I am very excited to announce that the city has approved a budget for a capital project to renovate 5 existing bunkers and constructing 18 new bunkers. These 23 bunkers will heighten the beauty of our historic course and add a visual impact in an area that I feel was our only weakness - bunker complexes and sand quality.
The bunker project gained momentum recently when we identified the areas for bunker placement as restoration locations. Fifteen of the 23 bunkers slated for construction existed in 1953 and were filled in to reduce the demand on daily maintenance practice. In 1953, there were originally about 30 bunkers on West Seattle Golf Course and we selected 15 bunkers that we feel will not impact our less experienced players while still visually framing, defining and enhancing the beauty of each hole. The remaining 8 bunkers will be new locations and 4 of those locations will be fairway bunkers in the landing areas for our longer hitters (about 250-280 from the tee). Our focus in constructing these bunkers is that we want to get the most visually out of each and every bunker. None of them will be hidden or hard to see. You will be able to appreciate each of the bunkers while playing your approach shots and will not surprise a first time player.
We are taking a minimalist approach during the construction phase of the project. Much like golf course architecture during the 30's and 40's where they selected areas for bunkers simply based on what the terrain naturally would yield, we will not force a bunker into a location that we would otherwise have to do heavy earth moving. Following the general shaping of the bunker you will see the sites excavated and proper drainage installed. The next step will be the installation of a sod under listing in each bunker. It will look as if we are constructing grass bunkers but this thatch layer will act as filter to keep soil and rocks from infiltrating into the sand areas. Once this thatch layer takes properly then the grass will be killed and finally the sand will be placed upon the dead grass. We have selected the most beautiful white sand that is an industry premium in terms of playability, consistency and quality.
This project has been a dream come true for me to finally see our beautiful course receive the attention it deserves. Come out and see the preliminary stages of a giant step toward making West Seattle Golf Course One of the Country's best urban municipals. I would not have been able to start the project without the support and construction wherewithal from West Seattle's new superintendent John Price. I would like to sincerely thank Andy Soden (Golf Director for the City of Seattle) and Ken Bounds (Superintendent of Parks) for their support in not only this project but golf in Seattle.
Hole #1 – We will be constructing 2 bunkers on #1. The first bunker is a fairway bunker on the right side. It will be positioned about 260 yards from the white tee and will require a drive of 290 yards to carry it. The bunker will pinch into the fairway at the 280 yard mark. This bunker will frame the opening tee shot and send a message that West Seattle Golf Course is a complete course including bunkers. The second bunker will be positioned left of the green. This bunker will act as a catch bunker to eliminate balls from ending up on the 2nd tee. This bunker will play nicely into the right to left terrain and enhance the need to play your approach shot right of the flag and let the slope of the green bring the ball down to the flag. |
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Hole #2 – The bunker will be constructed green side and located left of the green. The front edge of the bunker will start near the middle of the green and stretch to the back of the green. The position of this bunker will not eliminate a bail out area away from the hazard but will certainly make it more difficult to get the ball to the back of the green. Most players approach this green with a very short iron and now the visual demand on this shot is dramatic with a water hazard near the right side of the green and a bunker on the left. |
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Hole #3 – There will be two bunkers constructed on this hole. Neither of which will impact play dramatically as they are located well left and short of the putting green. The main impact of these bunkers is to frame the short postage stamp hole with a bunker complex. Two sand bunkers left and one grass bunker right will give the perception of this short hole playing more difficult than it actually does. The bunkers will also visually elevate the green and give the perception that the hole plays uphill. |
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Hole #5 – There will be one bunker constructed on the left side of the
green. It will begin about at the middle of the green and extend to the back edge. This
bunker will complete the dramatic visual qualities of an already beautifully tree lined hole.
This bunker will attempt to visually balance the green complex as currently the green sits
much closer to the right tree line that the left. This bunker will fill the void on the
left side and it should perfectly frame and balance this green amongst the large backdrop of trees.
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Hole #6 – In terms of playability, this hole challenged us architecturally the most We have
selected this hole to receive 2 bunkers – One short right of the green and one short left of
the green. The right bunker is our first bunker that we have designated for the right side of a
green and may impact our average players more than the rest. The positioning of this bunker, however,
will allow it to act as a catch bunker for errant shots heading toward the hazard. This is a restoration
bunker for one of the most unique bunkers on the course in 1953. The original bunker was about 30
yards long and only 12-15 feet wide. The bunker on the left portion of the green seems to visually
balance the hole with the void in the horizon from a fallen tree. Both of these bunkers will accentuate
the elevation change from tee to green.
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Hole #7 – The is one of holes I am most excited about because we have the
opportunity to take the easiest hole on the course and give it an entirely new look. We
will place two bunkers on this hole. The first one will be on the right side of the fairway
that will begin 230 yards off the tee and will be positioned diagonally so that the end of
the bunker will slant into the fairway at 260 yards from the tee. This bunker should force
shots away from the #8 fairway which will provide some added safety for those golfers on that hole.
The second bunker will be greenside left. Because of the flat terrain on this part of
the property the visual impact from the tee will look as if there is much less landing
area than there really is because the two bunkers, if positioned properly will fill the golfer’s
sight line with sand.
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Hole #8 – A completely natural place for this greenside bunker is on the front right side of the green. This
restoration bunker is only our 2nd placement slated for the right side of a green but in this case should help
our everyday player. This bunker will encourage golfers to favor the left part of the green
and will allow them to take advantage of the severe left to right slope on the green. Even
a heavily pulled approach shot 10-15 yards left of the green will benefit from steep slope
left of the green and should throw the shot onto the putting surface.
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Hole #9 – The location of the current front left greenside bunker will remain the same. You will see the existing bunker rebuilt, shaped and constructed to match the architectural style of the rest of the project.If you look at the pictures you can see that we have created two "Pot Style" bunkers on hole 9. These have been added for two reasons: The previous bunker had some washout problems because there was approximately 3 feet difference between the front right portion of the bunker and the back left. By separating these areas it will dramatically improve the drainage. Secondly we wanted to mirror the architectural style we used on hole #3 somewhere else on the course. This was a perfect location to tie together these two unique tandem bunker holes.
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Hole #14 – There will be two new bunkers constructed on this hole. A restoration bunker will guard the front left side of the green and act as a catch bunker for balls heading to the lateral hazard. The second bunker will be a fairway bunker on the left the landing area approximately 110-140 side of yards from the green. This bunker, as well as the fairway bunker on #12, will act as an aiming bunker on this dogleg right hole and should emphasize the overall shape of the hole. The placement of these two bunkers will give the better golfer a rare requirement to shape the tee ball left to right and the second shot right to left. This combined with the heavily sloped
putting surface will make #14 one of the best holes on the course. |
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Hole #15 - The location of the current front right greenside bunkers will remain the same but will be reshaped and enlarged on the right side. You will see the existing bunker rebuilt, shaped and constructed to match the architectural style of the rest of the project.
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Hole #16 – This hole, already one of the most difficult 350 yard holes you will find, will have a restoration bunker installed near the front left side of the green. The placement of this bunker will aid golfers in taking advantage of the Rodan style green. The more a golfer tries to avoid the bunker by throwing their approach shot to the right of the hole the more they will benefit by the hard sloping right to left green.
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Hole #17 – I am very excited about this hole as it will take one of our easiest most mundane holes and entirely change the overall appearance of it without impacting the difficulty noticeably. This hole will benefit dramatically by having two restoration bunkers installed on the front right and front left sides of the green. These bunkers will be positioned on the extreme right and left sides leaving the entire front of the green still accessible with a low running shot. Where currently the green appears to be simply an afterthought, it will give the second shot some interest and beauty as you see the green seemingly get pushed up onto an elevated pedestal.
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Hole #18 – There will be no change to the overall location of the existing front left greenside bunker. It will be reshaped and enlarged to protect more of the putting surface. The front lip will be lowered and the tree closest to the bunker will be removed to improve the sight lines to the green complex. This bunker will allow golfers to take advantage of the hard right to left sloping green and aim their approach shots well right of the bunker relying on the fact that the ball will always funnel down the slope left towards the hole.
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Bunker Renovation Project Statistics
23 TOTAL BUNKERS:
15 Restoration Historic Bunkers>
8 Non-Historic Locations
4 Non-Historic Locations are Fairway Bunkers #1, #7, #12, #14<
4 Non-Historic Green Side Locations are #5, Left #6, Left #17 and Bottom #3
5 Existing Bunkers Re-Modeled
3 Holes without a Bunker 4, 10, 11
8 Holes with 2 Bunkers
5 Bunkers are Non-Master Plan Bunkers (#1 Fairway, Bottom Left #3, #5, Left #6, Left #16)
Approximate Square Footage of Each Bunker
#1 Fairway 2400
#1 Green 950
#2 Green 1200
#3 Top 700
#3 Bottom 450
#5 Green 800
#6 Left 550
#6 Right 700
#7 Fairway 2000
#7 Green 900
#8 Green 1100
#9 Green 850
#12 Fairway 3100
#12 Green 700
#13 Left 1100
#13 Right 900
#14 Fairway 1400
#14 Green 950
#15 Green 1850
#16 Green 540
#17 Left 1100
#17 Right 700
#18 Green 500
Colin Gants,
PGA Head Professional – West Seattle Golf Course
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