Wordalso written sand traps
sand trap
Meaning
A sand trap is a sand-filled hollow or specially prepared sandy area on a golf course, commonly called a bunker.
How “sand trap” is used
A hollow or prepared area of sand on a golf course that presents an obstacle to play.123
- Tone
- Golf terminology. Cambridge labels sand trap US and gives bunker as the UK equivalent.
- Where you’ll see it
- Cambridge describes a hollow filled with sand and labels sand trap US. The Rules of Golf use bunker for the defined course area.
Examples
- Original illustrative example: Her ball landed in the sand trap beside the green.
- Original illustrative example: The new course layout has a sand trap on the left side of the fairway.
Examples are written for this site to show typical use. They are not quotes.
Usage notes
- What does sand trap mean? In golf, it names a feature commonly called a bunker. This entry covers that golfing meaning.
- Sand trap vs bunker is mainly a difference in wording in this sense, rather than two different obstacles. Bunker is the term used in the official Rules of Golf.
- Not every sandy patch on a course is automatically a bunker. The official definition distinguishes prepared bunker areas from other sand, and the course Committee can designate an area differently.
- The regular plural is sand traps. All example sentences are original illustrations, not quotations or descriptions of a particular course.
Origin
Origin not verified.
Sources
- sand trap, Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sand-trap
- sand trap, Merriam-Webster (opens in a new tab)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sand%20trap
- Bunker, The R&A Rules of Golf definitions (opens in a new tab)
https://www.randa.org/rog/definitions?definitions=All#bunker
- Bunker, USGA Rules of Golf definitions, 2019 text (opens in a new tab)
https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/custom-search-pages/rules/2019-golf-rules-and-interpretations/fr-definitions.html