Bunkers as Part of the General Area - Post-kiawah Poll

[iacas]

 

Why golfers should be allowed to ground their clubs in the sand

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Could the Ocean Course’s lack of formal bunkers be a model for all golf courses?

 

The article asks this question (as does the poll above): Should all golf courses make all sand part of the “general area” like Kiawah did?

The article gives three reasons (which I or you may or may not agree with):

1. Prohibiting a player from grounding his or her club in a greenside or fairway bunker does not make those shots more difficult in any significant way.
2. Lifting the veil between "bunker" and "general area" would make the separation between what is and isn’t a penalty area more logical, especially in light of the USGA and R&A’s 2019 revisions to the Rules of Golf regarding bunkers.
3. Turning bunkers into part of a course’s general area would eliminate potential contention over unintentional Rules infractions.

I think his reasons are dumb:

1. Sure it does. If you can take practice swings, you can learn a LOT about the condition of the bunker, the depth of the sand, etc. Right now, you can only dig your feet in - you can't take practice swings and see where your club contacts the sand, how the sole of your wedge interacts with it, etc.
2. What "veil"? Bunkers are bunkers. The General Area is the General Area. If anything, the line between what courses define as a Penalty Area and the General Area is muddier now than it once was, and also people confuse the teeing area as any tee box, not the two-clublength rectangle and only on the hole you're playing. The 2019 Rules DID lighten some restrictions in bunkers, like removal of loose impediments, so we don't need people trying to determine whether in lightly grounding their clubs they improved their lie or pressed down a bit too firmly. That's a big one.
3. You can make that kind of stupid argument about anything. Why not let people mark and lift their ball anywhere because they can on the putting green? Just a dumb reason, and it feels like he could only really think of one and a half reasons, but wanted a list of at least three.

Anyway, vote in the poll above.

Two extra notes:

• Streamsong maintains that sandy areas are part of the General Area, while "maintained" bunkers (it's pretty obvious when you're there) are treated as bunkers. You can have your cake and eat it too!
• Virtually none of the PGA Tour players grounded their club behind the ball, so this rule would basically only allow/legalize practice swings, and again, to that, I say "no way!" The course maintenance ramifications alone are a reason not to do this - splashed sand out of a bunker is responsible for a lot of headaches, and more practice swings = more splashed sand.

I voted for the second option, clearly. 😄

[Vinsk]

I think your response pretty much sums it up. The article is reaching.

[boogielicious]

Bunkers are supposed to be a challenge. That’s why they should be treated differently than the general area.

[DeadMan]

I voted no. I found it a little jarring to see pros take practice swings in the bunkers by hitting sand, and it seemed to make some bunker shots easier. Treating all bunkers as part of the general area makes sense for courses like Kiawah or Pinehurst, but it doesn't make sense for all courses.

Plus, from a general public perspective, bunkers take a lot of effort and money to maintain. Having everybody hitting sand out of bunkers is going increase costs for courses and make bunker conditions worse. My course has already removed bunkers because they are costly to maintain. I don't think we need to make that problem worse.

[David in FL]

Good grief, no.

It’s also worth remembering that you may now take relief for a ball plugged in its own pitchmark throughout the General Area.  Allowing you to do so in a bunker would be ridiculous and would remove one of the more challenging aspects of the game.

[StuM]

I voted "No".  I like tradition and the tradition is no grounding in a bunker.  That and the reasons others noted above.

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

Good grief, no.

It’s also worth remembering that you may now take relief for a ball plugged in its own pitchmark throughout the General Area.  Allowing you to do so in a bunker would be ridiculous and would remove one of the more challenging aspects of the game.

Embedded ball relief doesn't apply when the ball is embedded in a sand in the General Area where the grass is not mowed to fairway height.  Any rule change could be written to disallow  EB relief in what are now bunkers. 

but even so, no thanks

 

[iacas]

Yes, as @DaveP043 points out, you still wouldn't get relief for a fried egg lie @David in FL:

They didn't get relief this weekend at Kiawah for that.

[David in FL]

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Embedded ball relief doesn't apply when the ball is embedded in a sand in the General Area where the grass is not mowed to fairway height.  Any rule change could be written to disallow  EB relief in what are now bunkers. 

but even so, no thanks

 

Thanks.  Missed that.

Still, nope though.

[Golfingdad]

Agree with all that 's been said - voting to keep the option as is now.  Another reason I think changing it would be a mistake for us average joes is that its bad enough how many people already don't rake their footprints and "divots" as it is (covid notwithstanding), imagine how much worse it would be if those same people were traipsing around taking practice swings too.

[TourSpoon]

I voted for option 2.  We have many courses that have extensive natural areas that are not maintained and then proper bunkers that are. It's pretty clear that in the natural areas you can take practice swings and ground your club versus the maintained bunkers that don't allow for those actions. There can be both and I have never seen it as an issue.