markb Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 The Open is upon us and shots of Hoylake reveals its many, small sod-faced pot bunkers that are so effective at shaping where the pro's aim and shoot. Seeing them got me to thinking, Why are true pot bunkers so rare in America? For being so small, they are so good at changing a course. You wanna dial back the big hitters without lengthening a tee? Just stick a diagonal of two or three pots at 300 to 320. Anyone who has ever been in one will do ANYTHING to avoid them. So why don't we have them? Are they too expensive to build and maintain? Do the sod walls have to be replaced frequently? Are they hard to rake and American GK's will only service a bunker that can be driven into with a machine? Is is a drainage issue and without proper a priori drainage we can't have them in the US? Or is it just a stylisitic issue? What do you think? Where in the US have you found true pot bunkers? bag - SunMountain Synch with Ogio Synergy X4 cartdriver - Optiforce 440, Paderson Kevlar Green stiff 46.5"fwoods - Jetspeed, 3HL regularirons - Speedblades 3-8, 85g stiff steel, 2 upwedges - Scor 40, 45, 50, 54, 58putter - Ketsch 35" slight arc, SuperStroke 2.0 mid-slimball - ProV1x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozcycle Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I was in Lexington, KY on vacation around the 4th of July, so I played a Pete Dye course just 5 minutes from my sister's house......Kearney Hills GC.....It's a Links style course with many grassy pot bunkers.....It was a blast to play. Driver: 0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft Fairways: 0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft Hybrid: None in bag at the moment Irons: Titleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm). Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707, or Nike Method Core Drone w/Evnroll Gravity Grip Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markb Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Were they sod faced or merely small steep sloped grass banks that could still be driven into with a tractor? I get the feeling that the main reason we don't have them is that players HATE them and badger management to remove them or never include them in a new design. In other words, I suspect that the main reason we don't see more is because we Americans like to have pretty "hazards" on our courses with graceful lobes of white fluffy sand, but we don't like HAZARDS that we're actually afraid of. bag - SunMountain Synch with Ogio Synergy X4 cartdriver - Optiforce 440, Paderson Kevlar Green stiff 46.5"fwoods - Jetspeed, 3HL regularirons - Speedblades 3-8, 85g stiff steel, 2 upwedges - Scor 40, 45, 50, 54, 58putter - Ketsch 35" slight arc, SuperStroke 2.0 mid-slimball - ProV1x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I guess you haven't played that many Dye courses. It always seems that he has them scattered liberally around his courses and that they come in sod faced, railroad tied face or sand face - he has the gamut. Also we have an architect that did lots of very good to great courses in the Southeast, Arthur Hills. He loves the Pot Bunker or needle nose thing as I like to call them - he particularly likes to put them in the middle of a fairway and then to give you a choice as to which side you'll play too - they may be small but if you pick the right set of tees they really enhance the character of a hole. I don't see pot bunkers every day but they are around enough on the courses that I play that I wouldn't call them rare by any stretch. Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMiller Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 The pot bunkers that I have seen are normally wood planked faced or sod faced with full grass growing over them. I have yet to see one where the stacked sod is like the links style of say St. Andrews over here in the United States. My guess is ultimately the cost of maintenance of the things. ~ Sand is more expensive then grass to replace and maintain a nicely raked area. ~ Having someone hand sheer / weed eat the face of a sod bunker to make it look pretty is time consuming = labor cost ~ Having someone hand rake the small deep bunkers that a riding machine that rakes the bunker can't get into = labor cost ~ Erosion of the sod faced bunker over time will cause the bunker to need completely rebuilt. Callaway Epic Max 12.0 (-1/N) @ 44.50" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7 Stiff Callaway Epic Speed 18.0* @ 42.75" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-8 Stiff Callaway Mavrik Pro 23.0* @ 40.00" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 95 HYB Stiff Sub-70 639 Combo (5-P) w/ Nippon Modus 3 125 Stiff, Standard Length, Weak Lofts (27-47, 4* gaps) Callaway MD5 Raw 51-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge Callaway MD5 Raw 55-13 X-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge Callaway MD5 Raw 59-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge Callaway MD5 Raw 63-09 C-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge Golf Swing & Putting -- Bruce Rearick (Burnt Edges Consulting) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpcgolf Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I think it is because many people would just complain and hate them, including me. Driver: Taylormade 2017 M2 9.5 degree head played at 8 degrees. Fujikura speeder evolution tour spec x flex shaft tipped 1/4 inch. 3-Wood: 15 degree M2 tour. Fujikura pro 73 tour spec X flex shaft. Mizuno H5 2 iron. 4 iron: mizuno mp h4 4 iron dynamic gold s300 5-pw iron: mizuno mp 54 dynamic gold s300 52, 56, 60 wedges: cleveland 588 rotex cavity putter: 34 inch nike method 00 half circle mallet putter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG STU Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Like Rev says there are plenty on Dye courses. I have seen a few sod faced bunkers but I dont remember any here. The maintainence aint all that bad you can cut the face with a weedeater. I think possibly the reason you dont see a lot of them is because for the average recreational golfer (none on here though) it would be too difficult for them to get out of and would slow play drastically Driver ---- Callaway Big Bertha Alpha Speeder 565 R flex- 5W TM V-Steel Fubuki 60r--- 7W TM V-Steel UST Pro Force Gold 65R----- 9 W TM V Steel TM MAS stiff---- Irons 2015 TM TP CB Steel Fiber 95 R--- GW Callaway Mack Daddy 2 52* shaft unknown junk pile refugee. SW Callaway PM Grind 56* Modified sole grind--- KBS Tour Wedge-- LW Vokey 58* SM5 L grind--- Putter Ping B90I Broom Stick G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbealsd Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 We just had a local "semi-links" style course undergo a major remodeling and they've added a few plank faced bunkers to the course. Most "casual" golfers tend to avoid this course anyway, since it's always been one of the more challenging courses to play, so I think it will be popular with the golfers that regularly play it. What's In the Bag Driver - GBB Hybrids Halo XL Halo 18* & T-Rail 20* Irons T-Rail 2.0 Wedges 60* TS / SCOR 48* 53* 58* Putter Ball Bag Datrek DG Lite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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