Great stuff here from our consulting Architect Jim Urbina. The guy knows his stuff and here he gets it spot on. See Jim's take below with 5 Bunker Myths as seen in Links magazine August 2015.
Architect Jim Urbina says we no longer understand their true purpose
1) Bunkers are there to penalize golfers
Nothing could be further from the truth. The great old-time
architects said a hazard isn’t just for punishment but to make the game more
interesting. Golfers take bunkers personally: Those of us in the design
business see them in the exact opposite way. Robert Hunter wrote, “Without
hazards, golf would be a dull sport.”
2) You should be able to advance the ball from a bunker
Why? Sometimes golf, like life, isn’t fair. The original bunkers
were totally natural, which meant sometimes it was impossible to move the ball
forward from them. We’ve since made our own rules and now demand the ability to
hit out of a bunker all the way to the green. But that wasn’t always the
original purpose.
3) Maintaining them is important
We spend too much time and money maintaining bunkers. Due to
expensive sands and labor costs, what should be among the cheapest parts of a
course to maintain are the most expensive. They’re hazards, not gardens, and
don’t need to be beautiful let alone neat and tidy.
4) They should not be in the middle of a fairway
If you hit a great shot down the middle and it finds a bunker then
it wasn’t a great shot. A hazard is often placed for strategy, and one in the
fairway is telling you that’s not the best place for hitting to the green. The
game requires thought and skill, and sometimes the right play isn’t the obvious
one. Same with bunker placement.
5) What you see is what you get
C.B. Macdonald said it can take years to discover and appreciate
the hidden qualities of a bunker. Take the time to study the bunker—where it
is, how it’s shaped and looks—over and over again. A good bunker makes you
think and, as all the greats said, makes a course more interesting.
