Designs on Golf I ARCHITECTURE

he annual Wisconsin Turf Symposium takes place this month and features the Time to Put Bite USGAs Tom Meeks, archi- tect Ron Forse, Landscape Unlimited s Bill Kubley and Back Into Bunkers Tseveral prominent superintendents participating in a timely discussion on the most ironic of all BY GEOFF SHACKELFORD hazards — the bunker. Its ironic because the bunkers once paramount role as a thought- best place fromwhic h to make a birdie. The Jack provoking hazard is dead. Nicklaus-designed hazard went from a place to The golf pros and single-digit players have avoid to the primary lay-up area on a par 5. won the battle of the bunker. They've declared Like most others today, that particular that the bunker must be fair above all else. bunker's role was altered mainly by nasty rough When in sand, they must have good shots at all around the green. To compensate for the sever- times, they say. Average golfers concurred be- ity of the rough, the course setup gurus order cause who can ever forget that awful "fried egg" that the bunkers be raked in a way that pro- that cost them a match in the Watts Gunn motes "fair" golf to compensate for the penal Flight of the Mayflower Cup? I'D LOVE TO SEE A nature of the tall grass. Thus, the superintendent must do every- Of course, we don't need to go restore Oak- thing in his power to take the danger out of the PGA TOUR EVENT mont's homemade furrowing rakes because sand, wasting countless manhours primping that discourages any kind of recovery. But the sand and ultimately rendering the bunker irrel- PLAYED ON A FAST, governing bodies can stop placing an emphasis evant as a hazard. How did the bunker change on rough and start subtly returning some risk into a paradoxical joke? ROUGHLESS to the bunker. They can do that by making the The answer lies deep in the rough. The men- sand fluffy enough to cause a player to think tality in tournament golf is that rough is essential twice about hitting into a bunker, but reason- to "defending" a golf course, and we all know COURSE WHERE able enough that a talented golfer can occa- that everyday committees worship what they see sionally pull off a skillful recovery should he on television. So as the rough became more THE BUNKERS end up in the sand. prevalent, the bunker developed into a more ap- Sure, I'd love to see a PGA Tour event played pealing place for a ball to come to rest. ARE NASTY on a fast, roughless course where the bunkers Throw in the 60-degree wedge, and the are nasty. Perhaps the bunkers could be raked bunker becomes even more toothless. Either Wednesday afternoon, but never touched again way, the superintendent is pressured by his during play unless there's a harsh storm. Take clients and self-important tournament com- away the rakes, and let the players take care of petitors to convert these hazards into areas as the sand for four days. Keep the grass short in attractive as fairways or risk losing his job. the immediate surrounds to turn bunkers into What nonsense. sensitive areas that must be avoided. The role of the bunker hit an epic low when Some prominent golf organization must stop PGA Championship announcer David Feherty letting players dictate setup and start such a gasped that and Bob May both trends. Maybe it'll be a European tour event or a drew terrible lies on the 10th hole at Valhalla silly season event, or maybe Tiger will say this is CC simply because the bottom of the sand was how hazards should be and the trend will begin. not flat. But Feherty stated this even after Gary But someone has to return some teeth to the McCord had just rambled on for the previous bunker. Otherwise, the sporting spirit of golf will five minutes how "we'll watch the players aim be lost. And how un-American would that be? for the 10th holes front bunker to have the best chance to get up and down for birdie." Geoff Shackelford's latest book wAlister Instead of being a place to stay away from, MacKenzie's Cypress Point Club. He can be the PGA's coddling setup made that bunker the reached at geoffshackelford@aol. com