Not all bunkers are created equal. Some demand a lob wedge. Others demand a prayer. And five hazards on the major championship rotation have earned reputations so fearsome that even the world’s best players don’t aim at them; they aim away.

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PGA West’s “San Andreas Fault” defines vertical survival

Pete Dye built a 20-foot vertical wall and named it after California’s most dangerous fault line. The comparison fits.

This greenside bunker doesn’t care about distance control or spin rates. It cares about one thing: whether your ball can clear the lip. William Mouw learned that lesson at the 2025 American Express. He entered the 16th hole at 6-under and walked off at 2-over after recording a 13—eight strokes surrendered to a single hazard.

The escape tool: a 60° to 64° lob wedge with a fully open face. Swing vertically. Pray loudly.

Oakmont’s “Church Pews” eliminate forward progress

Oakmont’s most infamous hazard stretches over 100 yards between the third and fourth fairways. Twelve grass ridges, each three feet high, segment the sand into a maze of impossible lies and blocked stances. Forward progress becomes fantasy. The ridges eliminate any chance of advancement toward the green, transforming a single mistake into a lateral escape at best.

Tom Fazio expanded the bunker in 2005, making it wider and meaner.  Tiger Woods understood the message. At the 2007 U.S. Open, he refused to hit a single practice shot from the Church Pews. His reasoning was blunt: he didn’t “practice negatively.”

The escape tool: pitching wedge or 9-iron. Fairway bunker technique only. Get out sideways and move on.

Riviera’s pot bunker sits inside the putting surface

Riviera’s sixth hole features something unique in championship golf: a pot bunker sitting inside the putting surface.

If you miss the green, you’re in trouble. Find the green but leave the bunker between your ball and the flag, and you’re in worse trouble. No hole on the PGA Tour produces more four-putts. Ross Marcano discovered that reality in 2007 when he found the green in one shot and walked off with a six.

The escape tool: a 60° wedge for a splash shot—or simply grab your putter and navigate around the crater. Sometimes the smartest play is chipping away from the hole.

Pebble Beach’s 14th hole bunker guards a postage stamp

The 14th at Pebble Beach has ranked as the hardest par-5 on the PGA Tour four times in the past decade. A gaping bunker guards an upper-left quadrant measuring just 1,600 square feet: a postage stamp perched on a hillside. Paul Goydos, who made a quadruple bogey nine here during the 2010 AT&T Pro-Am, captured the challenge perfectly.

“You’re trying to stop a pitching wedge on a moving school bus,” he said.

Phil Mickelson fared even worse on the same hole, once recording an 11.

The escape tool: high-bounce sand wedge. Maximum loft. Extreme softness. Accept that par feels like a birdie.

Whistling Straits’ 967 bunkers demand rulebook mastery

Pete Dye scattered 967 bunkers across Whistling Straits. Many look indistinguishable from the sandy waste areas that border every hole. That visual confusion became the most expensive two-stroke penalty in major championship history.

At the 2010 PGA Championship, Dustin Johnson stood over what appeared to be a patch of trampled sand behind the 18th green. He grounded his club. Officials ruled it a bunker. The penalty erased his chance at a playoff, and Martin Kaymer claimed the Wanamaker Trophy.

The escape tool: the rulebook. At Whistling Straits, knowing the rules matters more than knowing your swing.

Five hazards. Five different nightmares. But one bunker stands above the rest: PGA West’s San Andreas Fault — a 20-foot pit where the only way out is straight up. If you ever find yourself holed up in these bunkers, be sure to pray and hope you got the right club to dig yourself out.