Unfortunately, for some reason all the photos come up an "x" in a box on my screen, so I can't comment on them directly. But I did just get back from a week on site ...
I do agree with the viewers who think the "eye candy" quotient of the bunkers is a little high; I've been a bit concerned by this from the beginning. Nevertheless, I like the look of it, so I haven't dialed it back too much. My opening instructions were to try for the "Valley Club" look and I think these are a pretty good imitation of that.
I'm also on record that bunker styling overrated in people's evaluation of golf courses, particularly here on GCA. But, clients seem to like the jazzy stuff, too, and everyone seems to be more impressed by Friars Head than Austin Golf Club, where Ben Crenshaw deliberately scaled back the bunker look. I'm not going for the "Mackenzie look" everywhere, but we wanted to do something a bit flashier than Stonewall I, without getting carried away.
I wouldn't agree that we've put in any bunkers that don't have a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is visual -- simply to overload one side of a green complex and either draw the eye to that side or frighten the player away -- but I think that all of them will affect the play of Stonewall members.
Credits:
Don Placek has been design associate on the project, and has edited some of the bunkers, as have I. Kye Goalby has dug the majority of bunkers on the trackhoe, although Eric Iverson and Brian Schneider have also created a few, and I just finished building a couple myself! And Kyle Franz, who was an intern at Pacific Dunes, has been the foreman of the labor crew to do all the edges and floors. (And, for the record, none of them worked at Merion.)