Daily HolesCoastal Links · terrain · up to 4 per hole
Pot Bunkers — How to Escape the Links Pots in Daily Holes
Small, deep links bunkers on Coastal courses. From inside, the ball keeps 55% of its carry and flies no more than about 120 yards.
By the numbers
- Where
- Coastal Links courses, from 6 October 2026
- How many
- up to 4 per hole; none on the crossing
- Carry from a pot
- 55%, at most about 120 yd
- Ordinary sand
- 70%, at most 160 yd
- Spread
- 2× the fairway
- Aim sweep
- about 45% wider
What it is
From 6 October 2026 every Coastal Links course has pot bunkers: up to four per hole, in the fairway landing areas and short of the green, but not on the water-crossing hole. A pot is much smaller than an ordinary bunker, about 12–30 yards across, drawn with a turf lip and a dark crescent where its steep face casts a shadow.
What it costs
There is no penalty stroke, but a shot from a pot keeps only 55% of its normal carry — ordinary sand keeps 70% — and no club carries more than about 120 yards out of it (160 from ordinary sand). The shot spreads twice as wide as from the fairway, and the aim sweep swings about 45% wider, more than any lie except deep rough.
Why the ball stays in
A pot is as dead as a bunker: a ball that pitches into one rolls only about 3% as far as on the fairway, so it does not run out the other side. On a par 5, a drive into a pot usually turns the second shot into a lay-up.
How to play it
Off the tee, check where the pots sit against your carry and roll; a club less that stops short of a pot is often worth it. From inside a pot, forget the flag if it is more than about 120 yards away: play to the widest part of the fairway and leave a full wedge rather than an awkward half shot. Near the green, choose by carry — a pure pitching wedge flies about 77 yards from a pot instead of about 140.
Worked example
Your drive on a par 5 finishes in a pot 250 yards from the flag. From the fairway a pure 3-wood would carry about 260; from the pot every long club stops at about 120. A pure 5-wood carries the full 120 and rolls about 25 more on the fairway, leaving roughly 105 yards — a pitching wedge at about three-quarter power. The 3-wood gains nothing: it is capped at the same 120 yards and spreads a little wider.
Common mistakes
Taking a long club out of a pot hoping for distance: every club that would carry past 120 is capped at the same mark. Aiming tee shots down the middle without checking for pots, which sit in the fairway itself. And treating a pot like ordinary sand, which keeps 70% and flies up to 160 yards.