Word: bunkers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Ever wonder what it's like inside a Hizballah bunker but not so eager to get kidnapped just to find out? Well, for a short time and a short time only, anyone in Lebanon can experience the next best thing by visiting the new Hizballah museum in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where there is no admission charged and no blindfold required...
...Designed like a sandbag fortress rising over a garden of inert land mines, armored vehicles and the occasional palm tree, the museum contains a display of Hizballah weapons and tactics, including the scale recreation of a front-line bunker, complete with computer workstation, prayer rug and dish rack. Throw in a lava lamp and it could be a college dorm room...
...standing at the bottom of Big Mouth, the nickname for the 15-ft.-deep bunker beside the 17th green at the Oakmont Country Club. It's swallowing me whole--I jump off the sand just to peek at the pin. Soon, the U.S. Open will descend on this storied Pittsburgh, Pa.--area course for a record eighth time. But today I'm the entertainment. A couple of caddies encourage me to swing my sand wedge and lift the ball over the mountain in front of me. I take my hardest hack; the ball knocks against Big Mouth...
What makes Oakmont so daunting for even the best golfers in the world? Start with the greens. On several holes, there are spots where no matter how gently you put your ball down, it will start to roll. And roll--right into a bunker like Big Mouth. And it's endlessly frustrating watching a putt glide toward the hole before making an abrupt left turn, to certain triple bogey. In fact, balls roll on (and off) the Oakmont greens so quickly that the United States Golf Association, which runs the Open, will probably add some water to slow them down...
...Pittsburgh industrialist who designed the course to offer a steeper challenge to Steel City players, once roared, "A shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost." A course superintendent once called W.C. Fownes to inform him that golf legend Sam Snead had hit a tee shot past a bunker during a practice round. The next day, Snead struck a shot to the same spot--and found himself in a sand trap that had been installed overnight...