This is the first Bad Takes Week on SI Golf. Our writers and editors have been asked to come up with and explain their worst ideas. Even if they made everyone else in the room groan during pitch meetings, these are their thoughts on takes. In the coming days, keep an eye out for more bad takes.
Even though she’s in college, my oldest daughter would still play in her childhood playground if it was as nice as a PGA Tour hole.
Tour golf is like a TV show, and the courses are like the stage. The well-kept holes are an important part of the set design. It’s not usually a penalty for a player to fall in a greenside bunker. Instead, it’s a chance to show off their “These Guys Are Good” skills by thumping the ball out (and don’t they talk about that thump all the time on TV?) and generally saving par.
On the PGA Tour, the best scramblers from the sand get up and down almost two-thirds of the time. 52% of the time, even No. 100 stays even. These guys are great.
Why make things so simple for them?
Bunker rakes should not be allowed during play on the PGA Tour. Sand traps should be able to be used as “traps” again.
Help me out here.
As part of regular upkeep, greenskeepers may clean up holes before each day’s play. But no one will touch the bunker again after that.
It doesn’t matter if a player’s shot falls in a footprint or behind a clump of sand. Find out what your name is on the bag.
You and I have to work long weekends, believe me. When many of us play on courses with bunkers that haven’t had sand in them since Tiger was No. 1, we’re lucky to find one once every few games. When we do find one, the rake jobs are at best questionable.
Even with this rule, Tour bunkers probably will never get that bad during a round. We’d rather have Armageddon happen than have fun at the weekly Tour birdiefests.
One reason against this is that players who start their rounds early would get the best bunkers, which would put them at a disadvantage in the game. On Thursday and Friday, the morning and afternoon waves would switch places, making it even. As we saw last week, the best players have late tee times on Saturday and Sunday. Let’s see what they do from a hole that hasn’t been hit. (They also have to deal with greens that have been walked on and courses that have been widened more, but that’s just part of playing golf on the weekends.)
Too bad the PGA Tour doesn’t seem likely to go for this. What would happen if sand save rates dropped sharply? What if the team’s prized FedEx Cup came down to a bad lie from an unraked bunker on the 72nd hole?
The saying “play better” is for pros who are unhappy with their position in the game’s order. Here’s something for people who are upset about unraked bunkers:
Do not hit the ball there.
