HOYLAKE (England) — After players voiced their displeasure at the Royal Liverpool bunkers during the 151 st British Open, the R&A responded with a change for the second round on Friday.
The organizers of the championship changed the way bunkers are raked over night.
The R&A released a statement on Friday morning saying that “yesterday afternoon, the bunkers dried more than in recent weeks. This led to more balls hitting the face straight than normal.” We have raked the bunkers in a different way to raise the sand one revet up the face. We normally rake the bunkers flat on most Open venues, but we decided that this adjustment was necessary in light of yesterday’s drier weather conditions. We will continue to closely monitor this for the remainder of the Championship.”
The grounds crews flattened bunkers ahead of the tournament. This prevented wayward shots from landing comfortably in the middle. Players were left with a variety of tricky lies, including some in fairway bunkers and others near the greens.
World No. Scottie Schiffer, World No.1, discussed on Wednesday the penal nature of bunkers. He described how nervous he felt and how different they were from what he will experience in 2021 in England at Royal St. George’s.
He said: “I felt like St. George’s had a little bit of an upward slope before you reached the wall face. Here, it feels like the faces of each bunker are almost a downward slope going towards them.” “I don’t like that in a course. I don’t think the course rewards good shots nearly as much. If you are closer to green, you will be closer to the lip. And if you have a bad shot and barely make it into the bunker, you can actually play.
“I would have preferred a bit more slope, but the Majors are so unique.” Each golf course is unique and a challenge. I will do my best this week to avoid them.
Rory McIlroy said after the first round that “you’re kind of riding your lucky at that point, and hoping it doesn’t hit one of those revetted face.”
