Plugged Lies and Lost Balls (in bunkers)

[Cameron DeVries]

I played La Purisima a few years ago in a tournament.  One of my playing partners hit an okay shot on the par 3 13th hole but the wind got it and the ball landed a few yards short of the green in a bunker; as we approached the green it was clear the ball had plugged in the face of the bunker (not the lip).  For five minutes, three players and a few spectators took turns digging through the bunker face, but the ball was never found.  I've seen this happen at La Purisima more than once, maybe because the sand is fairly soft and the bunker faces are quite steep.   

Can you recall similar events in your own rounds?  What would you attribute the problem to (depth or firmness of sand, steep face, or other factors)?

What practical solutions or alterations (maintenance or architecture) would you undertake to make a bunker more playable in this type of situation?

[Jason Topp]

Your playing partner was probably lucky he did not find it uness he would have had the presence of mind to take an unplayable and drop within the bunker.

I've seen it happen at times.  In almost every case it is a flashed bunker with a lot of sand up the face.  In match play I don't see it as much of a problem because bunkers are hazards and the penalty is likely a lost hole.  In stroke play it can result in a very bad number unless the player keeps his head. 

[Blake Conant]

During a practice round at the 2011 PGA Championship, we watched Mickelson hit a long iron into the par 5, 5th green and his ball plugged in the face of the bunker behind the green.  The face that was sloping away from his shot.  one of the stranger things i'd seen on a golf course.  He later went on to complain about the softness of the sand.  one of his many complaints that week. 

[Joe Stansell]

This happened to me during a tournament that I was playing last summer at Tumble Creek. I couldn't find my ball, but I knew exactly where it entered the bunker -- dead into the flashed face. I declared the ball unplayable and then dug deep into the sand with a rake until the ball rolled out. I took my drop in the bunker and played out. This was match play and I believe I ultimately lost the hole -- but I was well up in the match and closed it out on the next hole. 

My assessment was that the sand was really "too loose" for a bunker with a flashed face.

[Pete_Pittock]

Thought about some yesterday. My three most memorable were plugged just below the lip of the fronting bunker of #16 at The Country Club, just below the lip of the yawning bunker on the 8th at Pebble Beach and below the lip of the dogleg guarder on he 10th at Royal Melbourne East.

[Alex Miller]

So does Australia have it right? How can we get those Royal Melbourne bunkers over hear?

Strangest "plugged" ball I've seen in a bunker was quite unique. On hole 17 at Riviera my host decided to take 3-wood from the right fairway bunker. He struck it solid but a touch low and the ball shot into the lip. No, it didn't plug, the ball literally went into the lip between the kikuyu grass and the sand. Our caddie was the only one who really got a good look at what happened so he jumped in the sand and reached with the enitre length of his arm into the ground (horizontally, if you can imagine it) and pulled out the golf ball. Seems the shallow root structure of kikuyu and a slight erosion of sand from the bunkers edge allowed for this to happen. Twas hilarious.


I also had my ball plug in the front-right greenside bunker in a junior tournament at Sandpiper on the 10th hole (my first of the day). Had to take an unplayable and watch the ball settle into its own mark in the wet sand. Proceeded to thin the ball over the green into a hazard. Got up and down from my drop for a tidy 7 though.  

[Peter Ferlicca]

Joe, 

I worked at Tumble Creek one summer back in 2010.  I was on the maintenance staff helping get the course ready for the summer season for a couple weeks before I was in the shop.  When we would go out and rake the bunkers we were always told to rake the sand up the faces, you have to do this on big flash bunkers with big sand faces.  When you are constantly pushing all the sand up on the face, you are putting more sand on the face than down in the bottom.  So what would happen, is if you hit the ball in the face it would always plug, and then if it was down in the bottom, you had a hardpan lie with little sand.  Trust me one round I had about 5 plugged lies in the bunker faces, where you just hack and hope. 

I personally think everyone else needs to adopt the Australian method of how to maintain bunkers. 

[David Amarnek]

Front bunker on #8 at Merion East, just left of center.  As many of you know, it has quite a steep face.
The four of us clearly saw the ball go in the bunker with sand flying.   I saw exactly where it entered and when we reached it, we never found the ball.  There was no sign of entry, nothing.
That hole is so in my head when I play there!

[Cameron DeVries]

Alex,

   I've been following the Australia/Melbourne bunker thread, but I've never been down under.  How do they get the flash faced bunkers to play so firm and fair?  Is the sand coarser or firmer? thinner?  From what I've seen on tv at Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne, the bunkers look ideal.

[Dave McCollum]

Listening to the Treehouse’s enlightened chatter has made me more aware of the dumb things that other golfers say.  I was chatting with a friend from another town about his home course.  He was complaining that they didn’t have any sand in their bunkers. 

I casually asked “So you never get a plugged lie?”
He sort of paused, looked at me oddly, and said “Gee, I never thought of that.”
Duh.

So, how do the Ozzies maintain their bunkers?  Broom the flashed faces so there is just a thin layer of hard sand that feeds balls to the raked bunker floor?

[archie_struthers]

  .


Pine Valley # 17 sand everywhere in front of the green.  Back in the late 70's we would mysteriously lose balls right in front of the green . It was really weird in that we knew where it hit and also knew the ball would sometimes disappear . When you have two loopers getting paid good money losing balls in plain view it isn't good business. However if you knew the secret you would stick your arm into the side of the bunker reach way up and , presto, there it was , and sometimes two or more others. Don't know if it was Elmer, Ernie W or Old Man Louie who taught me the key to the riddle.

Today the hole slope  is grassed, so the disappearing ball trick is a thing of the past. The wicked thunderstorms that rumble thru the Pine Barrens used to wash out the slopes of sand , so it was a good decision by the supers to grass the slopes . However they still occasionally lose a new caddy in the pit way right off the sixth tee. Where they go no one knows.

[J_ Crisham]

We had quite a few plugged balls amongst our group while at Streamsong a few weeks ago- my only other criticism was they didn't have a single bench to relax on . Still a very neat place.

[Josh Tarble]

We had quite a few plugged balls amongst our group while at Streamsong a few weeks ago- my only other criticism was they didn't have a single bench to relax on . Still a very neat place.

Jack,
I was just going to type the same thing...our only gripe was the plugged lies.  We probably had about 1 a hole in our foursome. It didn't seem to be an issue in the morning round when there was still a bit of moisture in the sand, but our afternoon round was brutal. It was very nice to hit out of when the ball wasn't buried though.  Hopefully with a bit of play the bunkers will lose some sand and it won't be as much of an issue.