They define golf as much as greens and fairways, yet more and more golfers have become to question the point of bunkers in the modern game. For something born out of sheep scrapes on the Scottish coast, they have become something of a burden of maintenance.
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For professional golfers, bunkers are no longer a punishment for a bad shot. In the amateur game, they aren’t always the best kept. So what’s the point of them? Are they truly hazards anymore — or have they become something else entirely?
We take a look at just that as well as the importance of bunkers in the modern game, how they were originally intended, how they may change and whether or not they have become one of golf’s greatest contradictions.
The Origins
Bunkers started with no human intent at all. Early golf was played on wild linksland, the rough, sandy stretch between arable farmland and beach. Wind, weather, and grazing animals shaped the terrain. Sheep and goats sought shelter from coastal gales, burrowing hollows into dunes. These formed what are considered the first bunkers.
“The beginnings of bunkers go back to the beginnings of golf and links golf specifically,” explained Dan Murphy on the NCG Top 100s Podcast. “This was unkempt land between the beach and the land that could be farmed, and you’d get sheep and goats blown by the elements.
“They’d find some hollows, use their hooves to dig out a little bit of shelter, and create somewhere to protect themselves from the wind. That became kind of sandy outcrops — nothing more, nothing less.”
When early golfers stumbled across these sandy patches, they simply played around them. They weren’t designed — they were discovered. But as golf grew, so did the idea of deliberately incorporating such hazards into course design.
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Are they still a Hazard?
Modern golf, though, has flipped how we view a bunker upside down. It has evolved from a hazard to a near-perfect playing surface, for the pros that is. Every time we seem to watch the world’s best play out of bunkers, they stiff their approach no problem. It doesn’t feel as though they have the same jeopardy they once did.
“The PGA Tour average up-and-down rate from bunkers is about 56.5 per cent,” said Murphy. “Some players are over 70 per cent — and the overall scrambling figures are almost exactly the same. So they’re no more penalised in a bunker than anywhere else. That’s mad, isn’t it?”
“If there’s no difference between getting up and down from a bunker and from the fringe, then what’s the point of the bunker?” Irwin added.
“We’ve developed this expectation that when we go in a bunker, we’re well within our rights to get up and down from it. But it’s supposed to be a hazard”, Murphy claimed.
The Price of Perfection
And the money is no small matter. Modern revetted bunkers might need rebuilding every three to five years. Add to that labor costs, sand replacement, and drainage, you have one of the most expensive features on any course.
“You really do wonder why we’re so attached to them in the number we are”, said Murphy. “Who enjoys being in a bunker? Why are we so desperate to create so many?
“They’re very, very expensive to create and to upkeep. At some clubs, every winter they’re replacing forty or fifty revetted bunkers on a three-year cycle — before they’ve done any other course work.”
Irwin agreed: “If you’re a normal club with four to ten green staff and you’re asking them to rake bunkers every day, what else could they be doing instead? Probably quite a lot that golfers would appreciate more.”
Looking to the Future
So what’s the alternative?
“Grass bunkers are genius,” said Murphy. “They give good chippers and putters a chance to show their skill without punishing juniors or older golfers with slow swing speeds. They’re a democratic hazard.”
Irwin pointed to Pinehurst and Dornoch as inspiration: “What makes those short shots hard is doubt — the choice of shot. Tour players are so good from bunkers because it’s one skill. There’s no doubt. But on short grass, there’s infinite doubt.”
So, what is the point of bunkers?
Once they were scars left by sheep seeking shelter. Today they’re, for the most part, immaculate, expensive, and for many golfers a bit unnecessary.
We for one would argue that, in order for bunkers to have a long-term sustainable future in golf they do need to undergo some change. A fewer amount of them is an obvious option to take. With the sheer lack of enjoyment they create, why wouldn’t we want to have a fewer amount of them.
After all what is golf, if it isn’t fun.
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