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Is it a waste bunker or not?

Junkyard

Junkyard

Will Travel for Golf
Albatross 2024 Club
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Ontario, Canada
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I'm interested to hear the opinion of my fellow THPers on how to interpret this "waste" area on a course we recently played. My interpretation of the sign is that the area is NOT considered a waste bunker, therefore you cannot ground your club. However, if you look at the area, there has clearly never been a grooming machine in it which could result in some very ugly (and unplayable) lies. There were also no rakes anywhere to be see which suggest it as a waste bunker. You could, however, get a completely unplayable lie which I think is somewhat unfair. What do you guys think?
 
Personally, if I'm not going to destroy a club or my body... I'm playing it as it lies. Then again, I normally play by some seriously relaxed rules because I want to enjoy myself, not get all frustrated about nuances of the game.
 
it clearly says the rules do not apply, so hand wedge yourself out
 
If the course says it is a waste area and that it is not a bunker and it isn't marked as a bunker and it isn't groomed like a bunker...

Then why do you think it is a bunker? It's a waste area, it is through the green, it is just another part of course. No problem.

There are, by my last count, approximately 1,650 areas of bare sand on my home course. Ranging from 2" in diameter in random spot where something damaged the turf to 5' wide strips of hardpan where grass won't grow under the shade of trees all the way up to one quarter-acre size spot that's well out of the normal line of play and is just left empty to avoid have to plant and irrigate grass. None of them are bunkers, they just happen to be sandy because the course is built on sand.
 
The sign says quite clearly that it is a waste bunker. Hazard rules, such as not grounding one's club, do NOT apply. Sorry, I don't understand the confusion in light of the sign. A Pete Dye course I used to belong to just used certain vegetation within these types of areas to define them instead of any signs like this.
 
Looks like a waste area to me. I usually don't see those in courses around here but they're not fully uncommon. Usually they're a little less aggressive looking, but as long as I won't hurt myself hitting out of it, that's what I'd do there. Feel free to ground your club and/or take a practice swing. I usually do just so I know what's under the surface.
 
Looks to me as though they had started to "clear" an area where they intended a bunker to go. So in the interim, they put that sign there. But then there is a sign to the right that says "GUR" .... so which is it? It's obviously not clearly marked and I would play it all as GUR and drop out of it.
 
Looks like a waste bunker to me and the sign could use a comma between bunker and hazard.

We played a course a couple weeks ago that had plenty of waste bunkers, they differentiated by having darker sand in the waste area and lighter sand in normal bunkers.
 
Casual round, no need to follow this rule so strict. Taking a drop out of the dirt bike track with no penalty is fair as that is just nasty. If you drop it and hit it back into that mess you have to buy beers though.

In a tournament round the course should inform the organizers of what is going on there and they should figure out the solution (play it as it lies, drop zone, etc) and inform the entire field before teeing off. That would be resolved by any half way descent course.
 
Et Tu Brute? said:
If the course says it is a waste area and that it is not a bunker and it isn't marked as a bunker and it isn't groomed like a bunker...

Then why do you think it is a bunker? It's a waste area, it is through the green, it is just another part of course. No problem.

There are, by my last count, approximately 1,650 areas of bare sand on my home course. Ranging from 2" in diameter in random spot where something damaged the turf to 5' wide strips of hardpan where grass won't grow under the shade of trees all the way up to one quarter-acre size spot that's well out of the normal line of play and is just left empty to avoid have to plant and irrigate grass. None of them are bunkers, they just happen to be sandy because the course is built on sand.
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+1
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Looks like a waster area but I agree that it could use a little attention in the grooming department.
 
Confusing signage right there. Even if it LOOKS like a waste area, I think it looks like GUR while they construct an actual bunker. Even a line under “Waste Area” would clarify things a bit to separate it from the other text


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Junkyard said:
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I'm interested to hear the opinion of my fellow THPers on how to interpret this "waste" area on a course we recently played. My interpretation of the sign is that the area is NOT considered a waste bunker, therefore you cannot ground your club. However, if you look at the area, there has clearly never been a grooming machine in it which could result in some very ugly (and unplayable) lies. There were also no rakes anywhere to be see which suggest it as a waste bunker. You could, however, get a completely unplayable lie which I think is somewhat unfair. What do you guys think?
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The sign indicates that that the sandy area is a waste bunker.
 
Not a sand trap but is considered a waste area according to the sign. You can ground your club and take practice swings without penalty.
 
golfinnut said:
Looks to me as though they had started to "clear" an area where they intended a bunker to go. So in the interim, they put that sign there. But then there is a sign to the right that says "GUR" .... so which is it? It's obviously not clearly marked and I would play it all as GUR and drop out of it.
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Pretty sure the GUR sign is referring to the staked off portion there around the rocks. Casual round I would have no issue with someone dropping out of there though.
 
Poor grammar aside, there's no such thing as a waste bunker hazard, so its clearly a waste bunker and hazard rules do not apply. Seems like the kind of thread OGPF would start.
 
Ironically enough it wasn't the only hole on the course that had such a sign, although this one raised the question as to what the area was considered. Fortunately for me I wasn't in either location, although my playing partner was in this one.

While I'm not an expert on the rules of golf, I believe the sign can be interpreted at least two ways:

"Waste Bunker. Hazard rules do not apply" - I'm not sure what type of hazard rules would be affected? Play it as a waste bunker
"Waste Bunker Hazard rules do not apply" - this area is not a waste bunker therefore you cannot ground your club

As others have said, if I was in the "area" and was next to a rock or landed within a tire track I'm not going to play it as it lies. Adding insult to injury this area was not visible from the tee and was exactly where our average drives would land/roll out to.
 
JonD said:
Pretty sure the GUR sign is referring to the staked off portion there around the rocks. Casual round I would have no issue with someone dropping out of there though.
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I agree, the (relatively small) GUR section is clearly defined with its own sign and stakes.
 
Greg Kulbick said:
Poor grammar aside, there's no such thing as a waste bunker hazard, so its clearly a waste bunker and hazard rules do not apply. Seems like the kind of thread OGPF would start.
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Thanks for the shout out. I'm just confused as to why a person wouldn't just hit it out of there and be done with it. I do agree that the person who made up that sign should have made it much clearer. At first, I thought the GUR signage muddied the waters a bit more, but then noticed the stakes so I'm not sure that matters in the grand scheme of things. Given that the sign in question is on the grassy knoll (watch out for the shooter), can one assume they're referring to the sandy area?

This most definitely needs clarified by the course. Barring firm guidance otherwise, I'd rule it play it as it lies.
 
I have played many courses in Florida where they had waste bunkers, but they were full of sand, not dirt. After a rain, this area must be a mess. I personally would treat the whole thing as ground under repair.
 
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