Make Bunkers Hazardous Again

This looks way too nice.

Professional golf needs to be more interesting. People with cookie cutter swings win on cookie cutter golf courses, all set up to immaculate perfection. Maybe a few are more difficult than others, and weather can have dramatic effect, but on a typical sunny afternoon on the PGA Tour, you can expect to see lots of birdies, and the drama must rest almost entirely on which golfer is putting the best. And that's just not that exciting.

So, what can be done? Well, you could go the U.S. Open route and make the rough ridiculously thick and narrow the fairways, but that's even worse. Rounds take longer, and golfers will always choose to play it safe. Safe gets the lowest score, but is also boring. Dramatic U.S. Opens occur despite the course conditions, not because of them. No, I think there's a better way, and Golf Digest thinks so too. Or at least, someone does.

We get rid of bunker rakes. Bunkers are a joke to the average PGA Tour golfer. When they hit a bad shot, they want to end up in a bunker. When they're not sure if they can reach a short par 4 or par 5 in 2, they aim for bunkers. That's not what bunkers are supposed to be. Bunkers are supposed to be hazards, as in, you should be punished for going in them. An unmaintained bunker is something to be avoided, but unlike long rough, the opportunity for a great recovery still exists. It's just more difficult, and perhaps not every pro golfer could pull it off. So I say we take away the bunker rakes, trim back the rough to bring the bunkers back into play, and we see just how good the pros really are.