Best Bunkerless Holes

[Matthew Mollica]

Another vote for 14 @ NSW.

MM

[Marty Bonnar]

I HAVE to throw in a little quiet vote for Kingsbarns #10. You wouldn't expect anything less, would you?

Playing this hole is always a splendid unfolding story. The combo of that fairly narrow fairway LZ then the steep uphill approach defended by two of those big lateral 'eyebrows' to a green with a massive two-tier front-right to back-left formation which is a scream to putt on really tickles my golf funny bone.

I love the hole, but it really divided opinions of players I caddied for. I'd like to hear the thoughts of other GCAers who have played it.

FBD.

[Kyle Harris]

My votes are:
12th at Merion West
3rd/4th/5th at Cobbs Creek

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Ballybunion 11th is one of the great bunkerless par 4s and, if I remember correctly, the 6th and 7th are also bunkerless.

The whole of Royal Ashdown is bunkerless, so there are many great candidates there, the 7th an outstanding par 4.

I'd add the 5th at Royal Worlington to the list of great bunkerless short holes.

[Dan Boerger]

14th, 15th and 18th at the Yahnundasis (Travis, New Hartford, NY).

14th is the best of the bunch IMO -- blind approach to a punchbowl green. Like a night landing in fog, this is a good example of how you need to trust your numbers -- the distance of the club in your hand.

[Rich Goodale]

The 14th at Royal Dornoch is by far the best bunkerless hole in the world, even though it is only the second best par 4 at Dornoch.

[Kyle Christensen]

I'll nominate the 12th at Medinah. very tough dogleg right par 4 with a great sloping fairway to a very difficult green. Always was my favorite hole out there.

[Chris Cupit]

Seems like there are a lot of very good bunkerless par 3s, not many par 4s and even fewer par 5s.  Linville has 3 bunkerless par 4s (#2, #3 and #10).  The best of the lot is the 472 yard 3rd:

Ed,

I really enjoy Linville and will be a bit of a contrarian by preferring #2 to #3.  The unbelievable crowned green on #2 messes so much with all levels of players even though the drive is often a lay up off the tee and the approach is rarely over 150 yards.

I've never seen so many scratch players miss a green with wedges!

#3 is prettier with the creek and elevation change but it is such a hard hole and plays so long that the terrain on the edges of the green is not as feared like #2 (most players end up well short of #3).

#10 is a green and hole that is not very good given today's green speeds.  Very gimmicky.

[Bill_McBride]

The 14th at Royal Dornoch is by far the best bunkerless hole in the world, even though it is only the second best par 4 at Dornoch.

And the winner is?

#2?
#3?
#4?
#7?
#8?
#10?
#11?
#15?
#16?
#17?
#18?

[Bart Bradley]

Grandfather's 15 is its only bunkerless hole...it also happens to be one of its best.

The creek provides an interesting and strategic hazard and the green is devilish and sited beautifully...here are a couple of pics in addition to the ones on Ran's profile:






For what its worth, I agree with Ed that the best of the bunkerless par 4s at Linville is #3 --what a natural gem of a hole.

Bart

[Cristian]

Ballybunion 11th is one of the great bunkerless par 4s and, if I remember correctly, the 6th and 7th are also bunkerless.

The whole of Royal Ashdown is bunkerless, so there are many great candidates there, the 7th an outstanding par 4.

I'd add the 5th at Royal Worlington to the list of great bunkerless short holes.

Mark,

I like your reply.

I second Ballybunion 11, although RPR5 and 8 are excellent as well, and as for par 5's (of which very few are bunkerless) I nominate Royal Ashdown Forest no 12, which uses a band of heather to defend the second shot, if laid up. Does anyone know of other good par 5's which are bunkerless (apart from already mentioned Baltray no. 3, which I haven't played yet)? To be complete: Calamity wins it for me in the par 3 category.

[Ed Oden]

Chris Cupit, the green on #2 at Linville is one of the most subtly challenging I have seen anywhere.  But for me, the tee shot is a bit lacking.  So I still give the edge to #3 since I think it is superior tee to green.  That being said, I can't really argue with anyone who prefers #2. 

Bart, I agree #15 at Grandfather is very good.  Not sure I am ready to declare it the best hole on the course.  But its definitely in the discussion.

Do crowned greens work particularly well on bunkerless holes?  Not only do they fit the natural simplicity that is often endemic to bunkerless holes, they also provide a defense in the absence of other hazards.

Ed

[Rich Goodale]

The 14th at Royal Dornoch is by far the best bunkerless hole in the world, even though it is only the second best par 4 at Dornoch.

And the winner is?

#2?
#3?
#4?
#7?
#8?
#10?
#11?
#15?
#16?
#17?
#18?

4--partly due to the great bunkerless tee shot.....

[James Boon]

...

Speaking of Burnham, last weekend I made the 1st look like child's play.  In the icey, frosty conditions I hit driver straight through the gap and to putting range - one of the longest drives I have ever hit - something like 360 yards.  Not quite as far my 400 yarder at the 14th of North Wales (in what  am sure you can guess were very dry and windy conditions), but this is winter afterall!


When are we gonna get a game at Burnham?  I keep waiting for the long awaited email.  Let me know when you are playing Kington - perhaps I can join you.

Ciao

Sean,

Thats some tee shot on the first! Hopefully we will play Burnham soon (or Kington) but finding it difficult to get down to Somerset at the moment. Work, life etc etc... The 4th at Burnham is a bunkerless par 5 but while I wouldn't want to add any bunkers to change it, I'm not sure its a great bunkerless hole, a little bland off the tee perhaps though I do like the raised green. Speaking of which...

I second Ballybunion 11, although RPR5 and 8 are excellent as well, and as for par 5's (of which very few are bunkerless) I nominate Royal Ashdown Forest no 12, which uses a band of heather to defend the second shot, if laid up. Does anyone know of other good par 5's which are bunkerless (apart from already mentioned Baltray no. 3, which I haven't played yet)? To be complete: Calamity wins it for me in the par 3 category.

Cristian,

There was a brief discussion on bunkerless par 5s on here about 6 months ago...
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35335.0.html
As we are finding on this thread, there dont appear to be many but there are a few other par 5s are mentioned and also a couple of photos (including 3rd green at Baltray).

Cheers,

James

[Sean_A]

...

Speaking of Burnham, last weekend I made the 1st look like child's play.  In the icey, frosty conditions I hit driver straight through the gap and to putting range - one of the longest drives I have ever hit - something like 360 yards.  Not quite as far my 400 yarder at the 14th of North Wales (in what  am sure you can guess were very dry and windy conditions), but this is winter afterall!


When are we gonna get a game at Burnham?  I keep waiting for the long awaited email.  Let me know when you are playing Kington - perhaps I can join you.

Ciao

Sean,

Thats some tee shot on the first! Hopefully we will play Burnham soon (or Kington) but finding it difficult to get down to Somerset at the moment. Work, life etc etc... The 4th at Burnham is a bunkerless par 5 but while I wouldn't want to add any bunkers to change it, I'm not sure its a great bunkerless hole, a little bland off the tee perhaps though I do like the raised green. Speaking of which...

I second Ballybunion 11, although RPR5 and 8 are excellent as well, and as for par 5's (of which very few are bunkerless) I nominate Royal Ashdown Forest no 12, which uses a band of heather to defend the second shot, if laid up. Does anyone know of other good par 5's which are bunkerless (apart from already mentioned Baltray no. 3, which I haven't played yet)? To be complete: Calamity wins it for me in the par 3 category.

Cristian,

There was a brief discussion on bunkerless par 5s on here about 6 months ago...
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35335.0.html
As we are finding on this thread, there dont appear to be many but there are a few other par 5s are mentioned and also a couple of photos (including 3rd green at Baltray).

Cheers,

James

James

The 4th has really grown on me because the player has to go in search of the fairway (and do some guessing if there is wind about) rather than it just cozying up to the tee.  Of course, the 4th also has the advantage of limitless angles off the tee.  Though I do agree that it isn't a great hole, but it ticks a lot of boxes as a good reachable par 5. 

Since you haven't been down in a spell things have changed.  There are three new bunkers on #8 tucked into the fold of the left side dune.  I am not sure about this change.  I think the bunkers should start probably 25 yards further up as at the moment they don't really come into play for the flat bellies.  Also, the two bunkers short and right on #11 have been shifted over to the left - narrowing the approach gap to the green.  Again, these won't often trouble the flat bellies, but I like the change.  Before they seemed just sort of hanging out there in no mans land ala Merion style.  There is also talk of putting a bunker into the right dune at the gap on #1.  As you know, its a sandy, scrubby waste area so I am not sure what a bunker accomplishes other than to practically eliminate any chance of reaching the green from there.  I don't think its worth the money to this especially as the gap is so narrow anyway - anything right is already blind over the dune. 

One more nomination for bunkerless holes and I think the best at Burnham, #12. 


Ciao

[Matt Frey, PGA]

The one best bunkerless hole that I have played is No. 1 on Bethpage's Red Course.

Photo courtesy of the Bausch Collection:

[Brent Hutto]

Ran's profile refers to the fifteenth at Harlech as one "with few peers" and I totally agree. Just about the best Par 4-1/2 hole I've ever played, here's Ran's photo of the fairway you're trying to hit off the elevated tee.



I guarantee any course built today on that bit of land would have a bunker either on the dunes long/left of the fairway (where you see the yellow bushes) or somewhere "guarding" the inside of the dogleg. Or both.

[Alex Cameron]

#7 at Rolling Green

I know that the bunkers about 50 yards short and to the right of the green are newer, but was under the impression that the greenside bunker on the left side is part of the original design (that, or it's been around for quite a while). Is this incorrect? That front left bunker seems to fit the hole well.

[Thomas Dai]

Here's a few other than the 14th-Foxy at Royal Dornoch and the 1st and 18th at TOC to add to the mix -

The par-3 6th at Painswick - in fact, every hole at Painswick.
.....and every hole at nearby Minchinhampton Old.
Many a hole, most in fact, at Perranporth.
1st, 4th, 12th and 14th at Burnham & Berrow (Championship course)
8th/17th at Burnham & Berrow's Channel Course, actually just about any hole on the Channel Course (except the bunkered par-5 4th).
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and now 17th at Enniscrone.
3rd, 6th, 12th, 14th, 17th and 18th at Carne
All holes (except the 3rd) at The Bann, Castlerock
17th at County Sligo/Rosses Point (don't care for the hole myself but it's bunkerless and others like it)
5th, 6th, 8th and 14th at Royal Portrush Dunluce
1st, 5th, 7th, 9th and 17th at Portstewart (Strand)
7th, 8th, 9th and 17th at Narin & Portnoo.
1st, 6th, 14th and 16th at Portsalon
5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th and 12th at Dunfanaghy
3rd, 8th, 15th and 17th at Rosapenna (SH)
7th (RH green) at Rosapenna (OTM)
5th and 7th Ballyliffin (Old)
1st at Brora.
7th at Golspie.
7th, 8th, 15th at Cruden Bay (Am I the only one who likes this hole?!) plus the 16th too.
1st at St Olaf (Cruden Bay)
All at Kington.
1st, 3rd, 12th and 16th at Aberdyfi.
4th and 12th at Tenby.
4th/13th and the amazing adverse cambered green 8th/17th at St David's City - anyone other than Neil W know it?
5th at Bewdley Pines - anyone played it? 'The Snake', aptly named. 290 par-4. Crazy hole.

atb

[Frank Giordano]

On a visit to Barton Creek resort in Austin, Texas, last year, I played the Coore - Crenshaw course and made notes on my scorecard about each of the holes.  When I finished the round, I recall noting that several holes on the front side had no bunkers.  I've lost the card, so cannot say which they were.  What was so surprising, however, was that while playing, I hardly missed  the bunkers, as the rolling, undulant terrain and, especially, the large contoured greens were sufficient challenge that bunkers were unnecessary.  I recall noting on my card that Crenshaw probably figured that his greens would create enough heartburn that the addition of bunkers could only be called cruel and unnecessary punishment.

Anyone have a scorecard that notes which of the front nine are without bunkers?

[K Rafkin]

Just for kicks I was recently going though some yardage books i had lying around.  Unsurprisingly just about every hole had a bunker or twenty.  The hole that stood out the most (that wasnt previously mentioned) was 8 at chambers bay.  Most bunkerless holes i see are par 3s with a few 4s and even less 5s.  The 8th at chambers is a straight forward par 5 (will play 614 yrds for the open) that runs from north to south at the highest point on the course. Although it kinda feels like one of those "get me back in the direction of the clubhouse" 8th holes i really do enjoy it. 

[Bill_McBride]

On a visit to Barton Creek resort in Austin, Texas, last year, I played the Coore - Crenshaw course and made notes on my scorecard about each of the holes.  When I finished the round, I recall noting that several holes on the front side had no bunkers.  I've lost the card, so cannot say which they were.  What was so surprising, however, was that while playing, I hardly missed  the bunkers, as the rolling, undulant terrain and, especially, the large contoured greens were sufficient challenge that bunkers were unnecessary.  I recall noting on my card that Crenshaw probably figured that his greens would create enough heartburn that the addition of bunkers could only be called cruel and unnecessary punishment.

Anyone have a scorecard that notes which of the front nine are without bunkers?

No but I think it's 1, 3, 6, 8 and 9.  One of my favorite courses, which I greatly prefer to the overrated Fazio Foothills course.  

The most interesting thing to me about the course is the numerous greens that slope front to back, laid very naturally over the terrain. 

[Will Lozier]

The 8th at Kebo Valley is laid beautifully over tumbling land along Kebo Brook.  One of the best long two-shotters I know of anywhere.  In the summer, when KV can get burnt out, it plays best, especially when the wind picks up.  The tee shot needs to carry a valley to reach the fairway which has tons of movement.  Too far left and your second is blind.  Too far to the right and even a slightly pulled approach can easily be ushered into the brook by the right to left slope of the land. A properly played draw with a long iron, running onto the green and feeding to a left pin is one of the most satisfying shots I can think of.  To boot, the view of Dorr and Cadillac Mtns. in the background and the little cemetery behind you makes that tee box is one of my favorites spots.

http://www.barharbormotel.com/bhm_images/kebo_8th.jpg

PS - stupid cart path!

[Paul Gray]

Liphook 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 16th (?) and 17th. Take your pick.

[Adam Lawrence]

Askernish, with only four bunkers, has a pile of great bunker less holes. Take your pick from the seventh, possibly the most natural hole I've ever seen, the eighth, ninth and eleventh.