Bunkers

Bunkers are a hazard. However, in today’s game, bunkers have become more and more manicured and maintained. Now, golfers expect the bunkers to be as neatly trimmed and groomed as greens, tees, and fairways. Due to this demand, many hours are spent taking care of the bunkers on the course. Several practices are done regularly to maintain the bunkers.

One of the most crucial aspects of routine bunker maintenance is sand depth. No golfer likes when the take a bunker shot and their club hits liner or subsoil beneath the sand. Through regular play, maintenance, wind erosion, water erosion, and other factors the sand in a bunker shifts dramatically. There are common areas that a ball ends up after a shot. The golfer then plays his bunker shot, as he should, by “splashing” sand out with his ball. Repeated shots of this nature move and remove sand from that spot. Similarly, through regular raking both by players and maintenance staff, sand is shifted in different directions. Over time, sand accumulates on edges and away from where the most play occurs and this is when the unlucky golfer hits his shot into that spot and there is only a dusting of sand over the base material. To combat the natural movement of the sand, several times throughout the year my staff will go through every bunker and check the depth of the sand throughout. Areas of too much and too little sand are identified and the sand is rearranged accordingly.

Another problem that occurs with the bunkers here at Bretton Woods is erosion by water and puddles in the bunkers. After a heavy rain, similar to the one we had just a few days ago, the water running through the bunker will move the sand and the water that can’t escape the bunker will sit. This again is a very laborious problem to fix. Each bunker must be pumped dry and then the sand in each bunker must be pushed, shoveled, and thrown back up to its original location. Depending on the slope of the face of the bunker, half the sand may be at the complete opposite end.

The sand also becomes contaminated with silt and clay when it is eroded by water. So we also will be adding new bunker sand over the next couple of weeks trying to replace any sand that has been lost and to give each bunker a fresh white look. We do not add much depth with the new sand, only a cover, but it really enhances the aesthetics of the bunker.

Bunkers are a very labor intensive aspect of golf course maintenance. A well-manicured bunker is great to look at but most importantly they are better to play from and that is the key.

 See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org