The following commentary does not reflect the views of The View, or Barbara Walters, but does reflect my own personal philosophy when it comes to the hazard we all know and love….the sand bunker.

I’ve heard just about every complaint or suggestion when it comes to the types of sand, types of rake used, rakes in the bunker, rakes out of the bunker, plastic handle rakes versus fibreglass versus wood, long rakes versus short rakes, firm sand, soft sand, crusty surface, sand that gets too wet when it rains, sand that drains too well after a rainfall, the number of rakes available at each bunker, white sand, dark sand, sod walls on every green side bunker, shallow bunkers, bunker design for ease of maintenance, bunker design which visually enhances the look of a hole, too penal, not penal enough……these comments can be made while laughing about a bad hole after a round OR they can be made while the person is turning blue because of rage and oxygen deprivation to the brain.

So, what’s my philosophy? Reread the first sentence and then come back.

My philosophy is I like a bunker that lives up to it’s other name: Hazard. A noun, one definition suggests that a hazard is a source of danger, a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune. I like my philosophy because it’s mine and because it means the bunker plays just like the other hazards that are on the golf course….Water hazards, and the other cousin, natural hazards like thick and dense vegetation. Water hazards and natural hazards have somehow avoided the limelight.

Just imagine this story…

“You cannot believe what happened to me today on number 6…I’m playing the white tees, okay, and I take out my 6 iron, which, I’ve been hitting perfect all day…I’m trying to play a nice little cut shot into the green, it’s a red flag on the left side which means I’ve got to challenge the water…So, I catch it a bit heavy and I watch it fall into the pond. So, get this….I can SEE my ball….it’s buried. Totally unfair. I look around to find the floaties…no FLOATIES! Some jerk who had hit in there earlier forgot to take them off after they hit out of the water. There should be a sign that says, “Upon leaving the water hazard we encourage you to remove the floaties and return them to their original position so that your fellow member has the same opportunity and conditions under which to play.” Something like that anyway….Or at least get their name, and write them a stern letter threatening suspension or something. Anyways, I wade into the pond and once I’m able to get over the ball, well, you cannot believe the glare from the sun’s reflection….it’s basically blinding me. You know, the floaties not being returned is one thing, that’s the member’s responsibility, but the glare issue? I mean, how hard is it to maintain the colour of the water? It’s probably because they use “old” water from the dunk tanks they use at the Carp fair. Sometimes I wonder. So, I have no floaties AND I can’t see anything but I figure I got this shot. As I dig my feet in I realize I’ve been penalized even further with an uneven lie…I’m basically on the upslope of the water. That’s another thing – what has happened to the depth consistency of our ponds? I’m telling you, I’m this close to writing a letter. Anyways, the upslope is not a problem because I watched Matt’s last blog entry, the one with the video, where he hits this amazing shot out of the Swilken Burn….you know the one where he says to swing and hope? So, I take a look at the pin, open up my stance and I put the ball forward in my stance because perceptually, once the ball looks like it’s forward, it’s really just in the middle of your stance. Know why? The reflection of the water obscures your perception and our ponds really mess with your mind because that’s how they were designed…to punish us every day players. Gosh, this makes me so angry just talking about…Anyways, I take this swing, basically everything I got and I feel the club twist in my hands a lot once it hits the water…You know, I hate complaining, but, why don’t we add salt to our water hazards? They do at other courses. They actually monitor the salt levels to make sure there are never any bad lies in the pond. They boil our water and thats why our water isn’t dense enough…that’s why our clubs twist more…Anyways, I do everything perfect, I mean, I hit the shot of my life…at least I thought I did until I watch my ball come up short….Yep, I left it in the pond. Know why? Because of this frigging rock!! Yeah, this rock! It was right behind my ball and because we don’t have a local rule that allows us to remove rocks from our ponds I hit the thing. So, yeah, I’m bringing the rock to the pro shop. This should not happen.”

It’s odd that a hazard could have, um, so many hazards.

I love a good debate….but the bunker stuff, in my humble opinion, doesn’t even come close to being a debate for one simple reason. The rules of golf give you the option to NEVER have to hit a ball out of a bunker. If, you have an opinion that your lie is unfair or unplayable, the sand too soft, the lips too high, a rock is close….etc… then take a look at Rule 28 in the Rules of Golf and take an unplayable lie.

Rule 28
The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable.
If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must, under penalty of one stroke:
(a) Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or (b) Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the holeand the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or (c) Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole. Penalty for Breach of Rule:
Match play — Loss of hole; Stroke play — Two strokes.
If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, the player may proceed under Clause a, b or c.

If he elects to proceed under Clause b or c, a ball must be dropped in the bunker.
The ball may be lifted and cleaned when proceeding under this Rule.

I’ll post all opinions because I’ve posted mine…what’s yours?

Remember, I do have one teeny tiny feeling I’ve been preserving….Don’t hurt it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 3:17 am and is filed under Rideau View. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.