Yes, I actually counted every bunker on the Straits Course, in two mornings in May, assisted by caddie Bob Palm. We walked the front nine in six hours and the back nine in five, a total of 22.3 miles. Using a contraption I'd made from a circular lamp globe and a hoe handle, we marked each bunker, pressing a trio of circles into the sand. The marks were invaluable when we found ourselves doubling back across a field of bunkers, unsure if we'd already been there. The eighth hole has the most bunkers (102), followed by the 18th (96). The 12th and 14th tie with the fewest (18). The biggest bunker is 300 yards long on the par-5 fifth, with lots of tentacles. Bob called it a spider bunker. Counting bunkers involved judgment calls. Was a bunker with islands of turf a single bunker? (Yes.) Were bunkers well left of the 10th, visible only from the adjacent Irish Course, really part of the Straits? (Yes, because they were right of a maintenance path separating the courses.) Would an abandoned, overgrown bunker count? (No.) Does the Straits have the most bunkers on any course in the world? Absolutely. Nothing else comes close. See a variety of the 967 bunkers we encountered. -- Ron Whitten• Read more on Whistling Straits
The Straits Course No. 1
408 yards | par 4
The Straits Course No. 3
181 yards | par 3
The Straits Course No. 3 and No. 6
The par-3 third on the left (next to the lake) and the par-4 sixth on the right.
The Straits Course No. 7
221 yards | par 3
The Straits Course No. 8
507 yards | par 4
The Straits Course No. 11
618 yards | par 5
The Straits Course No. 11
Another look at the par-5 11th.
The Straits Course No. 12
143 yards | par 3
The Straits Course No. 12
An aerial view of par-3 12th, with pin on the tiny "fish tail" portion of the big green.
The Straits Course No. 14 and No. 13
The par-4 14th on the left and the par-4 13th on the right.
