Not your average sand shot.

[Valleygolfer]

Sadly the traps at my course are in dire need of new sand or tilling....I don't know. The thing is that there is roughly a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of loose sand and underneath it acts like compacted clay. Ofter when I try to hit out of them the bounce gets knocked back up and sends the blade into the ball. I closed my club face and played it I like a normal shot and it seemed to fare better. Does anyone have any tips for this scenario?

Thanks

[GolfBear]

Sadly the traps at my course are in dire need of new sand or tilling....I don't know. The thing is that there is roughly a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of loose sand and underneath it acts like compacted clay. Ofter when I try to hit out of them the bounce gets knocked back up and sends the blade into the ball. I closed my club face and played it I like a normal shot and it seemed to fare better. Does anyone have any tips for this scenario?

I have the same problem where I play my league matches. The bigger challenge is that some of the bunkers have sand and some don't. Here's what I do that helps:

1. You have to try and test the depth and consistency of the sand when you dig your feet it. If your feet barely move then it's likely that there's not much sand and you're going to have to "pick" the ball. If your feet dig in normally then you're probably safe with a normal bunker shot. 2. If the sand is really thin or really hard packed I play the ball back in my stance (off my right toe) and play it almost like a chip. I think about playing the shot almost as if I was hitting off a cart path. I try to hit it with an aggresive decending blow and usually it creates a ton of spin. If I can land the ball 2 feet in front of the hole it's usually going to hop once and stop dead. On a side note, bare bunkers annoy the shit out of me. Is there an easier freaking thing to maintain on a golf course?

[Valleygolfer]

I have the same problem where I play my league matches. The bigger challenge is that some of the bunkers have sand and some don't. Here's what I do that helps:

Thanks for the advice. I have been burned by these bunkers a few times. I don't understand the why they can't get them repaired myself.

[mship]

I know how you feel. My home course has horrible bunkers. When you walk in them it crunches so much it sounds like you're walking on ice. And every green is protected by at least two of them. The simple answer is don't hit into them but we know how that goes.

I've given up trying to play a standard bunker shot - which I've never been real good at, but I was getting better - and started playing chip shots. If the lip is low, I'll play almost a bump and run. I take that all the way up to a full flop shot if it has a deep lip. I don't expect any spin and play for them to run.

[Valleygolfer]

I know how you feel. My home course has horrible bunkers. When you walk in them it crunches so much it sounds like you're walking on ice. And every green is protected by at least two of them. The simple answer is don't hit into them but we know how that goes.

I just started playing this otherwise nice course this year and for a while I thought they just weren't being raked. Yesterday I was practicing and "tried" to rake out the practice bunker and realized it was like compacted sand underneath. I am going to treat them as standard chips and pitches but to try hard to not dig the club in.

[Brad_MB]

I'm so glad that that there are other courses with this issue. Our bunkers' sand is so hard that its nearly like concrete. I landed in one today, and ended up costing me 2 strokes... some of the bunkers don't even have a trace of sand

[saevel25]

Lob wedge, low bounce, high loft... hit it like a normal bunker shot. Also, you might be trying to help the ball into the air. Try to keep the clubhead staying low through in the follow through and accelerating. If the lip is low, just hit a chip shot out of the bunker.

I got the same situation, i have no problem with them being like this. I am tired of people complain about bunkers not being perfect, its a hazard to me. Honestly i rather see alot more grass bunkers, with taller grass, real penalty for mis hit shots.

[Valleygolfer]

Lob wedge, low bounce, high loft... hit it like a normal bunker shot. Also, you might be trying to help the ball into the air. Try to keep the clubhead staying low through in the follow through and accelerating. If the lip is low, just hit a chip shot out of the bunker.

I don't mind bunkers being bunkers, it was my fault not figuring this out sooner. I would like the perceived sand trap to be an actual sand trap.

[dhanson]

Is there an easier freaking thing to maintain on a golf course?

Bunkers are one of the most pricey items to build/maintain on a golf course. Under the

most extreme circumstances (that is, setting a course up for tournament conditions all year around) a course would spend hundreds of thousands on labor costs alone to maintain bunkers.

In preparation for a golf championship, it is not uncommon to have a bunker maintenance crew of 10 to 20 people working full time for two to three weeks prior to and during the event

This is obviously an extreme circumstance, so here's something a little more realistic (still pricey, nonetheless).

Cutlip takes maintenance issues into account for new designs and redesigns, such as his recent one at High Mountain Golf Club in New York. The improved look and playability of the bunkers boosted revenue from daily fees at the semi-private course.

So, given that the average course spends $261,500 on course maintenance, and 10-20 percent is on bunkers (we'll say 15% for the sake of argument), roughly $40,000 is spent on bunker maintenance yearly. Pretty pricey.

[double_j]

I'll echo the sentiments here - my course is the same way. The bunkers aren't terrible but they're a far cry from the fluffy sand of better courses.

Low bounce (I play a 56 with 8 degrees), open club face. Hit it more like a flop shot than a true 'sand shot'. Your goal in this case isn't to have the ball ride out on a wave of sand (as it normally should be) - it's really to just hit as if you were coming out of moderate rough (i.e., feel the clubhead slip under the ball). Your point of impact target is an inch or two behind the ball, as opposed to the 3 or 4 inches that you can normally play from a bunker.

Open stance, open clubface, ball forward, weight forward, think quick wrists and commit yourself to accleration through the ball. You'll have to swing a bit harder than you would out of the grass since the sand will slow your club a bit, but it's pretty much the same swing as if you were hitting from grass.

[Valleygolfer]

Bunkers are one of the most pricey items to build/maintain on a golf course. Under the

I can understand this but these are sand bunkers. How hard could it be to add some fresh sand and rake it once a week.

[GolfBear]

Bunkers are one of the most pricey items to build/maintain on a golf course. Under the

I don't doubt that maintaining bunkers to tournament conditions can be pricey but you have to consider the differential between a tournament layout with potentially 100 or more bunkers and your average course which might have half that number. The course where my league plays doesn't even have sand fairway bunkers. The second course you references is 40 minutes from NYC with a $75 green fee, again, not your average muni.

The other big piece is the sand itself. The new Nicklaus course they just built five minutes from me had all the sand brought in from Ohio. The pro told me they brought it in via train so I'm sure it was absurdly expensive. It's white, beautiful and feel like cotton candy. Frankly it makes me want to roll in it. My home course uses the same crap they throw on the highways in the winter. There's no way that them dumping some sand into their 36 bunkers would be 20% of their maintenance budget. I'm not looking for Oakmont conditions, I just want some freaking sand! :)

[Valleygolfer]

I don't doubt that maintaining bunkers to tournament conditions can be pricey but you have to consider the differential between a tournament layout with potentially 100 or more bunkers and your average course which might have half that number. The course where my league plays doesn't even have sand fairway bunkers. The second course you references is 40 minutes from NYC with a $75 green fee, again, not your average muni.

I second this.

[HDon]

I've seen players using a putter on the greenside bunkers due to the sand conditions in my area. The sand being used is highway sand, meaning its any particulate matter passing a certain seive size. This includes fines that tend to cement the sand together.

Our local course (during league play) decided since the bunkers were not raked and tend to collect water and debris (compounding the problem of hard clumped brittle sand), a rule was voted in place to allow players to rake the sand to fluff it up and replacing the ball without penalty before hitting out of the sand. This was to avoid potentially breaking a club or injurying others from clumps flying about.

[dhanson]

I don't doubt that maintaining bunkers to tournament conditions can be pricey but

I do take this into consideration with the articles I presented. I even point out that the first is an EXTREME example, and the second of which is a more realistic appraisal of maintenance costs. Even if the course your referencing is spending a quarter of the average maintenance cost for a bunker, it would still cost $10,000 annually.

The course where my league plays doesn't even have sand fairway bunkers. The second course you references is 40 minutes from NYC with a $75 green fee, again, not your average muni.

The portion of the article that I was referencing was talking about cost averages and was not specific to High Mountain Golf Club. Notice it says "

most courses allocate 10 to 20 percent for bunkers" and "maintenance budgets across the United States averaged $584,500 in 2003." I guess my point was there are probably good reasons why the courses bunkers are in the shape they are, and saying "it's just sand" probably isn't the best assessment of the situation. When the course was built, maybe more people played, had more income, ect, which allowed them to take better care of the bunkers. If things are that bad, tell the course management to fill them in. Simple raking and adding more sand probably isn't enough to make any noticeable difference , and here's a USGA article that says the same:

Simple edging (necessary to define the margins of the hazard) and raking are not enough. Maintenance tasks now include packing the bunker faces, removing leaves, maintaining a specific depth of the sand on the bunker face, and even controlling the moisture of the sand. This type of maintenance regime requires hundreds of labor hours per week.

[saevel25]

Simple edging (necessary to define the margins of the hazard) and raking are not enough. Maintenance tasks now include packing the bunker faces, removing leaves, maintaining a specific depth of the sand on the bunker face, and even controlling the moisture of the sand. This type of maintenance regime requires hundreds of labor hours per week.

This aint happening at many places. It would cost municiple courses to much to the moisture control. I can understand going out and racking them, making sure the sand is good. I think the issue is that there isn't much science behind the bunkers. If i was a golf course in a state, i would go get sand from a local lake front or some place in the same area. The most natural to the area is probably the least maintenance. I don't think many places have looked into alternatives.

The course i play now, there are only two bunkers that have sand, because no one hits it in them. The others are really hazards, believe me, i don't even come close to trying to get my ball near one.

[CarlSpackler]

At my course, there is sometimes too much sand and sometimes it's like hard pan. The only thing consistent is that there are stones everywhere (bye bye wedge). I think they are starting to replace it though. I hit into a FW bunker last week and it was like real sand. I didn't know what to do.

[TourSpoon]

When the bunkers are like this I try not to open the face as much thus reducing the bounce (not square and not wide open like normal) and have a steeper angle of attack. If you try the standard bunker shot, the bounce will throw the club into the ball.