[Keith OHalloran]

What is the feeling on the bunkers on Norman's course in San Antonio. They obviously went for the jagged edge look, but they also somehow make it look very planned and manicured. It lost its novelty for me and seems forced. Kind of like when people buy high end designer jeans which are made to look like worn out old jeans.

[Mike McGuire]

Keith -

I had a similar thought.

Looks they were designed from someone who just viewed a webinar on how to make a bunker look like it was from Alister MacKenzie.

[Anthony_Nysse]

I think that they are way over the top and goofy looking. What happened to Norman using sod faced bunkers? I think that there is too many "wiggles" in the shapes and will be soften in time.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I saw those and it got me wondering if they were philosophically "sincere."  I agree they look overdone. I am not sure if those by CC look better, or just look better at Sand Hills because of the setting where they do and could exist naturally.  The San Antonio site is fairly rugged, but the overall presentation is one of an overly finished course, so the edges don't really look quite right there.

Certainly, if the pro tour is concerned with "proportional punishment" (which I presume they are) a ball landing at the top of the bunker has a greater chance of a funky lie than one landing at the bottom of the bunker.  I would think Tour pros would want the opposite, but maybe the sand is firm enough that there are no plugs, etc.

In general, on that course or most, I think a smoother edge would work better visually, providing those capes and bays varied a lot.  Many bunkers look sterile because each cape and bay are similar sizes, probably for maintenance.  A smooth edge, but with different sized, shaped and angled (most important!)  lobes looks best, IMHO and is what makes Mac bunkers look better than other copies.

In fact, it struck me that each of those little notches that gave those bunkers the lacy edge, was, in fact, way to similar, lending to the artifical look.

BTW, I was struck by the fact that on one green Sergio was stopped short of the green by a swale and small mound just in front of the pin (sound off in clubhouse after round, so I don't recall which one) To be honest, I don't see where those bunkers (or maybe any bunkers on any course) are really the strategy for the pros anymore.

[John Shimp]

Did any of you all notice how the bunkers played?  They played tough.  Because of their size, shapes, type of sand the ball didn't filter to the bottom leaving lots of side hill and downhill shots.  I thought they were real good hazards.  Maybe too frilly but i think they can be made to look a bit better over time.  Its a good course for the pros and would have continued to play tough without the huge rains. 

[Mike Hendren]

As a dedicated critic of the "frilly edged bunker" in virtually every environment, I agree.  However, as usual we focus on style rather than placement.  I watched very little of the tournament but thought the bunker placement at the 17th in particular was well designed.  At least with respect to Sunday's pin, players needed to hug the right hand fairway bunker to yield the best approach angle and the bunker's end was perfect to force a decision as to whether to attempt to drive the green.  Scott's second there from only 100 yards out finished 25 feet right of the pin from the lower-left hand side of the fairway as he did not want to chance missing left or short into the extremely deep greenside bunkers.  I also liked the impact the left rear bunker had on 18th in conjunction with the pin placement.  

From my limited experience with Norman courses, his work is occasionally overly stlylistic but he gets a lot right though not consistently.

Bogey

[Mike Nuzzo]

  Aesthetically, the edges of the bunkers and greens look like someone gave a rabid chimp a machete and asked them to make lines in the sod for fun.

For me they looked too regular and didn't have much of a relationship with the surround land forms.

[Ben Sims]

  Aesthetically, the edges of the bunkers and greens look like someone gave a rabid chimp a machete and asked them to make lines in the sod for fun.

For me they looked too regular and didn't have much of a relationship with the surrounding land forms.

The worst part for me is how they're selling the course as minimalist.  I was reminded of how NOT minimalist the design was when I saw the limestone jutting into 6 or so bunkers.  And how poorly the sand selected did NOT match that bright limestone.  Again, some of this is aesthetic, but I wasn't a fan of more than 5 holes. 

They had some great ideas on 2, 11, 16 and 17.  But honestly, it wasn't enought to make up for how poor the routing is and how constructed the green surrounds look. 

[Mike Nuzzo]

To the TPC gang about minimalism
I don't think a minimalist would prefer to cap a site with clay to keep it from draining then cap it with sand to keep it draining where they want.
A minimalist cares a great deal about natural drainage.

[Kyle Henderson]

Norman's firm constructed some nice looking hazards in the "style of MacKenzie" at the Wente Vineyards course, and some of them are well-placed. However, at that course (and many other Norman courses, according to my readings), way too many of the fairway bunkers are of the target variety. That is, they are far beyond the range of a mortal's tee shots and serve only as aiming points for drives.

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