The Old Course Bunkering

[Mike Hendren]

Is too much made of The Old Course's bunkering?  In 2 rounds there I only found two of them - Shell at the 7th and the small pot right of Stroke on the 12th - after thinly played shots.  I had expected to hit into them randomly and frequently.  

Similarly, the fact that Tiger avoided them throughout the 2000 Open is interesting.  Is this out of respect, or irrelevance?  

Tommy,

In case you read this, I post this for discussion purposes only.  The Old Course remains my favorite golf course in the world.  Please don't IM me and take me to task

Mike

[Bill_McBride]

You did better than me.  In one round last May I was in three bunkers and made two doubles and a bogey.  The only play was sideways and it took a well nipped lob wedge to escape.  Anyone who plays TOC needs to carry a lob wedge just in case!  

I was in Hell Bunker and the Road Bunker just for photo purposes, thank heavens!

But I was in the Scholars Bunker on the Road Hole on my second shot, which is an automatic double.

[ForkaB]

This is a good thread.

When I played a month or so ago, I was only in one bunker (although I was there for some time....).  My playing partners, who ranged from 5 to 10 or so, were similarly relatively unaffected by the sand, as I remember.  I actually tried to Naccaratize the bunker in front of the 11th, but fatted it and ended up short!

Those bunkers at TOC are highly overrated.......

[THuckaby2]

They are overrated only until you get in them.

Tom "one round hitting few if any bunkers and firing an easy 73, another round getting in one horrid spot and taking 5 shots to get out, the day I take an unplayable at The Old Course is the day I hang it up forever" Huckaby.

 

ps - yes, people do have rounds where they are missed - it surely can be done, even by us mortals - and then they seem like no big deal.  But they are such a big penalty when found that they do need to be accounted for - and once one pays a stiff penalty like I did, forever is it burned in his memory - and no one does avoid it forever - such is one of the many cool things about this wonderful wacky mystical golf course.

[Jeff_Mingay]

I played back in April and was surprised not to hit into one bunker at the Old Course either.

[THuckaby2]

Jeff - again, just wait until you do get in one in a nasty place.  If you continue to play there, it WILL happen.  Then just like turning to the dark side, forever will it dominate your destiny.

[Brent Hutto]

So is there a place for bunkering that is as punishing as the Old Course in modern American golf course design? Or is a bunker that must be avoided at all costs (even by the strongest players) anathema to an architect building a course nowadays?

[THuckaby2]

Ooooh.......

That is one hell of a great question, Brent.

My thinking is that this works at The Old Course, because it's The Old Course and need follow no rules.

But incorporate this elsewhere and well... a little goes a long way.  That is, it's ok on a few holes, but do it every hole and all you have is pissed-off golfers, for the most part.  There would be a select few who find it cool, but most people wouldn't get it.

TH

[Brent Hutto]

And we won't even get into the question of putting such a bunker directly in line between the tee and the green...on a hole that's not a dogleg. A hole like that would survive about six weeks after opening before a dumptrunk and bulldozer showed up to correct such an obviously mistaken arrangement. It wouldn't be real golf at all with a stupid bunker right where a good driver shot would land.

[ForkaB]

Brent

As I tried to explore in another thread, if you are looking for a hazard that must "be avoided at all costs," why not use a pond instead of a bunker?  At least you don't have to rake the pond every day......

[BCrosby]

Rich is onto something here.

First, you damn the Swilcan Burn. That gives you a big lake along the left side of the Road Hole.

The damn would be easy to build and you get, at no extra expense, a hole that plays as a reverse 18th at the TPC in Ponte Vedra. With some imaginative work in the dirt, you might flood the Road Hole bunker as well. And there it is, an entirely new hole.  Pete Dye in Scotland. And on the cheap. So what's not to like?

But we aren't done. Consider the 18th at TOC. Yes, you guessed it. It would all be under water right up to and including the Valley of Sin. Think of it, the whole #@+* annoying fairway would be nothing but a broad, shimmering lake.

Finally, think of what this would do for real estate values. Condos on the road along the rightside of the 18th fairway could be sold with "lake views."

It's all too perfect.

Bob

 

[Mike_Cirba]

Rich is onto something here.

First, you damn the Swilcan Burn. That gives you a large lake along the left side of Road Hole.

The damn would be inexpensive to build and you get, at no extra expense, a hole that plays as a reverse 18th at the TPC in Ponte Vedra. Yes, an entirely new hole. With some imaginative work in the dirt, you might flood the Road Hole bunker as well. Pete Dye in Scotland. And on the cheap. What's not to like?

But we aren't done. Consider the 18th at TOC. Yes, you guessed it. It would all be under water right up to and including the Valley of Sin. Think of it, the whole #@+* annoying fairway would be nothing but a broad, shimmering lake.

Finally, think of what this would do for real estate values. Condos on the road along the rightside of the 18th fairway could be sold with "lake views."

It's all too perfect.

Bob

 

Bob,

You're becoming as cynical about some of this stuff as me.  That's generally not a good thing.  

I was thinking more of digging a tributary from the Eden River right down the middle of the course, essentially splitting the inbound and outbound nines.  That way, formerly cautious play away from the bunkers (mostly along the right side) would be severely punished.

Only the straight ball would survive and all would be right in God's great world.  

[Brent Hutto]

I was thinking more of digging a tributary from the Eden River right down the middle of the course, essentially splitting the inbound and outbound nines.  That way, formerly cautious play away from the bunkers (mostly along the right side) would be severely punished.

Only the straight ball would survive and all would be right in God's great world.  

Hey, you could even hold a US Open there. Great.

[Mike_Cirba]

Brent,

BINGO.

[BCrosby]

I'm not being 100% cynical nor was Rich being even 50% serious.

It can be fun to rebuild famous holes in your head, starting with the nuttiest ideas and working back to the real world. I don't get out much.

With most great holes, after you've taken your little voyage through fantasy land, you end up with a new appreciation of the original hole and why it works so well.

Bob

[Bill_McBride]

Speaking of unspeakable bunkers, I forget who said this but it is classic:  "A bunker just big enough for an angry man and his niblick!"