Bunkers - Part II
Posted: March 1st, 2023, 4:30 pm
Just as Jeff Reel has always been fascinated of greensites and make the best ones, I have always been obsessed with the strategic values of bunkers but have always come up short. The standard bunkers in JN are usually just a few feet low because there is no point making them deeper bc you can play out with a 3W and just get a bit shorter. I started experimenting again with my heathland course, and did not succeed but at least got somewhere.
This screen shows a fairway bunker with no fake stuff like a wall in front of them, just a smooth looking bunker and no distortions and laid out at the same height as the fairway.
If landing in it, you have to go down to an Iron 4 and a high shot to get out. Not as good as I wanted, but an improvement I had not managed before. I did not even have to smooth with rings around it, I randomized and sank a smaller version of the sand a couple of times and then smoothed the whole sand. Not sure I can re-create it, but I wish I found this method 23 years ago when JN was played more
If interested in bunkers, here is a link to an article in Golf Club Atlas.
"While bunkers are inconvenient and frustrating to the player, they are essential to the core spirit of the game. They are used, in combination with other hazards, to define the risk and set the requirements of the hole. They are the architect’s most common tool to force players to make decisions and to think"
https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion ... an-andrew/
This screen shows a fairway bunker with no fake stuff like a wall in front of them, just a smooth looking bunker and no distortions and laid out at the same height as the fairway.
If landing in it, you have to go down to an Iron 4 and a high shot to get out. Not as good as I wanted, but an improvement I had not managed before. I did not even have to smooth with rings around it, I randomized and sank a smaller version of the sand a couple of times and then smoothed the whole sand. Not sure I can re-create it, but I wish I found this method 23 years ago when JN was played more
If interested in bunkers, here is a link to an article in Golf Club Atlas.
"While bunkers are inconvenient and frustrating to the player, they are essential to the core spirit of the game. They are used, in combination with other hazards, to define the risk and set the requirements of the hole. They are the architect’s most common tool to force players to make decisions and to think"
https://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion ... an-andrew/