Is this ever a good thing?

I would lay up because I am not a good enough driver to choose a side – but this is my problem. What do straighter drivers think of this idea.

This is the new 11th at Karrinyup

Straight driver should just aim to left or right?

strong dislike for bunkers in the middle of fairways.

how far is it to that one?

Aim straight for the bunker. You’re sure to miss it. :-)

Just hit it harder….you’ll do one of four things, flush it over, top it short or spray it right or left.

Problem solved.

Why do they put bunkers in the middle of fairways, or just off centre, or left or right side, good driving distance? For all the reasons outlined above. Makes you think about the shot you are going to play. Besides, the bunker is only there if you focus on it.

Played there twice – there used to be two bunkers left before – is it at the same distance ?

Fairway used to fall away to the right on the uphill par 5 , so they weren’t really a problem – about 240ish if i remember correctly

Why do they put bunkers in the middle of fairways, or just off centre, or left or right side, good driving distance? For all the reasons outlined above. Makes you think about the shot you are going to play. Besides, the bunker is only there if you focus on it.

Bunkers on the left or right can be used to guard a strong side. If the approach from the left of the fairway is easier then put a bunker that side so the closer the golfer gets off the tee the easier their approach. One in the middle enforces a situation where the player has to either lay-up or take it on…if there is a good reward for carrying the bunker and it is at the right length it can be a good option, although generally I don’t like it.

how deep? if you get in can you still play long iron albeit off sandy lie? if this is ok then i think it will be ok. it is when they are in the middle of fairway & you have to chip out backwards or sideways that the average joe gets ripped off.

That bunker at Karrinyup looks like a mistake. Who was the designer.

To prove how bad bunkers in the middle of fairways can be, you only need look at Huntingdale 16th. Out of character / strategically unsound / too penal / and it looks sh1t.

I don’t like them though they won’t ruin my day.

Lay up.

Look at the stats from the last US Masters.
How many time the winner layed up and how many birdies he made on the par fives.

Swaggie.

As long as you can see it from the tee, I don’t have any issues with it.

Courses that have hidden hazards in the fairway in range from the tee are crap though, if you haven’t played the course before you could hit a great shot down the middle and the ball could end up in it. Makes no sense to me.

Is that the slighly uphill par 5? It has been a long time since I last played there.

The Old Course has some doozies – thick gorse thickets in the middle of a fairway you can’t see off the tee. Fairway bunkers 8 feet deep that you don’t know about until you walk over a rise.

Karrinyup and Huntingdale – the Old Course they ain’t.

As long as you can see it from the tee, I don’t have any issues with it.

Courses that have hidden hazards in the fairway in range from the tee are crap though, if you haven’t played the course before you could hit a great shot down the middle and the ball could end up in it. Makes no sense to me.

Is that the slighly uphill par 5? It has been a long time since I last played there.

Don’t they print maps on the score cards over there?

I’m not too much of a fan of them either from the tee. If you hit a drive down the middle of the fairway, it should be in a great position, not a hazard. Similar ones that I’m not too fond of is the one on the 12th of Kingston Heath and just about all the fairways of the Moonah Open course.

I do however like cross bunkering, where it comes from a side into the fairway, like 15 at Woodlands.

The front of this new bunker at 11 is about 230-240 from the tee (which has been pushed back into the lake (looks great). It is slightly up hill to there. So it will probably be out of reach for most.

The fairway on the right side of the fairway is the shortest way home, but you will have a slight side-hill lie and have a slightly worse line into the green (which is angled to accept the ball from the left side of fairway). The left portion of the fairway is flat and you can run the ball onto the green if you are long enough).

I think this will be a great improvement for this hole.
The designer is clayton.

Yes it is a Clayton bunker. It would be reachable for me if I get hold of one – but is more designed for the young lads which is as it should be.

The primary point however is the number of trees that have been cleared out on the right side. Used to be two bunkers from the centre to the left hand fairway edge, you either laid up or bailed out to the right, but if you went right, then you were blocked out by trees – so it really was just a plan to catch big drives. At least now you can choose a side and still have a shot at the green.

It is not yet in play, so time will tell, but I also quite like that is rather small (unlike that mess at Huntingdale) meaning that the odds of actually going in it are low, and so it is more of a mental challenge, which I quite like. Having said that I will probably go in the friggin thing first hit out.

Clayton always posts very good explanatory notes at the club where he is doing work – in the committee room or the like. Would be interested to see them if there are any Karrinyup members who can relay the general idea of what he was trying to achieve here. Can’t see how the bunker serves to improve the hole.

A straight hitter should aim left or right of it assuming they can’t go over.

A wayward hitter should just smash it straight at it and over it. If you smoke it great, if you miss it left or right it’s good as well.

If you can’t go over AND you are a wayward hitter, go with one less club to make sure you come up short of the bunker and smoke it straight at it.

Personally I’m not a big fan of a bunker dotted in the middle of a hole.

Tree removal had more of an impact. Photo does not show the degree of slope from left to right in the fairway. Everything tended to funnel down to the right hand side, which was not only blocked out by trees but meant that this part of the fairway got chopped to bits over the playing season. The left of the fairway was a nice flat bit but had a bloody great bunker in it. So there are now more options and angles as the left is bought into play, but is a longer shot in. The bunker however…..I really can only see this being put there to toughen the hole for longer hitter and make them at least think twice about smacking a big one down the guts – as I said it is only small and so not a real physical hazard, more of a mind game.
God knows really, but I dont hate it …. yet.