Sand and deliver...
Andy Cole, STRI agronomist for the Midlands region, looks at the quality of bunkers, the quality of the sand and how best to placate the members
A
bunker, generally sand filled, is positioned within the layout of a golf course to be a hazard to play
- often referred to as a trap or “just a damned nuisance”. An architect would take the view that bunkers, strategically placed, encourage the golfer to think about the shot to be played. Fairway bunkers are often referred to as “positive features”, designed to make the golfer think about where to place his shot. To lay-up short and have a longer second shot to the green or to accept the challenge, clear the hazard and be in a better position for an easier second shot.
The changes in golf club and golf ball technology have sometimes necessitated the movement of bunkers to bring them back into play. I find it fascinating that higher handicap golfers sometimes object to bunkers being moved on the basis that they have become popular bunkers - but unfortunately penalising the less able golfer, who, it is often said, “carries his own bunkers around anyway”.
It is essential that the golf course is set up to challenge golfers of all categories. Greenside bunkers, on the other hand, are generally regarded as “negative features”, not necessarily positioned to make the golfer think about where to hit the ball, but
certainly there to penalise a badly executed shot. The bunker used to be referred to as a hazard; an area of the course best avoided if you were looking to compile a good score. Unfortunately, the modern game has changed our perceptions of bunkers and how they should be presented. Golfers now expect to be provided with a playing surface, where the ball should lie “fairly” in a greenside bunker and able to play a shot to the green. This, to a large extent, has been fuelled by the professional game where a player may elect to play and finish in the bunker rather than miss the green and be more heavily penalised in deep rough. Whatever the whys and wherefores of this debate, there are still some fundamental aspects of bunkers that need to be considered:
Bunker size and shape
Depending on the style of golf course, age and maintenance regime, bunkers come in all shapes and sizes and there are no hard and fast rules as to which one is correct. However, a number of parameters apply:
• Where mechanical rakes are used the bunkers must be accessible, generally bowl shaped but with no appreciable face, which cannot be covered by the bunker bike. Obviously, bunker edges
are finished off by hand but a mechanised bunker bike should adequately rake the majority of the bunker. The benefit of a mechanical rake compared to hand raking is uniform consolidation of the sand, an even depth of raking and speed of operation, which generally permits bunkers to be raked on a daily basis with limited staff. These shallower bunkers have performed well through this past summer, where extremely heavy rainfall has caused significant wash down of the faces and necessitated considerable effort to restore sand on the bunker faces, only to be repeated again the following week.
• The bunker should be shaped for ease of maintenance, including bunker face and any mounding surrounding the bunker. By providing turf rolled down the bunker face, it is easier to provide a consistent playing surface from the sand, only having to rake through one level. Also, contamination is reduced by not having an exposed bunker face. Invariably, contamination of the sand is a problem when golfers rake down the bunker face and, in so doing, expose stone and soil, which readily contaminate the sand.
• The base of the bunker should be
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