Small, shallow bunkers

[Mark Pearce]

Gary like Tom you seek to want to make life easy for the golfer, but my point is that golf is a challenge. There are times that a shallow bunker suddenly becomes an aid rather than a hazard, thus assisting the golfer on his way, so what is the point?

Melvyn

I have never met an average golfer who would consider a small shallow bunker an aid!  Never!

I agree.

As a low handicapper, I'm not particularly afraid of any bunker. I don't necessarily play for them but if the only deterrent to, say, trying to go for a par 5 in two, is sand, then I'm more than happy to take that chance.

But this is simply not so for virtually everyone with a handicap over about 9, which is to say 95% of golfers. To most, any sand is dreaded, no matter how deep the bunker is.

It never fails to astonish me how much the low handicappers on this site know about being a mid or high handicapper and how they know we all have the same game.  It certainly doesn't look that way to me.  But what do I know, I'm just a crap mid 'capper.  I play with a bunch of guys with handicaps from 8 to 15.  I think it's fair to say that none of us "dreads" sand.  Shallow bunkers are utterly pointless (except for the one or two specific situations identified above) for a player like most of my golfing mates.  Indeed, I'd rather be in a shallow fairway bunker than 2 inch rough.

[Scott Warren]

Tom

What are the basics or origins of shallow bunkers, dwarf sheep perhaps

Melvyn

Can you list the bunkers on UK links courses that reached their current condition through natural causes?

If sheep are capable of revetment they are certainly deserving of more respect (and monitoring) than they currently receive.

[Tom_Doak]

First of all we are talking around the issues.  Even a deep bunker in America plays like a shallow one, because the sand is so perfectly groomed and because the green committee wants it to be fair and offer a chance of recovery ... whereas there are some sand areas at Pine Valley you could putt out of, if it weren't for all the footprints!

Melvyn is a proponent of "one size fits all" so I don't see the point of arguing with him about it ... that's his viewpoint on the subject, and he's entitled to it.  I have to take a somewhat different view, cognizant of the fact that not every piece of golf terrain is suited to the types of bunkers he's used to in Scotland. 

A shallow bunker is not necessarily without penalty, though.  For greenside bunkers, a shallow bunker can provide plenty of difficulty if the edge contours and the contours of the green are working against you.  I played Crystal Downs yesterday with a guest and we both saw some fiendishly difficult bunker shots from what Melvyn might dismiss as relatively benign bunkers, such as the back bunker on #1, the back right bunker on #3, the left greenside bunker on #13 [downhill lie in the sand, green sloping sharply away from you], and the right greenside bunker on #15.

Likewise, a shallow bunker forty or fifty yards from the putting surface is just as difficult (and arguably MORE difficult) than a deep bunker in the same location ... for the same reason that a stretch of short grass near the green is sometimes more difficult than if it were rough, because it gets you thinking too much about alternatives.

Fairway bunkers are a different story, as I posted earlier.  There are three types:  very shallow so you can reach the green if you can just strike the ball cleanly; deep enough that you're going to have to wedge out; or the in-between bunkers where you take a risk if you try for the green.  I have built some of each, but I'm fondest of the last type.

[Jim_Kennedy]

A shallow bunker is not much different than a sand filled divot, and I've never seen anyone happy about landing in one of those.

Sand is sand, and there are always going to be variables when hitting from it.

[Steve Salmen]

I'm generally not afraid of greenside bunkers except for one thing and that is how small, shallow bunkers can be punishing: the stance.  It is easier to brush up against the side of the trap in a small bunker, creating a very uncomfortable, awkward stance for the player.  Sometimes it's impossible to hit it out.  A small bunker can turn a relatively simple up and down into a nightmare by mere inches.  That being said, I think the downhill bunker shot is about the most difficult in golf.

As for fairway bunkers (I always speak as a player, not architect), I always have the intention of missing the shot thin if there is no lip, and a little fat to get out of the bunker if there is one to carry.

[Matthew Petersen]

As i said above, I'm a pretty good player from the sand and as a hazard it doesn't particularly scare me, but what Tom Doak said got me thinking ....

The one kind of sand shot I really don't like is a short shot from a shallow greenside bunker. A deeper bunker is generally preferrable for that kind of shot, because I know I can take a big swing and get it out with a lot of spin. That's not a shot I'm as confident in from a shallow bunker.

I thinking in particular of "high side" bunkers, where the sand is not only shallow but the green is running away from you.

[Carl Rogers]

....
Fairway bunkers are a different story, as I posted earlier.  There are three types:  very shallow so you can reach the green if you can just strike the ball cleanly; deep enough that you're going to have to wedge out; or the in-between bunkers where you take a risk if you try for the green.  I have built some of each, but I'm fondest of the last type.

Riverfront's fairway bunkers are consistent with this approach.  Most of the time if you can't hit an 8 iron 160 (not me), then you loose 1/2 to 3/4 of a stroke.  The only hole with a shallow fairway bunker is no. 7,  a very short par 4 and it is slightly blind from the tee but of a more complex shape with more edges to worry about.

After a while you learn to stay away from a Riverfront fw bunker.

[John Moore II]

It all depends on the type of sand in them. If the sand is very fluffy, then they can still be penal while being small and shallow. And making them shallow might allow more balls to roll into them rather than stop short. But if the sand is to be compacted, then yes, they are fairly pointless.