How crap are the bunkers at your local

[Coffs_Hacker]

Had a good round going today until the 13th - 2nd shot went into the front bunker which is rather deep so played a 58*.

The sand was 1cm deep resulting in a skull that hit the lip and popped back in and fried egg. the next shot was fat with the sand being 10cm deep (same bunker). I know some fault lays with the players rakeing but this every single bunker. Kinda frustrating.

[Courty]

How crap are the bunkers at your local?

Pretty crap. :???:

[Scoot]

Ours vary a fair bit. Tend to hold a bit of water, and some can be quite thin.

Also finding lately that people seem to think they don't have to rake them.


I consider it preparation, so when I make the PGA tour, I'll be able to get up and down easily.

P.S. While I think of it, is there a place that the rake is meant to be placed?, Ie, Paralell to fairway on fairway side?, at back or front?

[PeteyD]

P.S. While I think of it, is there a place that the rake is meant to be placed?, Ie, Paralell to fairway on fairway side?, at back or front?

might be best not to start this debate ...

[Ducky]

Well, our bunkers are consistent depth, but the amount/type of sand does vary depending on the bunker.

[Scoot]

might be best not to start this debate ...

Probably not, thought after I posted it that I'd get shot down for going off topic

[markTHEblake]

P.S. While I think of it, is there a place that the rake is meant to be placed?, Ie, Paralell to fairway on fairway side?, at back or front?

I think we have a new groundsman or someone decided to be a wanker.

Yesterday all the rakes were placed right against the lip. I only went in two bunkers and was shafted both times, and a total of 6 for the round for the four of us.

I wouldnt mind so much if it was a greenside one, but a fairway trap really screws you up :smt093

bunker rake should be placed in the centre parallel to the fairway, where it wont make any difference.

[oz]

The three local courses I play most have varying quality of bunkers:

Thurgoona - Poor. Inconsistent depth and texture, different sand types, and poor drainage.

Albury - Very good. Plenty of sand, which is fairly consistent, but they do pack down a bit too much in the wet.

Howlong - Excellent. They've spent plenty on them. Good quality sand, good drainage, and great maintenance.

A few years ago, I would have turned that list upside down.....

[oz]

bunker rake should be placed in the centre parallel to the fairway, where it wont make any difference.

Yep. I concur.

[raidrboy]

The three local courses I play most have varying quality of bunkers:

Thurgoona - Poor. Inconsistent depth and texture, different sand types, and poor drainage.

Albury - Very good. Plenty of sand, which is fairly consistent, but they do pack down a bit too much in the wet.

Howlong - Excellent. They've spent plenty on them. Good quality sand, good drainage, and great maintenance.

A few years ago, I would have turned that list upside down.....

Wodonga - Same as Thurgoona. On a clay base and lack of sand depth causes the wedge to bounce and along with average bunker playing skills results in some horrid results.

[leighthebee]

i heard that they put the wrong sand in the bunkers at Pacific resulting in nothing other than fried eggs. its so powdery its unbelievable. so i'd say cr@p

course i am thankful that they found out awhile back that the sand for dressing the greens was full of salt before they dressed them. that would have made play a little more frustrating.

[dc68]

Yeah you can get some woeful plugs.... But they are nowhere near as bad as the 1st year after they were done.

[oz]

Wodonga - Same as Thurgoona. On a clay base and lack of sand depth causes the wedge to bounce and along with average bunker playing skills results in some horrid results.

I should try and play a few more games at Wodonga. I do enjoy the layout. So many courses, so little time.... :)

[andylo]

How crap are the bunkers at your local

All bunkers are crap... just depth varies :mrgreen:

[andylo]

I actually quite like to hit bunker shots because you are told to hit a FAT shot.

Beside you get cheering from your friends if you knock one close enough every now and then....

Of course... given the condition that the bunkers are in reasonable nick.

[BrisVegas]

When the stars are aligned..... ours are great!

However, the majority of the time they are too soft/deep on the faces so the ball plugs too easily. (At the bottom of the bunkers, the sand is just fine.) I think it's a Norman signature thing to have the massive white bunker faces staring you down as you approach the greens. In practice though, I'd prefer if the faces were grass or revetted with sod etc... Depth is fine. Plugging on faces is not cool when it happens EVERY time.

[oz]

Plugging on faces is not cool.

That is the cardinal sin of bunker design, IMO. It used to be a problem at Thurgoona, when they reconditioned a couple of tem, but they are better now, in that regard.

[Courty]

They finally woke up to themselves up here and planted grass on the steep faces of most of the bunkers.

[Andrew]

It’s always difficult on clay based courses, because everything has to be artificial. The most common mistake made by clubs is wanting bunkers that don’t suit their soil type or terrain.

The most humorous example of that is a course only about 20 minutes from my place, Bankstown GC. Fairway bunkers that have been added on the 5th & 1st in the last few years are apparently meant to replicate, or so the President of the club at the time believed, Melbourne sandbelt bunkers. The only problem is, Bankstown GC is an almost perfectly flat old swamp. Seeing 6 foot bunker lips rise up from flat grounds makes me laugh every time.

In most cases, clay based courses need to have shallower bunkers or find other ways of gaining depth to their bunkers. The simplest way being to elevate the green surface or utilize the topography by building bunkers on the low side of the complex.

[Andrew]

Rich,

Do you have a preferred bunker style ? (No, this is not a loaded question)

Grass face bunkers seemed to be popular for a while, but I would imagine require more maintenance than flashed face bunkers. Maybe I’m wrong on that. The new linings they make for faces & bases of bunkers these days probably make Flashed bunkers the best option.

Did you need face lining at RS, or didn’t the sandy soil need it ? The walk-ins are excellent at RS. Very important when the average membership age is 104.

A West Sydney course, not far from Wallacia, raised the lips of 2 of their bunkers by building 1 foot of sod onto the existing flashed face. The biggest problem was they laid the grass the wrong way up & they have remained soft & G.U.R. for about a year. Excellent stuff.

[mrsbrisvegas]

They've used that fabric in the reno'd bunkers at brookwater (1,2,3,10,11). It seems to keep the sand nice and thick on the steep faces, but don't know how it holds up to a downpour. Hasn't rained here for a long time.

Interestingly, they have rolled the turf over the lip and down about a foot on the new bunkers so they have a smoother look to them. I'm assuming it was to help prevent erosion or something. Also noticed they've filled in the BIG bunker on the left side of the 3rd, so it's not only about half the depth it was.

BrisVegas: did you notice you are using my sign in.... MRS BRISVEGAS...

[leighthebee]

Yeah you can get some woeful plugs.... But they are nowhere near as bad as the 1st year after they were done.

the footprints are getting to me though. i was in four pots the other day. three were already trodden previously.

[dc68]

A Sunday?

[leighthebee]

yes as a matter of fact. is there something you know.

funny thing is, going by the water marks, they're not created mostly on the sunday, it seems like days old.

[Grunt]

Footprints are commonplace at Macarthur Grange. Bunkers are the dead set worst part of the golf Course. Poorly Designed Drainage.

[goughy]

Bunkers and plug marks are the bane of the existence of golfers. Most of the probs caused by inconsiderate/ignorant golfers. With the exception of sand issues caused by clubs!!

[Grunt]

There are some new bunker fabric products on the market that go on the faces of bunkers. They allow the sand to be put on the face of the bunkers very thin (which stops plugging in the face) but when it rains rarely washes out if installed correctly.
We have been using it in Malaysia and it has stood up to some of the torrential downpours they get over there.

Bunkers @ Blue Canyon were excellent. Had a few heavy showers while we were there and was amazing to see the drainage after the rain stopped. One day 30mm was recorded in 10min, 15 min later it looked like it had not rained for a few days by the look of the bunkers.

[Boonie]

Well, our bunkers are consistent depth, but the amount/type of sand does vary depending on the bunker.

Which is a good thing, and adds to the skill and course management required.

[dc68]

yes as a matter of fact. is there something you know.

funny thing is, going by the water marks, they're not created mostly on the sunday, it seems like days old.


I have noticed that after the Social clubs on a Sunday morning there is a marked increase in footprints in the traps. Bunkers are always done on the morning of comp rounds ie with the motorised bunker raker, I do know a couple of the boys on the greens staff.

[leighthebee]

today was the first time in memory that I saw them raking the pots dc.

[dc68]

really?
I know at the moment that there are a few green staff off sick... chicken pox....eek

[leighthebee]

yeah, i mostly play sundays and fridays arve's.

[dc68]

Mate if you are up for a game on Sunday 1142 Me Pete and Alo are playing jump on and jump in. there is still a spot there.

[leighthebee]

sorry DC. i'm down the coast on the beach. lifesaving season is only a few weeks away.

all my games now will be racing back from the coast for the 12.42 tee time :-)

[perci]

Had a good round going today until the 13th - 2nd shot went into the front bunker which is rather deep so played a 58*.

The sand was 1cm deep resulting in a skull that hit the lip and popped back in and fried egg. the next shot was fat with the sand being 10cm deep (same bunker). I know some fault lays with the players rakeing but this every single bunker. Kinda frustrating.




Well on the 9th at Royal Nudgee today {our last hole} i was in the front pot with a 10 to 12 foot bunker shot confronting me when i noticed a few smallish stones in the face,thinking to myself i hope i don't hit one of them little bastards and alas i didn't I managed to hit a ROCK the size of my FIST half buried in the ground half in sand putting a nasty little dent in my near new "almost Mint" Sonartec sandwedge,luckily it was only a short bunker shot otherwise it could have been a lot worse{broken shaft/broken wrist} although maybe i should have kept the rock like Dick Johnson but instead i slammed it on the counter in the directors office and asked him to pass on my best wishes to the head Greens keeper in no uncertain terms.
Anyway that's my bitch for the day.

[Jarro]

Well on the 9th at Royal Nudgee today {our last hole} i was in the front pot with a 10 to 12 foot bunker shot confronting me when i noticed a few smallish stones in the face,thinking to myself i hope i don't hit one of them little bastards and alas i didn't I managed to hit a ROCK the size of my FIST half buried in the ground half in sand putting a nasty little dent in my near new "almost Mint" Sonartec sandwedge,luckily it was only a short bunker shot otherwise it could have been a lot worse{broken shaft/broken wrist} although maybe i should have kept the rock like Dick Johnson but instead i slammed it on the counter in the directors office and asked him to pass on my best wishes to the head Greens keeper in no uncertain terms.
Anyway that's my bitch for the day.

So what did they say Perc ?

That was one hell of a big rock in that bunker ... i'm gald it wasn't me trying to hit that shot :(

[AndyP]

Sounds like you're just shitty that you didn't get up and down.

[goughy]

They suck! Some feel like bare dirt at the moment. Hit 4 inches behind the ball and blade it across the green. But what can you do? Bad enough that they have at least 3 different kinds of sand in them but when they don't even bother keeping them filled!!!

[perci]

Sounds like you're just shitty that you didn't get up and down.

Your right Aprick i'd sooner stuff a $150 wedge than lose a shot!

[Jarro]

Indeed it could

[BrisVegas]

motion carried.

[AndyP]

**** you all. :D

[Jarro]

I'm sure you would if you could

[BeGoodJohnny]

My home course (Hills) has the some of the worst bunkers I've seen. 50% of them are staked due to their poor condition and the rest you play out of like you are hitting off a cart path. It's the only thing I HATE about the course.

[goughy]

Andy and Iain should have some choice words about the quality of the bunkers at city today! I putted out of the right hand greenside bunker on the 17th today :o

[mike]

I thought bunkers were supposed to be hazards.

People up here whinge about leaves and kangaroo paw prints in our bunkers and want a free drop.

Bad luck. It's a friggin hazard !

[goughy]

It's not that I don't agree with you mike. But when you consider the pro's get just the most beautiful and consistant bunker conditioning, to the point they prefer to land in them than in the rough.

Our course goes from heavy red dirt, to softer fluffy stuff to non existant hard packed bottom. I just think the course should have the same stuff bunker to bunker, not 4 different varieties. And since they are a hazzard and you can't remove stones then they shouldn't have any of those in them.

[Iain]

It's not that I don't agree with you mike. But when you consider the pro's get just the most beautiful and consistant bunker conditioning, to the point they prefer to land in them than in the rough.

Our course goes from heavy red dirt, to softer fluffy stuff to non existant hard packed bottom. I just think the course should have the same stuff bunker to bunker, not 4 different varieties. And since they are a hazzard and you can't remove stones then they shouldn't have any of those in them.

Yeah, on one of the holes today, 2 bunkers next to each other each had different types of sand/dirt.....

[AndyP]

......the bunkers were very disappointing. I was in three and played chip shots out of two of them, and goughy putted out of one.Sand bunkers are meant to have sand in them.


My home course (Hills) has the some of the worst bunkers I've seen. 50% of them are staked due to their poor condition and the rest you play out of like you are hitting off a cart path. It's the only thing I HATE about the course.They are shocking at Hills, but I think I've had my say on that course.

[mike]

It's not that I don't agree with you mike. But when you consider the pro's get just the most beautiful and consistant bunker conditioning, to the point they prefer to land in them than in the rough.

And I think this is so wrong.

I like Jack Nicklaus's tournament ( can't think what it's called ) where the bunkers are raked with deep rills. Brilliant idea. The pros are shit scared of them.

Better still, let the spectators walk through the bunkers.

Bunkers are hazards.