Guy Cipriano
Bunkers were inconsistent hazards when the Scots brought golf to America. A hardline stance toward treating bunkers as erratic hazards today, in most instances, can thwart golfer enjoyment and damage course reputations.
Golf discourse always includes exceptions, so let’s address the anomalies. Outliers in the United States include a few select clubs boasting national memberships and pricey resorts amid dreamy surroundings. Scruffy, sandy peripherals represent a design trend among the select architects commissioned to guide these projects.
These courses, where sandy slivers are partially handled as hazards (wait, the crew must still manage and maintain those 32 acres?!?!), attract hullabaloo among segments of the golf intelligentsia. The vocal buzz creates a disconnect from the conundrum facing the 15,907 courses supporting the majority of the nearly 550 million rounds played in the United States last year: bunker expectations have never been higher.
Replicate the aesthetics and mantras of Pine Valley, Pinehurst No. 2, No. 4 and No. 10, Ohoopee Match Club, Sand Valley and Whistling Straits at your own peril. Most domestic golfers will never roam an exclusive, sandy expanse. They play close to home and expect consistent value for rocketing green fees and memberships dues.
Charging more and going backward with any product is a significant business risk, especially when an industry encounters financial challenges. Wait, golf won’t be on this Oahu-sized wave forever? A time is coming when the market will stall and courses will again scrap for every dollar like crows jousting over a carcass. Bunker consistency and aesthetics will matter more when this happens.
Our eyes and ears suggest bunkers rank between green speeds and cart restrictions on the list of universal gripes. That places those “hazards” comfortably in the No. 2 seed in the golfer complaint bracket.
Any doubt surrounding whether bunkers are trending toward becoming erratic hazards was eliminated while roaming the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show floor in Orlando. One of the show’s presenting partners, the Golf Course Builders Association of America, has experienced an uptick in membership and engagement as courses reinvest post-pandemic windfalls into improving bunkers. Golf Course Bunkers Association of America represents a nice alternative name, as dozens of show exhibitors offered sand, liners, hand rakes, mechanical rakes, sod walls, edgers and other solutions to minimize bunker-induced griping.
Members of another one of the show’s presenting partners, the American Society of Golf Course Architects, are also beneficiaries of the billions spent on renovating and maintaining bunkers over the past decade. Every architect seriously pursuing work indicates they are “busy” or “very busy” juggling projects of all sizes. Nearly every one of those projects touches bunkers in some capacity, whether it’s through a reduction, repositioning, refinement or refreshening. Many courses continue to right-size bunker decisions made during a more gluttonous design era.
Consider bunkers an industry within an industry. And it’s an industry that hasn’t reached its potential. Thousands of courses can further boost the customer experience — and improve their perceptions and bottom lines — through thoughtful bunker enhancements. Many of these courses sit on drab land, thus making bunkers integral visual and strategic elements.
Not every course can afford to hire an architect and contractor to modify their bunkers. But purchasing new rakes and placing them in easily accessible spots, adding quality sand, and regular edging demonstrates to golfers your course cares about every aspect of their experience, including the intimidating sand swipes they must make after misdirected shots.
Golf, in most instances, should be delightful, not drudgery.
Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s publisher + editor-in-chief.
