Golf Course Architecture 101, Part 3: Hazards

George Thomas and Billy Bell’s Riviera is one of the best-bunkered courses in the world. On the under-appreciated 7th hole, a magnificent fairway bunker puts long hitters in a pickle. Off the tee, they have to decide how aggressively they want to play. The father they hit their tee shot, the narrower the landing zone becomes. Meanwhile, less powerful players can simply take the cautious path (option A below).

Option A (safe) – Laying back to the wide part of the fairway is the safest play but leaves a long approach shot to a tiny, heavily sloped green.

Option B (moderately risky) – Threading a longer tee ball into the narrowing fairway can yield a short-iron or wedge approach, but with every additional yard, the landing zone gets tighter.

Option C (risky) – Unless you can fly the bunker—a carry of about 320 yards—the most aggressive play is to the narrowest part of the fairway. The risk is substantial, but so is the potential reward: a wedge from the ideal angle.

All of these strategic options are generated by a single well-placed hazard.

Deception: Riviera Country Club, 10th hole

No. 10 at Riviera gets a lot of praise for its strategic complexity, but it’s also subtly deceptive. The big, crescent-shaped bunker directs your attention to the center line of the hole, framing what appears to be the ideal landing zone. From the tee, the proper play seems to be either short of the bunker or over it. But that’s a trap: approaching the severely canted green from either of those spots, even with a wedge, is nearly impossible. It is far better to aim your tee shot well left.

This is one way in which a hazard can create visual deception, giving an advantage to the player see beyond the architect’s tricks and accurately assess the strategy of the hole.

Excitement: Cypress Point Club, 16th hole

This point is fairly self-explanatory. On the 16th hole at Cypress Point, the Pacific Ocean is obviously a hazard—if you miss right, left, or short, you’re in it—but it’s also simply amazing to look at. Play the hole once and you’ll never forget it.

Many of the world’s most memorable golf holes incorporate a beautiful natural feature as a hazard: Rae’s Creek on Nos. 12 and 13 at Augusta National; the big dune to the left of the Postage Stamp green at Royal Troon; and, of course, the seaside cliffs on several holes at Cypress Point’s public-access cousin, Pebble Beach.

The placement of hazards

“Hazards should be placed with an object in mind, and not one should be made which has not some influence of the line of play.” – Alister Mackenzie

With hazards, placement is everything, and less is often more. Each hazard should have some specific effect. A bunker on the inside of a dogleg may convince the player to aim toward the opposite side, where a longer approach awaits. A bunker short of the green may convince the player to club up and miss long. In other words, a well-placed hazard creates a dilemma: play close to it and reap an advantage, or take the safe route away from it and face a difficult next shot.

Furthermore, hazards should be placed to accommodate a variety of skill levels. Whereas proficient players should have to reckon with danger, beginners and shorter hitters should be able to avoid it with a reasonable degree of accuracy and caution. Therefore, forced carries such as those at No. 16 at Cypress Point and the island 17th at TPC Sawgrass should be used in moderation, no matter how thrilling they are. A course filled with such carries would be a slog for a low-trajectory player.

Oh boy, where to start…

There are nine bunkers on this Robert Trent Jones/Robert Rulewich-designed hole, and most of them are unnecessary. The first three are in play only for short hitters, who are unlikely to reach the green in regulation anyway. Why punish them further? A similar objection can be made to the bunkers in front of the green, which are threats mainly to golfers who can’t hit it high and far.

If you’re a skilled player, on the other hand, you don’t have much to think about on either the drive or the approach. Just cut the corner with your tee shot and get to the bunker-less section of the fairway. Then make sure your approach flies all the way to the pin. These aren’t difficult undertakings for low-handicap golfers, nor are they all that interesting.

So poorly placed hazards result in the worst of both words: too much difficulty for below-average players and too little for above-average ones.

(Side note: as I discussed in Part 2 of this series, proficient golf architects usually strive to blend artificial features in with the natural landscape. Jones and Rulewich did not accomplish this task at Capitol Hill. The bunkers on the first hole are nearly identical to each other in size and shape, and have no discernible relationship to the surrounding terrain. There must be those who enjoy this look, but I’m not one of them.)

Types of hazards

Hazards can take many different forms, some more subtle than others. The key is for a course to have a variety of hazards so that the look, feel, and playing characteristics of the holes don’t become repetitive and boring.

Bunkers

There’s a reason this article has focused primarily on bunkers: no hazard is more frequently used or more fundamental to the way we understand the strategy of golf. At many courses, bunkers have an influence on every full shot a player hits during a round.

Yet in many cases, architects should exercise restraint in bunkering. Bunkers are expensive to build and maintain, and around the green, they tend to punish weaker golfers disproportionately. In fact, skilled players often prefer to be in a green-side bunker than in the rough.

Grass bunkers

If green-side sand bunkers widen the gap between low and high handicappers, grass bunkers do the opposite. They often give expert players fits, but they’re more playable for beginners, who are usually just looking to get the ball on the green. Also, grass bunkers are cheaper to build and maintain. For these reasons, they are extremely underused in modern golf architecture.

Water hazards

Water hazards can range from a tiny, meandering stream to a cliff at the edge of a mighty ocean. At their best, these hazards provide an unmatched thrill factor and enhance strategy by amping up risk. But these great benefits can turn into great drawbacks when a water feature is poorly built or poorly incorporated into the course. Water hazards can also be horribly overused, turning the average golfer’s round into a punishing experience. They can also be the most artificial-looking elements of a course; the best ones tend to be—or at least appear—indigenous to their settings.

Natural landforms

Not every golf course is blessed with rock outcroppings, ravines, or sudden elevation changes that can readily serve as hazards. But when given a property that has these kinds of natural assets, an architect is duty-bound to maximize them.

Contours

Contours are the most subtle and underrated type of hazard; sometimes they may not even seem to be hazards at all. Whether natural or manmade, contours can create strategic interest from tee to green: uneven lies in the fairway, humps and hollows on the approach, run-offs around the green, etc. These features become particularly lively when conditions are firm and there’s plenty of short grass.

Combining contouring with a fairway cut is a great way for an architect to blend challenge with playability. Unpredictable ground prevents better players from getting in a groove with their irons and wedges, but clean lies and the option to use a putter around the greens will help the average golfer tremendously.

Trees

Used sparingly, a single tree or a small cluster of trees can make for a terrific strategic hazard. However, the repetitious use of tight, tree-lined fairways to penalize wayward shots is not good design. Two of the fundamental joys of the game are the freedom to shape shots both ways and the opportunity to recover from a poor position. You get a lot less of both on courses where trees encroach on every hole.

Rough and other long grasses

Like trees, long grasses are an important type of hazard but should be used with restraint. They also need to be smartly maintained. Frequently, native areas get overwatered and become so thick that playing from them, or even finding a ball in them, becomes nearly impossible. The same goes for lush, U.S. Open-style rough. Sure, the relentless use of long grasses will make your course more difficult. But it won’t make it more fun, and it will slow down play.

For Part 4 of Golf Course Architecture 101 (on greens and surrounds), CLICK HERE.