Dustin Johnson will fear no bunker at this year's PGA...

[TN94z]

That's because there are no bunkers (even though there is plenty of sand), traditionally speaking, at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course . The website states:

Quote:

The course's second line of defense lie within the uniqueness of our sand areas. At The Ocean Course, we have absolutely no 'bunkers.' . . . The Ocean Course features what few other golf courses anywhere in the U.S. feature, the "transition area'. The rule book defines these areas to be played 'through the green,' simply meaning that typical sand trap rules do not apply.

So with this being in place, the players that find themselves in these areas will be able to ground their clubs, take practice swings and even move loose impediments. This will be the first of golf's 4 majors that will contested without bunkers.

Quote:

The local rule is in place due to different debris that inhabits these areas on the windswept course. With the tide also playing a role, transition areas -- more commonly referred to as waste bunkers -- vary from hole to hole, making it only fair players can test the surface before playing a shot from one.

So with Dustin Johnson and the memory of the 2010 Whispering Straits incident, this Pete Dye course will be another point of conversation.  I'm sure this point will be brought up that week as well as a ton of video replays of Dustin grounding his club.

This sounds pretty fair, right?  It's cut and dry unlike 2010.  I guess 2010 can be argued a bit considering they were notified before hand, but that's old news.

[Golfingdad]

Fascinating.  Here's what will happen:

Dustin Johnson will be sitting in the clubhouse with a tie for the lead, and Tiger Woods will hit his approach shot into one of these "transition" areas near the 18th green.  Tiger finds his ball and there is a rock immediately behind it.  Luckily for him, this quirky rule allows him to move it, and for good measure, take a few practice swings to find out the consistency.  Of course, after that good fortune, Tiger holes the bunker shot, and once again, Dustin Johnson is screwed by the randomest, goofiest, sand trap related rule ever.

[TN94z]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Fascinating.  Here's what will happen:

Dustin Johnson will be sitting in the clubhouse with a tie for the lead, and Tiger Woods will hit his approach shot into one of these "transition" areas near the 18th green.  Tiger finds his ball and there is a rock immediately behind it.  Luckily for him, this quirky rule allows him to move it, and for good measure, take a few practice swings to find out the consistency.  Of course, after that good fortune, Tiger holes the bunker shot, and once again, Dustin Johnson is screwed by the randomest, goofiest, sand trap related rule ever.

Or Dustin will find himself in a transitional area tied for the lead and will find his ball sitting deep in a foot print from a fan causing him to bogie the hole and lose another heart breaker

[Golfingdad]

He's playing well ... did you notice he finished T9 at the Open?  Could he have done it any quieter?  I don't think I saw him hit a single shot all week.

[iacas]

The course normally plays this way - that there are no bunkers anywhere on the course.

The caddie we had a week or two ago told us that they're going to say that any bunker that's surrounded by grass is a bunker. These will basically just be the greenside bunkers, as most of the rest of the sandy areas on the course have trees and grasses growing in them and aren't "surrounded by grass."

But I'm not so sure about this (the caddie wasn't good at all, so I doubt everything he told us), because if that was the case any time anyone was in sandy areas they'd have to ask a rules official if they were in a bunker or not, and there are plenty of green-side sandy areas that aren't "surrounded by grass."

But, there were some bunkers where they'd clearly trucked in sand. While most of the course was firmly packed sand (so that you could drive carts on it, etc., like the picture below showing the first hole), some of the greenside "sandy areas" had much softer sand in it. The firm sand below wouldn't need raked, the other softer sand would.

And maybe that's how they'll do it: they'll treat everything as a waste area (i.e. not a bunker) and they'll just have to rake the sandy areas that need it because they have the softer sand.

(I kind of wish every bit of sand on the course was that firmer sand, because it made for a unique and interesting approach to greenside waste area play. It wasn't quite the old "splash it out" type of shot.)

[RPMPIRE]

He also won the tournament just before the US Open. Can you imagine the questions the media would ask him regarding these bunker rules?

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

He's playing well ... did you notice he finished T9 at the Open?  Could he have done it any quieter?  I don't think I saw him hit a single shot all week.

[Wally Fairway]

Somehow I feel obliged to post this

[Motley01]

I still feel sorry for the guy. That was the really stupid what happened. I bet he relives the moment every night when goes to bed.

I will root for DJ to win the PGA, that would be the golf gods paying him back. He's owed one!

[iacas]

To be clear, this thread is not a discussion about Dustin Johnson, but rather how the course will be set up for the PGA at Kiawah Island.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by iacas

To be clear, this thread is not a discussion about Dustin Johnson, but rather how the course will be set up for the PGA at Kiawah Island.

Sorry about that.

I am excited for this tournament because I have never really seen the course.  I've never played there, and I don't remember the Ryder Cup from way back when either.  All I know is that they talk about it being one of the hardest courses around, especially when the wind blows.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Sorry about that.

Don't get me wrong, the Dustin Johnson jokes are funny, but we're not going to re-hash whether he was right, wrong, robbed, stupid, etc. at Whistling Straits. We have another thread or twelve for that one. :)

[Golfingdad]

It also looks like it's going to be nice and toasty just like last year in Atlanta. (around 90 each day as of now, according to weather.com)

[colin007]

You can take a practice swing in a regular bunker too, as long as you don't touch anything

[Don Jozwiak]

Back to the original topic, all bunkers will be played through the green for the 2012 PGA Championship. Good call by the PGA, and the way The Ocean Course is played on a daily basis. This is a reversal of how the course was played for the Senior PGA Championship and the PGA Professional National Championship that were held on the course over the past few years.

[zipazoid]

I'm really looking forward to the PGA at Kiawah, cuz I still remember how ungodly-tough some of the holes played in the 1991 Ryder Cup, specifically the 17th. Will be great to see the course again after 21 years.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

I'm really looking forward to the PGA at Kiawah, cuz I still remember how ungodly-tough some of the holes played in the 1991 Ryder Cup, specifically the 17th. Will be great to see the course again after 21 years.

17 isn't even a tough hole. Pete Dye didn't understand why it played so tough, either. They had a weird wind I think, not the typical one off the ocean (blowing from the water towards the green on 17).

[Golfingdad]

I just took the course tour here: http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2012/course/tour/index.cfm It's a really short course too only 7,600 yards.

It sure doesn't look like it's suited to spectators though.  Seems like half the holes are surrounded by marsh.  The rest by dunes with 4' high grass.

They say in there that because it goes east-west along the southern shore of the island, there are no prevailing winds.  So Dye designed the course such that it could be setup according to that days winds.  Interesting.

[Don Jozwiak]

Part of the reason for the change in approach for the bunkers between Whistling Straits and The Ocean Course is a change to the Rules of Golf this year. Rule 12-1a lets players move sand inside or outside of a bunker (for example, on a beach area or in dunes that aren't bunkers) to search for their ball. If they move the ball in the act of finding it, there's no penalty; they just have to try to re-create the original lie as closely as possible before playing the shot. That rule makes it easier to play all sandy areas through the green, and give all the players a consistent experience (no Dustin Johnson wondering if he's in a bunker or not being the obvious example).

Before the rules change, if you were outside a bunker and you ball was in a sandy area you had to declare an unplayable before you started digging for it.