrees to the bunker floor base.  And, the high point of that nose isn't always necessarily right in the center and symetrical in shape.  Nor does it come down in a perfectly even slope, but may have some variation in it.

Lastly, good bunkers have different heights to their capes and bays, rather than all being, say 4' above the bunker base.

Dan,

I have developed bunkers by hand sketch, tracing aerial photos, and in CAD, actually taking some Dick Wilson bunkers at La Costa in CAD just to measure the items above to see what made those bunkers attractive.  I do have a collection of them I can drop in place, if desired.  It rarely works quite that easily, so I don't do it often.

Also, the final bunker design is something I always do in the field.  It usually takes me three cans of paint colors to get me to the final shape I want.

[Tom_Doak]

It is probably due to dozer construction, and the tendency of dozers to cut capes and bays a little too symetrically, unless specifically guided by the architect.

When I measure attractive bunkers, the thing that struck me is that the size (width and height) of each cape or bay of bunkers were different, rather than all being a blade wide.  They can range from as little as 10 to as much as 30-45 feet wide, and each should be different than the one next to it.

Jeff:

Well, there you go.  MacKenzie and Thomas didn't use a bulldozer to build those bunkers ... and neither do we.  Gil Hanse and I did manage to build some similar bunkers at Black Forest with a bulldozer, after going to California and pacing off the capes and bays in the bunkers at San Francisco Golf Club and Cypress Point and Riviera.  But we've been building the bunkers on our courses almost exclusively using excavators since Lost Dunes and Apache Stronghold.

[Jeff_Brauer]

TD,

Yes, with the advent of the more frilly edge design you need excavators at the very least to finish the edges.  Depending on how big the bunker is, I suspect most folks at least start with the dozer for some basic shapes.  As noted, by then, depending on the quality of the operator, it may be too late.

Of course, many, many others can affect bunker shapes after we as architects leave.

I tell the story of coming back night after night to see one of my bunkers simplified by the super, who felt it ought to be one big round circle, with a little appendage for mechanical rake exit.  I told him it looked like a pork chop, and he agreed to call it the pork chop bunker.  Every so often, I build one like that as a remembrance.

It is funny how some inspirations from bunkers come.  Every once in a while that is okay, and I have my footprint, a bear, and a few others out there to break the mold of bunker sameness.

I also consciously look for good places for multiple bunkers, clustered bunkers, oversized, undersize, and other unusual bunkers to sort of break the mold.  I always believe bunkers are far too much alike from one archie than far to different to break the style of any one course.

[Dan Herrmann]

Great info!

How much bunker placement is based on providing an actual hazard to a skilled golfer (say, a bunker placed to catch a tee shot) versus visual framing?

[Paul Gray]

Is visual appeal, for the knowledgeable GCAer at least, a result of appreciating nature working with function? In other words, is it not that we appreciate the strategic placing and shaping of a bunker in a way dictated by nature? After all, how often are many of us critical of certain bunkers which, although perfectly acceptable elsewhere, don't fit the terrain they've been implanted on.

[Colin Macqueen]

Gentlemen,

The two bunkers that, for me, bring to mind "…animals such as fish and monkeys, and even logos and other symbols."  are the pair that Ian Andrews refurbished at Highland Links:  "Muckle Mouth Meg" and "The Dragon and Fireball" originally Stanley Thompson work.

Thomas Dunne's descriptions serve them well.

On the 5th. hole The Dragon and Fireball "…..a fantastic mythical beast—a recumbent dragon with the pointy-eared head ……..its serpentine neck recoiling in order to belch forth a ball of fire."  and  "……on the sixth hole depicting “Muckle-Mouth Meg”—an allusion to a Scottish lass from a Robert Browning poem, described as a “mile-wide-mouth’d monster.”

Cheers Colin

[Jeff_Brauer]

Paul and Dan,

I am sure the answers to your questions vary with each architect and each situation presented to each architect.  I suspect most are located to primarily catch a certain type miss of the good player, but if they serve visual functions, dividing functions or other useful purposes,  I say so much the better! Given their cost to build and maintain, I certainly like to make them multi-task.

Frankly, I am with the OP in that bunkers have evolved into abstract art forms, and are judged almost completely on how artistic they are.  After all, once we leave the Scotland sea coast, there are very few courses built in natural dunes, and fewer where sheep conviently huddled to create a pit!  The are by necessity merely an abstration of those relatively limited areas in the world where they might exist naturally on a golf course.

What is a "natural" bunker location?  While there are infinte subtle variations, in modern design the simple fact is that any natural upslope can host a modern bunker.  The upslope allows the bunker to be visible to the golfer without artificially building up "support mounds" to any large degree.  If that bunker happens to be just near a green site, or LZ (just ahead, just aside, or just beyond) or maybe right in the middle, the gca can utilize it for strategy.

[Quinn Thompson]

...I wanna say Mr. MacKenzie's old "bunker man" was an Irishman named Paddy Cole, who used to look up at the clouds to draw inspiration for his bunkers...how he built them ? ...likely with whiskey and a shovel...a tale worthy of the big screen.

[JBovay]

MacKenzie and Thomas didn't use a bulldozer to build those bunkers ... and neither do we.  Gil Hanse and I did manage to build some similar bunkers at Black Forest with a bulldozer, after going to California and pacing off the capes and bays in the bunkers at San Francisco Golf Club and Cypress Point and Riviera. 

I was intrigued by Tom's statement years ago, and it returned to my mind when watching the tournament at Riviera last weekend.


Is it a coincidence that the bunkers at SFGC so closely resemble those on Thomas's and MacKenzie's courses? Was it the aesthetic style of the times, or did something about California soil dictate or encourage the style of the bunkers on these courses? When I look at photos of other Tillinghast courses, I don't see the exaggerated capes and bays style of bunkering. Maybe his original designs had similar bunkers, but they've been lost over the years?

[Thomas Dai]

A certain look for bunker edging may be in vogue for a period but how it stands up to maintenance techniques over a few years will be interesting to observe. Things tend to morph, usually towards the easiest approach and jagged edges and delicate curves tend to become straighter over time.
atb

[Joe Hancock]

A certain look for bunker edging may be in vogue for a period but how it stands up to maintenance techniques over a few years will be interesting to observe. Things tend to morph, usually towards the easiest approach and jagged edges and delicate curves tend to become straighter over time.
atb

Thomas,


This is especially true when the desire is to keep the turf surrounding the bunker as uniform as possible. If only we would allow bunch-type grasses to bunch, then those hardy plants could dictate the edge and allow some character to remain rather than become extinct by means of man and machine.

[Tom_Doak]

JBovay:


It's anything but a coincidence.  SFGC had Billy Bell do some work to their bunkers in the late 1920's, presumably because some member admired his work in Southern California.


Bell's version of the bunkers was especially frilly-edged, so the shapes didn't hold up for too long.  The iconic photo of the 13th hole (Little Tillie) is of Bell's bunkers.  We never tried to restore those edges because we were never hired to do all the bunkers at once, so it made sense to make our new work match what was currently in place.  I think it would be difficult to keep the edges like he had them for very long, anyway.

[Peter Flory]

...I wanna say Mr. MacKenzie's old "bunker man" was an Irishman named Paddy Cole, who used to look up at the clouds to draw inspiration for his bunkers...how he built them ? ...likely with whiskey and a shovel...a tale worthy of the big screen.

Clouds as inspiration. That makes sense. 

[Tom_Doak]

Just yesterday a friend mentioned that he had remarked to team Fazio that Island shapes, being fractals, might make good random bunker shapes ... so they put bunkers like the Hawaiian Islands on the 18th at Kukio.  Hard to tell from the ground, though.

[Thomas Dai]

There have been a couple of threads about amusing/risque etc bunker shapes posted herein. I particularly recall Ian Andrew posting some photo examples of Stanley Thompson's work. Depends on what angle you are viewing from though as to whether you see 'it' or not.
atb

[JBovay]

JBovay:


It's anything but a coincidence.  SFGC had Billy Bell do some work to their bunkers in the late 1920's, presumably because some member admired his work in Southern California.


Bell's version of the bunkers was especially frilly-edged, so the shapes didn't hold up for too long.  The iconic photo of the 13th hole (Little Tillie) is of Bell's bunkers.  We never tried to restore those edges because we were never hired to do all the bunkers at once, so it made sense to make our new work match what was currently in place.  I think it would be difficult to keep the edges like he had them for very long, anyway.

Got it! Thanks for the info, Tom.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Just yesterday a friend mentioned that he had remarked to team Fazio that Island shapes, being fractals, might make good random bunker shapes ... so they put bunkers like the Hawaiian Islands on the 18th at Kukio.  Hard to tell from the ground, though.

I noticed the same thing while flying over the land of 10,000 lakes a few times. 


Of course, few islands have capes and bays, they are basically jagged edge, irregularly shaped ovalish shapes, which fits the trend I see to less cape and bay, Mac inspired (think ANGC 10 FW bunker) shapes.  Overall, probably a good trend in bunker design, at least not objectionable.  Using well known islands like Hawaii is a bit much....says the guy who has shaped bunkers like giant's feet, etc.