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Re: Fairway Bunkers

• Cicero733 2,312 Posts

  Mon, Aug 10 2020 4:17 PM

  At what point (distance I guess) does a bunker become a fairway bunker as opposed to a green side bunker? In other words, at what point do I give up attempting to reach the green from the bunker. 60 yds, 75 yds, 100 yds??? I have been in bunkers at RSG 90 yds from the green and have been able to reach the green with no problem. Yet, today I was in the first right hand bunker on hole 1 at Merion, about 60 yds from the pin, but could only manage 40 yds from the bunker (30/40 sand). It’s been my experience that a fairway bunker is in actuality a one stroke penalty as you cannot reasonably hit a shot of any distance. But I don’t understand at what point or distance from the green that anomaly occurs. Thoughts?

• dchallenger 545 Posts

  Tue, Aug 11 2020 7:19 PM

  Personally, I find it best to avoid ALL bunkers.  I hate getting sand in my skivvies.

• alosso 21,072 Posts

  Wed, Aug 12 2020 12:32 AM

  @MER, there are several nasty areas which need special attention. Perhaps, this bunker is one of them(?)

  In general, my rule of thumb for 30/40 bunkers is,
  - take a wedge (PW), and
  - don't expect more than 70 yds.

  From 20/25 sand, any iron punch might show good results, and from 50+ bunkers, swallow the pill and be happy to get out.

• Mythanatos 2,216 Posts

  Wed, Aug 12 2020 12:40 PM

  my 100 yard sand wedge will go 80 yards out of a 30/40 bunker with flat spin and neutral wind effects.

• Cicero733 2,312 Posts

  Wed, Aug 12 2020 3:25 PM

  Mythanatos:

  my 100 yard sand wedge will go 80 yards out of a 30/40 bunker with flat spin and neutral wind effects.

  Yes, that is basically the same for me, except in this particular case at Merion. But I may have “solved” the issue so to speak. I play mobile on iPad and sometimes get strange results. So later in the day, I closed the app, rebooted the device and went back to Merion hole number one and purposely dumped my tee shot in the same bunker. Hit basically the same shot from the bunker, but this time the ball finished 8’ from the hole, not 5 yds short of the fringe. Reloaded, did the same routine with the same result. I’m guessing the reboot solved the problem.

• Mythanatos 2,216 Posts

  Thu, Aug 13 2020 9:34 AM

  Cicero733:

  Hit basically the same shot from the bunker, but this time the ball finished 8’ from the hole, not 5 yds short of the fringe. Reloaded, did the same routine with the same result.

  Just throwing this out there. Can get different lies in the same bunker. Sometimes you can get a 40/50 lie or even 50/60. Possibly miss that it was a worse lie?

• Cicero733 2,312 Posts

  Thu, Aug 13 2020 12:51 PM

  You know that is something I cannot answer with certainty. I do know that I hit the shot as if it were 30/40. I’ll have to poke around in the bunker and see. Your observation makes sense because the response of the shot was as though it was from heavier sand. Thanks for the tip.