Bunker Renovations 2015

This year we tackled the challenging job of making our bunkers more playable. After years of neglect most of the bunkers around the course we essentially unplayable. The sand that was there had become packed down turning them into a concrete like substance. On top of that they wouldn't drain, even when getting as little as an inch of rain the bunkers would become water hazards.

We took 2 of the worst bunkers and did a complete overhaul, digging out the old sand, installing drainage and then installing new sand. On the rest we "flipped" the bunkers, a process that involved moving all the sand to one side, digging out the edges and then redistributing the sand evenly over the bunkers. What was interesting in this process was that we found drainage in most of the bunkers. We had been led to believe there wasn't any due to the "water hazard" effect that would happen after rain events, but after cleaning out the drain lines we stayed dry for most of the year.

Below are some shots of this process. Hope you enjoy.

Cutting in the Drain Lines on the First bunker we did. 

After the Drain Lines have been installed 

We originally installed a bunker liner, we later came back and removed it after realizing it was causing more problems than it was solving. 

Bunker on number 2 after the sand was installed and smoothed out. 

After pushing all the sand up to the front edge we went through and redid the bottom edge

This was the first discovery of "drainage"

Old school style drainage that we found under 12" of sand. Essentially its gravel that had been "taco" folded by bunker blanket with a single drain line exiting. Not efficient or probably sustainable but it seems to be working. Water drains into the blanket which was placed at the low end, enters the pipe and then flows out of the bunker, or at least thats the idea lol. 

after the drain had been exposed

Clearing out the drain line using a quick connect and 1" hose

12' of sand. The top layer was so packed you would think it was down to the soil shell. However, what we found was that there was plenty of sand in the bunkers it just need to be "fluffed" and exposed.

All in all I would say the process this summer was a success. The bunkers were more playable and easier to maintain. There  are still a couple of bunkers that we need to come back and completely overhaul with new drains and sand. However it was an eye opening and interesting process discovering what was "under the soil".