By Kelly Neely and Gretchen Yoder, OGA Handicapping & Course Rating
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I seem to be hyper-conscious of words. While I wouldn’t exactly tag myself as a skilled wordsmith, they matter so much to me that while writing Handicap Hub I always have my thesaurus.com tab open, searching urgently at times (pesky deadlines!) for a creatively silly way to say the same silly thing: aka, synonyms.

But did you know that a primary reason the English language is one of the most challenging to learn is that synonyms aren’t necessarily synonymous? Sure, let’s make it even more difficult by not making them entirely interchangeable. For example, you’re going to “see a film” or “watch television” but you’re not going to “see a television.” (But I do see myself buying a bigger one for football season).

Alas, we come to paragraph three and those stalwart souls still reading are wondering where I’m going with all this. It just so happens that I was scanning Section 2 Definitions in the Course Rating System Guide (a handy little sleep-aid) and it occurred to me that there are certain scenarios we encounter in the rating process that are sort of the same but not.

This was confirmed by our Course Rating Guru, Gretchen Yoder, when she groaned and said “Yeah, you mean the things that can qualify as more than one thing?”
 

Bunkers and Waste Areas
Ah, sand. Who doesn’t love it, especially when it takes the form of a beautiful beach bordering a magnificent body of water like, say, the Pacific Ocean? We tend to find just a smidge more fault with it when it lays slyly in wait on the golf course, ready to inhale our Pro V1s.  

But first, a Definition of Waste Area. We are assuming that we don’t need to tell you what a Bunker is because you may already have intimate knowledge of them.

• Waste Area:  A waste area is an unmaintained area on the course that is natural to its surroundings. Generally, it has a sand base (or similar) and may have large rocks, stones or native vegetation in it that may quality as extreme rough. A waste area may have poorly defined boundaries and the ground surface is not always maintained. The waste area may be prepared, similar to a bunker, and maintained by periodic edging and / or raking or levelling of the surface. Waste areas may be rated as R&R (Recoverability & Rough), Bunkers or extreme rough depending on the situation.
   

Clear as mud? This must be why Gretchen smacked the side of her head repeatedly during the writing of this article.

To illustrate a definitive difference between Bunkers and Waste Areas let’s go to Bandon Trails. We’re going to highlight Hole No. 7, but please note that almost the entire course features some sort of sand. Not exactly surprising given it’s been carved out of dunes and is only 710 yards away from the stretch that you may actually take a leisurely stroll on.

The nearly 200-yard-long waste area along the fairway closer to the tee would be rated as Extreme Rough because it is less maintained than regular bunkers. It isn’t edged, it isn’t raked on a regular basis, and the vegetation may be classified as beach grass. Because of the condition of the waste area, it makes it difficult to play a normal length shot as you would if you were in the fairway. As you, our One Reader knows by now, we rate courses considering shot lengths of Scratch Male and Female and Bogey Male and Female, and on this hole, every single one of them has this whopper of a waste area near their landing zone.

From 125-yards and in, we consider the sandy maintained areas as bunkers, though the one on the left side of the fairway could be additionally tagged as just plain gnarly, though this is not official Course Rating terminology. Though some of the bunkers on neighboring Pacific Dunes make this particular bunker pale in level of difficulty, we would still give it an Extreme (E) adjustment because it is considered punitive. Yep, there is an actual Course Rating definition of Punitive: An obstacle or situation that is unusually difficult, often requiring a demanding recovery shot or likely to cost the player a stroke. As far as greenside bunkers go, they are recognized Bunkers for Course Rating purposes and not Waste Areas (unless the course specifically denotes them as such).

So, what does this all mean to the golfer? If you’re playing in a tournament, you might want to know the difference between a Bunker and a Waste Area because it could impact relief situations and how you play the ball. In addition, consider this comment from a wily Rules Official, “The presence of rakes are not necessarily indicators of a bunker”. Wait, what? To clear up any confusion at Bandon Trails, refer to the Local Rule on their scorecard: “All prepared areas of sand with accompanying rakes are deemed to be bunkers. All other sand areas are ‘general areas’.”

Does all this sand affect the rating? Maybe. Though maddening, that’s our best answer. Course Rating is a puzzle of obstacles, yardage, wind, roll, sand, grass, trees, and water, with the occasional feeling of trepidation thrown in (yes, the system will give us a “psychological” evaluation which, as I’ve said before, is worthy of a future article).

Carry Safely, Forced Lay-up, and Lay-up by Choice  
In the rating process, we must lay-up the golfer’s shot if they cannot safely carry the obstacle. So, to go with the theme of this article, we have more than one thing that is sort of like another thing – but sometimes not – to consider. We not only have to take into account the Scratch and Bogey, Male and Female and their respective shot lengths, we need to assess whether it’s a tee shot or fairway landing zone.  

But of course, we need more Definitions –

• Carry safely:  In order to carry an obstacle safely, a shot must be able to clear the obstacle by at least 10 yards. When recording a safe carry distance over an obstacle, add the 10 yards to the length of the actual carry. If a player cannot carry an obstacle by 10 yards, it may result in a forced lay-up or an alternate line of play.
   

It would stand to reason if we can safely carry, we do not have to lay-up. But if we can’t –

• Forced Lay-up occurs when a severe obstacle, or a combination of severe obstacles, such as penalty areas, deep bunkers, extreme rough, or severe topography crosses the fairway or reduces the fairway width in the normal landing zone of the scratch or bogey player to less than 15 yards. As a result, the player will hit less than a full shot.
• Lay-up by choice occurs when a significant obstacle or a combination of obstacles near the normal landing zone results in a scratch or bogey player choosing to hit less than a full shot. A fairway landing zone that is less than 15 yards wide but without severe obstacles may be a reason for a lay-up by choice. In order to qualify, the normal landing zone must present an unpleasant situation (e.g. downhill stance / lie to an elevated green).
   

A good example of carry safely and forced lay-up lies with Salem Golf Club, Hole No. 4. The Scratch Female from the Red Tees has a shot of 130-yards to the center of the green. Her safe crossing of the penalty area is about 108-yards. She can safely carry the water hazard with her shot to the green. Alternatively, the Bogey Female cannot safely carry the pond on her second shot, so she is forced to lay-up adding an extra 30-yards to the effective playing length of the hole (EPL). Because we are feeling generous, here’s a free bonus definition:

• Effective Playing Length of a course is the measured length of all holes corrected for roll, forced lay-ups, doglegs, changes in elevation, wind and altitude above sea level.
   

Note that choice lay-up does not affect EPL, whereas forced does.

For lay-up by choice, it’s best to talk concepts (sorry, no pretty pictures). Knowing that raters don’t think about their own game, their own choices, their ability (or lack thereof!), we try to avoid lay-up by choice designations. Why? We don’t want to over-inflate the Course Rating. Picture if you will, a golfer’s normal landing zone in a very tilted fairway. The golfer might choose to lay-up a few yards back so they have more forgiving topography – after all, no one likes a ball below their feet.

Occasionally we encounter forced and choice lay-ups, combined (you’ve come this far, don’t quit now!). For example, a forced lay-up will get you to the end of the fairway 10-yards short of the penalty area, but that area has stance problems due to mounding. The golfer might choose to lay-up a few yards further back. In this scenario it’s common that the course rating team would look for divots in that location, as this indicates more play there.

** End Note:  If you haven’t already surmised, Course Rating assumes all shots are hit to full length to the center of the fairway. In other words, good shots only! It doesn’t account for hooks, slices, tops, whiffs, whoops, #$@!%, etc, etc, ad nauseam.

Questions? Contact Kelly or Gretchen in the OGA Handicapping & Course Rating Department at (503) 981-4653 x226 or Click Here to Email Your Question