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Your Bunkers?

JB

JB

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Albatross 2024 Club
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At your home course, what are the bunkers like?
 
Full bunker repair has almost completed at my course. That means fluffy unsettled has been a reality for a while.

Playing in the off season, they are more compact and I can basically do whatever the hell I want with the ball, and I absolutely love it.
 
Inconsistent and it’s a pet peeve of mine. They are more compact than fluffy though.
 
Actually pretty good, unless it's been raining. There's one however that is so compacted that it's like hitting off the cart path.
 
Quite compact, with salt-like sand.
 
Basically gravel pits. They’re so bad that they’re treated like ground under repair
 
Not fun. Monsoon season can be hard on them. Leading to high variability. All have deep faces. Some have good sand, most get wind swept with rock hard base.
 
Like so many public courses they are inconsistent, not only from bunker to bunker but within the same bunker. All of the bunkers, all including fairway bunkers, have extremely high lips. As a result, every time there is a major storm the sand washes down from the top exposing the gravel base underneath. Workers then come out and shovel sand back up to the top resulting in the bottoms of the bunkers usually being firm but even a foot or so closer to the hole the sand can be much deeper.
 
Good condition. Soft sand.
 
Very dumb. The sand is usually pretty packed and it's tough to dig under a lot of times. The worst part is the wood planks that surround them. It's a pretty cool look but if you're up against the wood you're using it as a ramp to get out or could hit your club up against it . It also sucks when your ball hits the wood on the fly and ricochets off, usually in the worst way.

5F2EBA7C-BAB9-4AD3-9B37-4DDAD94B3438.jpeg
 
Courses around here vary. Most are heavier sand with some rocky elements. Definitley very few have the lighter sand I find in southern courses. I've run into more than a couple that the bunkers are really just dirt.
 
At a local municipal course where I play frequently, the bunkers are surprisingly good. That’s because it hosts a Symetra Tour tournament. The only problem is that they don’t drain well. So, when we have heavy rains in the summer, the bunkers become wet and compacted.
 
Inconsistent to say the least. Most of the public courses are hard, compact sand. If there is sand in them at all. Seems as though the bunkers are the first thing to let go in terms of maintenance. unlike when I worked on at the CC we used to rake the bunkers every morning, just like changing the cups. We always did maintenance to those that would wash out. Just the CC expectancy I guess. The members would complain otherwise, so the Superintendent would get scrutiny if it wasn't pristine. Public courses don't have that luxury I guess.
 
KEV said:
Very dumb. The sand is usually pretty packed and it's tough to dig under a lot of times. The worst part is the wood planks that surround them. It's a pretty cool look but if you're up against the wood you're using it as a ramp to get out or could hit your club up against it . It also sucks when your ball hits the wood on the fly and ricochets off, usually in the worst way.

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They look awesome, but I'd probably avoid any shot that was even close to them.
 
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Canadan said:
They look awesome, but I'd probably avoid any shot that was even close to them.
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Our 18th hole has one just short left of the green with water to the right of the green so of course the tendency is to pull the ball. I can't tell you how many times I've hit it in there and was so close to the wood that I take a hybrid and pop the ball up the wood like a ramp. It's pretty frustrating.
 
I'm a member at a public course and to put it honestly they are trash. Almost to the point they are unplayable at most times. At the private course I have a part time job at they are in pretty good shape. The greenside bunkers are pretty much all in great shape, but a couple of the fairway bunkers washed out a little bit through the year. Waiting to see what they look like this year.
 
Ours is usually ok, they should probably just call them waste areas since the grounds crew only rakes them once a week.
 
Either mud or dried out dirt that feels like concrete. Rarely play out of nice fluffy bunkers.
 
Of the two courses I play the most, one has hard packed sand and if it rains they usually look like water hazards. The other has a mixture of sand and small rocks and I have taken chunks out of three of my wedges. :mad:
 
KEV said:
Very dumb. The sand is usually pretty packed and it's tough to dig under a lot of times. The worst part is the wood planks that surround them. It's a pretty cool look but if you're up against the wood you're using it as a ramp to get out or could hit your club up against it . It also sucks when your ball hits the wood on the fly and ricochets off, usually in the worst way.

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Can't imagine how you would get punished for hitting those planks.o_O
 
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Two courses at my club. Both are fairly typical I think. Green protection to one side or both. I’d say most are player friendly. However one course the sand is thin and hard. Last week I sent a bunch of drainage rocks into the green due to lack of sand. The other course they are in great shape. Plenty of sand and it’s like hitting a golf ball at a west coast beach.
 
They are plentiful and well placed if you are playing the appropriate set of tees.

Sand is thick and plentiful in the greenside traps, and it is thin and skim coated in the fairway traps.

Greenside traps have high lips. Fairway traps have lower lips.
 
Hardpan with just a sprinkling of sand on top. Pretty much that way for most of the courses in the area.
 
We're in need of complete repair.

Nearly all drains are compacted and clogged, the sand has become thicker and heavier and generally no fun to play out of.

They started to repair some in 2018 so there's a few that are good. But I don't see any more getting done and now there's some variance to bunker conditions.

Really the only gripe I have with the course. Otherwise conditions and layout are really very good.
 
Really nice, soft, not too deep fluffy sand. Fairway waste bunkers (played as regular bunker, not waste area) are not alway perfect but are in great shape.
You will are rewarded with good bunker technique
 
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