Rocky Bunkers - What bounce?

[RCGA]

I'm moving to a new club this year. The bunkers are quite poor, however, with more small rocks than actual proper sand. 

 

Should I be playing more or less bounce? I currently have a 54/14 that I like out of my current sandy bunkers, but I can thin it off the fairway. 

[OnTheBag]

9 minutes ago, RCGA said:

I'm moving to a new club this year. The bunkers are quite poor, however, with more small rocks than actual proper sand. 

 

Should I be playing more or less bounce? I currently have a 54/14 that I like out of my current sandy bunkers, but I can thin it off the fairway. 

That is a pet peeve of mine.  How can you run a golf course with unplayable bunkers?  Get a beater SW off the bay that you don't mind destroying.  Bounce really doesn't matter because one rock in the wrong place and you're going to skip anyway.

[ZacR88]

I would bounce the ball outta the bunker with my foot and play it off the grass. 

[RCGA]

Anyone hitting a $250 wedge out of this? 

[golfinbrad]

3 minutes ago, RCGA said:

Anyone hitting a $250 wedge out of this? 

I'm not hitting a $100 wedge out of that. 

[dfeldss]

10 minutes ago, RCGA said:

Anyone hitting a $250 wedge out of this? 

 

 

Jeez. Im not going to pretend like i know what all goes into course maintenance, but i feel like you could send the guys out and tell them to fix the bunkers on one hole a day and get it done pretty quickly. 

 

I'd definitely be moving rocks at the very least if i went in there

[OnTheBag]

24 minutes ago, dfeldss said:

 

 

Jeez. Im not going to pretend like i know what all goes into course maintenance, but i feel like you could send the guys out and tell them to fix the bunkers on one hole a day and get it done pretty quickly. 

 

I'd definitely be moving rocks at the very least if i went in there

After retiring as a caddie, I worked as an Asst Super.  Those bunkers scream "I don't care".  One hole a week with hand rakes would clean them up.  Plus a better constructed sand filter box would help too.  This is just poor management.

[iNeedMoreGolf]

They could honestly just sift the rocks out some places and be fine... other places the whole bunker is just gravel.. like ground up rocks. Thats not sand! 🤬

When bunkers are either one of the above i pull the ball out. No way am i going to ding up my club so bad. Get some proper sand and ill play the shot. Best sand i ever hit out of was tpc scottsdale the stadium course. WHITE BABY POWDER SAND. It was a dream to play out of and easier. Like i said... i feel the prestine shape of the courses the pros play is at least a extra stroke or two less where as some of our courses are gaining us a stroke or two maybe more depending how bad it could be.

[anser85029]

Looks like "ground under repair" to me

[MattM97]

Golf Now Hot Deal course right here. 

[phizzy30]

2 hours ago, RCGA said:

Anyone hitting a $250 wedge out of this? 

I take my ball out and play it off grass unless it's a tournament.  I die a little bit on the inside during these moments........😢

Edited March 23, 2023 by phizzy30

[KevCannon]

I had a course like this near me, it was the only negative on an otherwise decent track. A bunch of us would complain constantly, started leaving really negative reviews online, etc. So finally got the pro and the general manager to speak with owner, and they re did every bunker on the course last year. It’s been so much better to play there since, owner saw all the positive feedback and even bought all brand new golf carts with all the bells and whistles.

[caniac6]

Why are you leaving your old club for that?

[st1800e]

I bought an old  Pelz 60 wedge, looks like about 2* of bounce, works well out of bunkers like that and “concrete like” bunkers. For $30 I don’t care what happens to it. 

[ChipNRun]

In past my home course had lots of failing bunkers: rocks + soil pollution. Some of us got an old PW, and just picked the ball off the top.

 

Fortunately, bunkers got rebuilt a couple of years ago and are in excellent shape. 

[Greenie]

The bounce I use and recommend when you end up in a bunker with rocks is called the foot bounce. I wish I had taken a pic of the sand trap I ended up in yesterday. My ball ended up laying beside a baseball sized rock in the sand trap and it wasn't the only one that size in there. Most were golf ball sized mixed in the trap. I walked in the trap, grabbed my ball and raked the rocks as I walked out. LOL 

 

All my clubs are no more than three years old except my putter. There is no way I care to beat up my clubs. My regular playing partner's clubs are +20 years old. He will hit out of those type of sand traps and complain when I don't. I call them ground under repair.

[TiScape]

This would work well! Just this one replaces 10°, 12° and 14° SW’s in these situations 😁

[DallasSteve]

I wouldn't play a sand wedge out of there.  I would play my hand wedge.

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

Bunker renovation, done properly, is one expensive project, so maybe that club doesn't have the funds.

[hammergolf]

I would give this to the Superintendent and ask him to use it to remove the rocks. You can get it from Walmart for $4. If he’s too lazy to do it, I would mark and lift your ball, then sift the sand to remove the rocks, then place your ball in the same position and play your shot.

Edited March 23, 2023 by hammergolf

[KevCannon]

1 hour ago, Is Golf Fun or Work said:

Bunker renovation, done properly, is one expensive project, so maybe that club doesn't have the funds.

Yes it is. But rocks in bunkers shouldn’t be accepted.

[hammergolf]

8 hours ago, Is Golf Fun or Work said:

Bunker renovation, done properly, is one expensive project, so maybe that club doesn't have the funds.

It doesn’t cost anything to rake the bunkers and removed the rocks.

[mkidding]

18 hours ago, RCGA said:

I'm moving to a new club this year. The bunkers are quite poor, however, with more small rocks than actual proper sand. 

 

Should I be playing more or less bounce? I currently have a 54/14 that I like out of my current sandy bunkers, but I can thin it off the fairway. 

 

Honestly speaking, if you are not playing for money, move it away and drop and play, and don't damage your club

 

If you wanna be a little harder to yourself, just add 1 shot to the scorecard

[OnTheBag]

15 hours ago, Is Golf Fun or Work said:

Bunker renovation, done properly, is one expensive project, so maybe that club doesn't have the funds.

I'm not talking about renovation just better maintenance.  It costs $150-200 at Home Depot to build a good sand filter box.  The grounds crew guys should have these on their work plan as well.  2 guys with hand rakes could do a hole a day (assuming no more than 3 bunkers per hole). 

 

 

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

17 hours ago, KevCannon said:

Yes it is. But rocks in bunkers shouldn’t be accepted.

Formerly known as "hazards" ....  IIRC, was it the Open or some other tourney I saw where they allowed players to remove rocks ?

Alternatively, don't hit it in bunkers.

[brew4eagle]

I wouldn't join that club

[sadclevelandsports]

Can I ask how much your 18 cost you?

[596]

11 hours ago, OnTheBag said:

I'm not talking about renovation just better maintenance.  It costs $150-200 at Home Depot to build a good sand filter box.  The grounds crew guys should have these on their work plan as well.  2 guys with hand rakes could do a hole a day (assuming no more than 3 bunkers per hole). 

 

 

I play a very nice Muni.  Excellent greens and fairways.  Bunkers aren't great but it's the lack of staff that causes it.  When you say only "2 guys",  that would be 25% of the maintenance crew.  They maintain 27 holes with only 8 guys.  They do a fantastic job and I'd be the last to complain.  The last cost estimate was near 30,000 to replace the sand.  And that's just the sand cost. 

 

A local private club has a staff of 28 for 18 holes. We due with 8 for 27 holes. 

[OnTheBag]

3 hours ago, 596 said:

I play a very nice Muni.  Excellent greens and fairways.  Bunkers aren't great but it's the lack of staff that causes it.  When you say only "2 guys",  that would be 25% of the maintenance crew.  They maintain 27 holes with only 8 guys.  They do a fantastic job and I'd be the last to complain.  The last cost estimate was near 30,000 to replace the sand.  And that's just the sand cost. 

 

A local private club has a staff of 28 for 18 holes. We due with 8 for 27 holes. 

Valid point.  Thank you.  The courses I worked at staffed 20-25 on the grounds crew for 18 or 27 holes.  We had a handful of semi-retired guys that would come in early to mow, then used the "stoner" young guys for the grunt work.  Good bunker sand isn't cheap, but a proper filter box is.  The bunkers in the OP are "dump and rake".  They aren't filtering that sand prior to putting it on the course.

[Greenie]

3 hours ago, sadclevelandsports said:

Can I ask how much your 18 cost you?

 The courses I play that have rocks in their sand traps are under $30 w/cart courses. They will be low $30 once off winter rates. I never complain about the traps because everything else is ok for a $30 course. Other courses in my area range from $60 up over $100. I better not see their sand traps like that. The cheaper courses I play their faults are usually the traps are bad and the carts are junky but it's cheap golf so I can get over certain conditions.