Motivation Quote by Tom Kite

Golf’s hazards are supposed to feel like punishment, but Tom Kite is letting you in on a course architect’s secret: most bunkers aren’t villains, they’re traffic cones.

Kite’s line flips the emotional script golfers bring to sand. Amateurs see a bunker and assume the course is out to humiliate them. He’s arguing the opposite. A “saving” bunker is placed where your miss is likely to go and where the result could be far worse: thick rough that kills spin, a sidehill lie that turns your next swing into guesswork, a water hazard that adds a penalty stroke and a moral crisis. Sand, by comparison, is predictable. It’s a clean lie with a clear task. You lose some control, but you’re not doomed.

The subtext is competitive and practical, very much from an athlete who made a career out of course management. Kite isn’t romanticizing the game; he’s teaching you how to read it. If bunkers are often guardrails, then strategy changes: aim away from the truly catastrophic miss, accept the “safe” hazard, and stop treating every bunker as evidence the course hates you.

Contextually, this fits the modern era of design and tournament setup, where courses are engineered to test choices rather than simply punish errors. Kite’s point is almost consumer advice: the course is offering you a deal. Your job is to recognize it before pride convinces you to take the riskier route.