Bravo
Well-Known Member
The other 'penal bunker' thread today reminded me of something I have meant to post here for quite some time and have forgotten. Give me your opinion of this.
Our course has quite a few fairway bunkers. Being the wildass driver that I am off the tee, I get in them pretty often. As a result, I have developed a fairly decent fairway bunker skillset and have hit quite a few greens from 130-150 yards out.
Here is what really gets my goat.
There are three fairway bunkers on the golf course where - if you land in them - your recovery shot is partially blocked by tree limbs that overhang the bunker.
Take #16. There is a fairway bunker about 240 yards away from the tee on the left side of the fairway. With my right-to-left game, I have gotten in there plenty of times. You are left with a distance of 150 yards to the green - downhill. If I were on the fairway I would choose 8 iron in that situation. When in a bunker, I club one more - choosing a 7 iron.
You walk into the bunker with your 7 iron and it becomes readily apparent that if you hit the shot normally and the ball flew out with a 7 iron-type trajectory, it would fly right into a tree limb that is about 10 yards in front of the bunker. The trunk of the tree is admittedly over to the side of the bunker but it is a huge horizontal limb that blocks the way.
This is the same on #1 too.
As a result, you are left with a situation where you have to hit a 150 yard 'knockdown' shot coming out of a fairway bunker where sometimes the ball is sitting down somewhat in the sand.
I don't think it's fair. I think it is enough of a penalty to have to get out of the bunker as it is without making the golfer deal with overhanging tree limbs at the same time.
Is it just me or is this genuinely unfair?
Our course has quite a few fairway bunkers. Being the wildass driver that I am off the tee, I get in them pretty often. As a result, I have developed a fairly decent fairway bunker skillset and have hit quite a few greens from 130-150 yards out.
Here is what really gets my goat.
There are three fairway bunkers on the golf course where - if you land in them - your recovery shot is partially blocked by tree limbs that overhang the bunker.
Take #16. There is a fairway bunker about 240 yards away from the tee on the left side of the fairway. With my right-to-left game, I have gotten in there plenty of times. You are left with a distance of 150 yards to the green - downhill. If I were on the fairway I would choose 8 iron in that situation. When in a bunker, I club one more - choosing a 7 iron.
You walk into the bunker with your 7 iron and it becomes readily apparent that if you hit the shot normally and the ball flew out with a 7 iron-type trajectory, it would fly right into a tree limb that is about 10 yards in front of the bunker. The trunk of the tree is admittedly over to the side of the bunker but it is a huge horizontal limb that blocks the way.
This is the same on #1 too.
As a result, you are left with a situation where you have to hit a 150 yard 'knockdown' shot coming out of a fairway bunker where sometimes the ball is sitting down somewhat in the sand.
I don't think it's fair. I think it is enough of a penalty to have to get out of the bunker as it is without making the golfer deal with overhanging tree limbs at the same time.
Is it just me or is this genuinely unfair?