My "blog statistic counter" indicates fewer and fewer "visits", as the series progresses. But, those hardy souls which dare to wander to this final installment, might find it the most entertaining material....
SOME "INTERNET" COMMENTS ABOUT STENSBALLEGAARD'S BUNKERS
Anonymous, (speaking about Stensballegaard and making a judgement about me - CLASSIC!:)"The architect has no idea what a ruler is clear and probably was inspired by funny herbs, just makes the track more personal. It is not the last time I play Stensballe Farm and next time I am also all 27 holes....."
Anon.
"Bunkers must be severe and arbitrary, not easy to play and consistent."
Anon.
"I would like to express my deep disagreement with the above statements. I prefer bunkers uniform ie. the same type of sand in all bunkers. Bunkers are a punishment to make your recording more difficult. Whether it is easy or hard, I really do not care, but it must be predictable and uniform. Especially when we're talking a competitive situation. just my opinion :-)"
(Comment: What?... bunkers "must be predictable and uniform". Whoa!! Bunkers are "hazards" - right? I'm unaware of any requirement or rule which supports the idea of "...predictable and uniform." hazards. If this is the typical golfer's standard of expectation; then, golf has sailed further off-course than anyone has previously dared to imagine!
NEWS December 2011
Stensballegaard Golf Club announces a EURO TOUR event for 2012. The ECCO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP will be played at SGC August 15 to 19, 2012. This is exciting because this event will be played under the normal "bunker policy" conditions. No bunker maintenance concessions will be made for the event.
ECCO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP - UPDATE - September 2012 - after the event:
(Whoops, I guess I was too eager when I filed the above report. Even after numerous inquiries, I was not able to clearly identify the club representative who agreed to bunker maintenance concessions for this event.
So, due to the concession,, there were bunker sentries posted on each hole, properly armed with a hand broom - to smooth and make submissive, any miniscule yet terrifying undulation in the sand. The tournament director and club manager orbited the course each morning, brooms in-hand, in search of un-smooth sand. There were murmers and hushed bunker discussions, questions and comments.
For me, the defining moment came when the tournament director made a frantic call, ordering the re-work of all bunkers the morning before the 2nd round. Apparently,a disasterously unkept bunker was discovered, and there was deep concern this problem may have spread to every bunker . A maintenance regiment was immediately dispatched to investigate. Although, I did not personally witness the devestation, the spectacle they discovered must have been horrific. The eye witness reports were incomplete and not fully comprehensible. But, apparently a rabbit, by scratched around in one of the bunkers, had fully wreaked havoc on, and completely decimated an otherwise playable bunker!! Fortunately, the distruction was isolated. And, by providence alone, the tournament survived this alarming onslaught by nature!! It is truly a disquieting thought to ponder; the forces of nature having such a profoundly negative and unwelcome influence on golf!!!)
NEWS January 2012
Golf Course Architecture magazine requests photos of Stensballegaard bunkers for the cover of an upcoming issue!!
Selected Excerpts from "Doing more with less":
One option is to make a virtue of reducing maintenance. This is what American architect Rick Baril – along, it must be said, with a very bold client – has done at the new Stensballegaard course in Denmark. Baril and the club have created a bunker policy document to be given to members, explaining the ideas. The only grooming of the bunkers is aimed at keeping plant growth within the bunkers down and retaining the sandy feel. There are no rakes on the course; players are requested to smooth the sand down with their feet or a club.
This is pretty radical stuff in the era of Tour pros yelling ‘Get in the bunker’ at errant shots. But if, as many believe, one of golf’s biggest issues is the massive increase in divergence between the games played by the best and the rest then perhaps it’s actually very clever. For good golfers, perfectly groomed bunkers are easy, but they remain ‘places for punishment and repentance’, as Old Tom Morris put it, for the weak. So if reducing maintenance levels helps a course remain challenging for top golfers without making it dramatically harder for the hacker, then it’s win-win, isn’t it?
Some comments:
Stensballegaard’s Bunker Policy shifts resources from hazard maintenance, allocating these resources to improve condition of the actual “play” surfaces. A typical golf course spends 20% to 25% of the maintenance budget “ensuring hazards are consistent and fair” (sounds silly when you say it that way, doesn’t it?). Stensballegaard spends 2% of their maintenance budget to maintain bunkers!
When did it happen? When did ‘reducing hazard maintenance’ become; “...radical stuff..”? Have our maintenance expectations become so untenable? Has our competitive mettle devolved so infamously and deviated so far from the true spirit of the game?
I am grateful to Golf Course Architecture magazine for hightlighting Stensballegaard's Bunker Policy. They have mentioned it a few times in their publications. It is an important example and initiative. And, it is only the beginning of this discussion.
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