when bunker sand is not consistant

[rollin]

Just for conversation. Sure most all have a day when seems ya just cant find anything but a bunker. Sooo many times I've played when ither myself or anyone else in the foursome has one those days. With that said and when that happens do ya find it a bit disturbing when the golf course has no consistancy in conditions from one bunker to the next.?

When they may change sand in some and its a total different kind of sand from others. Then perhaps another is different from ither of those all on the same course. Taking wet weather out of the equation because that alone can cause a ton of inconsistancy. But in normal conditions, one bunker may have heavy sand while another is lighter. One may be softer and yet another hard as a rock. Or whatever the case.

One recent encounter was a day when two specific bunkers (that i hit into) had this new sand different from what they ever used before at my home course. At first ya just figured "hey great nice new sand" but than ya stand in it and its different from what they ever used before. This spacific sand was the lightest fluffiest smallest grain (almost salt like) sand that I ever experienced. I had just came out of a greenside bunker very nicely two holes earlier. On this one (first of two) the sand was so very extremely light that my club actually went under the ball and came out the other side like i went through air. The wierdest thing, like no resistance or nothing. I was like" what the heck kinda sand is this" Well the second one of these two types of bunkers, there were two of us in a bunker with this same kind of sand. The other guy did nearly the same thing I did earlier and also said "what the .....kind of crap is this" lol .

In the specific case I mentioned we really believed they must of made a mistake and put the wrong sand in these few bunkers but we never did ak about it so we dont really know. Have forgotten about them since and cooincidentaly havnt been back in them so dont know if still the same. Do you expect consistancy and feel they should keep them cosistant? Same sand etc...? Offer you similar conditions? Or do you like the challenges? Yes, its our fault we are in them but perhaps your in more than a few that day and all of a sudden out of the blue a couple of them totaly different world than others or worse the're all much too different in thier individual condition from one to another throughout the same course. .

 

[Hawk]

Bunkers are expensive and difficult for courses to maintain. Even the nicer courses around here have issues with condition and consistency, so I've gotten use to it. Honestly, it doesn't bother me much compared to other things.

 

[ddec]

At most courses I play, I kind of expect the sand to be inconsistent. I will say the course I joined this year the sand is fairly consistent throughout which is nice. I think it was PGA National last time I played it that the sand was real crazy. Some holes it was a soft fluffy sand and others it was really packed. It used to bother me, but now I just kind of expect it everywhere I go.

 

[Hawk]

I like some packed sand. Ours can get a crust on the top that confuses you the first few times. Unless it's just dirt, I typically don't change much in the way I set up or swing.

 

[ddec]

I like some packed sand. Ours can get a crust on the top that confuses you the first few times. Unless it's just dirt, I typically don't change much in the way I set up or swing.

I hate bunkers that are filled with rocks. I like more of a packed sand than that fluffy stuff.

 

[TC]

The sand here is really inconsistent here as well so you just need to learn to hit a couple of different techniques in order to get the ball out of there. When it's hard pack I like to play with a squarer club face and focus more on pounding down on the ball to get it out of there. If it's soft and fluffy sand that's when I prefer to splash balls out of there.

 

[blugold]

If I'm in a bunker, I might as well just pick my ball up and throw it to the other side of the green, or maybe even OB. Just to save the effort. It doesn't matter how consistent the sand is, because my bunker game is so inconsistent. If I hit any bunker, just give me a triple, I will meet you on the next tee box.

 

[Damaikis]

I've played in pretty inconsistent sand pretty much everywhere I've gone. Some of it is nice and fluffy while some is harder. You just have to play the shot that the bunker calls for. It does make it more difficult, I agree.

 

[the_paulo]

It's a pet hate of mine, inconsistent bunker sand. We have 3 different types of sand in the bunkers at my home course. Doesn't make for a fun round if you're a little off that day.

We tend to see more packed, heavy sand over here due to cost. With the conditions, the lighter sand eventually blows away.

 

[flix]

It can really mess with your mind. Sometimes you look at the sand expect a type of consistensy when you walk in to the bunker but then as you take you shot you realize you misjudged it completely and the result is that you hit the ball too far or you end up a few feet away but still in the bunker. A good way to waste strokes

But i love the fluffy sand, too bad it's rare in Sweden. Only the finer courses use it here.

 

[Hawk]

The only answer is a local rule to allow practice swings. I loved that True Blue was set up for that with the waste bunkers tee to green.

 

[Dogman]

Bunkers are expensive and difficult for courses to maintain. Even the nicer courses around here have issues with condition and consistency, so I've gotten use to it. Honestly, it doesn't bother me much compared to other things.

Same here. And time of day can really change all the bunkers around here...they can be really wet, or freshly raked in teh morning, and in the afternoon, they can be fluffy, full of footprints, or rock hard if they dry funny from the morning watering. Guess that's why they are called a hazard....

 

[Hawk]

That is a good point, dogman. Bunkers, especially at the professional level, have become a preferable miss in many situations. I think a little difficulty is fine if you hit the ball there. Not that you shouldn't have any shot, but expecting them to be perfect is like expecting the rough to be easy to hit out of, no trees in the way, etc.

 

[sharkwrestler]

The only answer is a local rule to allow practice swings. I loved that True Blue was set up for that with the waste bunkers tee to green.

I didn't know about this at first and was freaking out when I saw some of the guy's doing this, I learned something new about waste bunkers and local rules. hehe

 

[jrmy]

How are you supposed to hit out of really hard sand, and I'm talking more than just a thick "crust" on top. One of the local courses around here has some sand that has grass springing out of it its so hard and I've always had problems trying to get out of it because its almost like I can just pick it clean off. If I try to splash it out I usually wind up with a chunk of sand taken out behind the ball.

 

[SW]

The only answer is a local rule to allow practice swings. I loved that True Blue was set up for that with the waste bunkers tee to green.

Haha I hated that, seeing practice swings in a bunker just confused the heck out of me. Well that and you knocking everything to a gimme from bunkers.

I don't worry too much about different sand, while a firmer sand is preferred I typically do ok from softer sand with a big splash.

 

[thedue]

It sucks that we have no bunkers here at all. We live in the sand capital of the US I think, but the courses don't want to mess with bunkers, so when I go anywhere else with bunker I struggle getting out.

 

[Dogman]

How are you supposed to hit out of really hard sand, and I'm talking more than just a thick "crust" on top. One of the local courses around here has some sand that has grass springing out of it its so hard and I've always had problems trying to get out of it because its almost like I can just pick it clean off. If I try to splash it out I usually wind up with a chunk of sand taken out behind the ball.

Our bunkers are pretty hard under very little sand right now...they water a lot at night, and they don't get raked as much. Sometimes you just have to play it like it's on hardpan right next to the green. Easy to skull one right over.

 

[rollin]

If I'm in a bunker, I might as well just pick my ball up and throw it to the other side of the green, or maybe even OB. Just to save the effort. It doesn't matter how consistent the sand is, because my bunker game is so inconsistent. If I hit any bunker, just give me a triple, I will meet you on the next tee box.

lol thats funny. Ya mean throw it into the "bunker" on the other side dont ya. I'm sure your not happy bout and i dont wish it on you at all but just funny the way ya put it.

 

[rollin]

I like them soft but with heavier sand if that makes sense. Kinda like wehre I can take a full or harder swing. Nothing worse than feeling like ya want to quit on your swing right in the middle cause the sand is too light anf fluffy. But having inconsistant conditions amkes it all much harder. espec when ya may have been in a few and then bam all a sudden way different

 

[TripleBogieTim]

The sand here is really inconsistent here as well so you just need to learn to hit a couple of different techniques in order to get the ball out of there. When it's hard pack I like to play with a squarer club face and focus more on pounding down on the ball to get it out of there. If it's soft and fluffy sand that's when I prefer to splash balls out of there.

That's how I do it as well....you can test the sand with your feet.....see how easily it is to dig your feet in the sand....you should be able to tell from that how hard it is.

My local course the sand is so bad crusty and hard that most groups play "lift rake and drop" rules to at least give yourself a chance to hit a shot....otherwise the bunkers are like hardpan. I have also seen then play the bunkers as ground under repair in tournaments cause they are so bad....that being said...bunkers are not cheap to maintain...much more expensive than most think.

I hate really fluffy sand....The Bunkers at the Texas Tour Van stop were like being in sugar....it was really hard to play out of...even JB had issues with it.

 

[rollin]

It sucks that we have no bunkers here at all. We live in the sand capital of the US I think, but the courses don't want to mess with bunkers, so when I go anywhere else with bunker I struggle getting out.

I never experienced a course with no bunkers. What do they have to protect greens and swallow mishits? do the have heavy ruf or something in those areas instead?

 

[Playdough]

I deal with pretty inconsistant sand on the courses I play. But it doesn't seem to matter as my sand play is awful. I seem to be have an issue with splashing the ball out, I pretty much blade it out, but yet have a pretty good size splash zone in the bunker...so I don't know what the issue is, because I used to have a decent sand game. I blame it on the sand..lol

 

[Smallville]

It's a pet hate of mine, inconsistent bunker sand. We have 3 different types of sand in the bunkers at my home course. Doesn't make for a fun round if you're a little off that day.

We tend to see more packed, heavy sand over here due to cost. With the conditions, the lighter sand eventually blows away.

That's what we have on a lot of courses around here. That's in the Spring and Fall. In Summer, they become hardpan in a lot of cases.

The only answer is a local rule to allow practice swings. I loved that True Blue was set up for that with the waste bunkers tee to green.

That helped out a LOT. I joke on the first tee now that I am declaring all bunkers waste areas!



Our course is undergoing a huge renovation and is closed until next May or so. I was out on it a few days ago and the owner and his construction people were on one of the holes, and the guy was talking about how they were going to put a new fairway bunker on that hole. That's fine, but please maintain it, and the rest!

 

[wadesworld]

This spacific sand was the lightest fluffiest smallest grain (almost salt like) sand that I ever experienced. I had just came out of a greenside bunker very nicely two holes earlier. On this one (first of two) the sand was so very extremely light that my club actually went under the ball and came out the other side like i went through air.

I play on a course that has this same type of sand. In 99% of the cases, if you're trying to play a traditional blast shot, you're screwed. You'll go right under it and won't get it out. You have to play much more like a chip/pitch.

And yes, courses should certainly make an effort to make sure the sand type is consistent throughout the course.