Fine victory for Jordan Spieth in the Traveller’s Championship, holing a bunker shot on the first playoff hole. The results only confirm with me my longstanding opinion that sand “traps” should be renamed sand “havens” for professional golfers. The announcers today noted in the playoff that Jordan was probably in a better position in the deep green side bunker than Daniel Berger who was closer to the pin than Jordan and on short grass. They were correct. The cost of designing, constructing and maintaining bunkers is huge in the golf industry……..an industry that is struggling. Golf course architects make huge bucks for “bunker redesigns” but although the bunkers may seem like an insurmountable challenge to regular members, they are no challenge compared to long grass and wonky lies near a green for professionals or low handicap amateurs. Some golf writers make a career of critiquing bunker designs and redesigns. Bunker redesigns are easy to sell to members because they don’t impact play as much as some other upgrades. Greens Superintendents have to make tough budget decisions somewhere and the labor intensive “havens” are often the first target. I can still remember the whining from the tour professionals several years ago when, at a regular tour event, the havens were raked with deep furrowed rakes and the uneven surfaces caused the players to get uncertain results from their haven shots.