HapHazards
As the PGA Championship crowned a champion, many observers had an unpleasant residue on their palates as a result of the situation with Dustin Johnson’s drive on the 72nd
hole.
As we all know bunkers are defi ned as hazards in the Rules of Golf and it has been debated back and forth as to how these hazards should or shouldn’t be maintained. The real issue is not how many bunkers are at Whistling Straits or how the staff maintains these bunkers, but what is the true cost of maintaining bunkers on an annual basis? Bunker maintenance
has become a healthy line item for many golf course maintenance budgets. I frequently hear water cooler talk among superintendents
regarding how much time it takes to maintain bunkers. The point is not whether
Dustin Johnson deserved the penalty, but is the pur- suit for perfection of a bun- ker really worth the effort? As the economy and golf continue to sputter along, is it realistic for facilities to keep up an elevated level of maintenance for bunkers? What if every facility
considered how many man- hours it took to maintain its bunkers during the year. What if a dollar fi gure were calculated and applied to the amount of time it takes to
THE TECHNICALITIES OF BUNKER SAND
Q: I’m tired of hitting out of bunkers with little or no sand. Why can’t the maintenance staff just go out there and add any old sand to the bunkers? –ONE TOO MANY SKULLED BUNKER SHOTS IN MONTEREY A: Dear Skulled—Your question is a good one. However, there is a little more to it than just getting some common sand and putting it in the bunker. Determining the right type of sand for bun- kers has become quite techni- cal. Several factors should be considered before purchas- ing sand such as how fast water can move through the sand, color preference, abil- ity of the sand to develop a surface crust, shape and size of the grains of sand, ability of the sand to resist fried egg lies, fi rmness of the sand and, probably the most important
factor, the overall playability of the sand. Several of the factors listed above can be addressed by laboratory analysis. An accred-
ited lab can perform a battery of tests and pro- vide a report that can determine if the sand in question is of an acceptable quality. Other factors that contribute to how sand
performs include: How often is the sand raked? What type of method is utilized when raking the bunker? How much sand is in the bunker? How long the sand has been in the bunker and how much water is applied to the sand from nearby irrigation heads?
A factor that many golfers overlook is that the
texture of the bunker sand needs to be similar to the type of sand used to build and topdress greens. Bunker splash on greens can have a detrimental effect if the particle size is smaller than the sand size used during topdressing. So the next time you enter a bunker, think about how many factors go into the decision of picking out the right sand, maintaining the bunker according to the size of crew and main- tenance budget as well as the effi ciency of the irrigation system. Perhaps this might free your mind of any tension and allow you to hit an ac- ceptable shot out of the hazard. Play well.
edge, rake, replace sand and repair these bunkers on an annual basis? What if fi gures were determined for many other routine maintenance practices on the golf course? How long would it take for each facility to determine where the majority of time and money is being spent? When facilities look at the big picture and deter- mine how many dollars and hours it takes to keep bun- kers in pristine condition then perhaps we may start seeing a shift in mainte- nance priorities. Every facility should evaluate the costs associated for maintaining bunkers and ask these questions: Is it worth it and does it add to the experience? If yes, then
the facility should provide the necessary resources to keep the bunkers up to its expectation level. If the an- swer is no, then an outreach program should be imple- mented to let the golfers know that some drop-off in maintenance of the bunkers is going to occur. I recently heard a speaker ask golf industry leaders a question: Do you really know what is im- portant to the golfers that play your course? A recent survey suggests that course conditions are generally the number one response with pace of play a close second. If course conditions are the highest priority, does facility staff know which areas have the highest priority such as speed of greens, acceptable playing quality of bunkers and highly manicured com- mon areas?
Bunker maintenance
averages from 3%-10% of overall budget but can be dramatically higher and demand many man-hours. Accurate record keeping of bunker maintenance and frequent assessments of golfer’s experiences can be valuable tools in deter- mining how bunkers are maintained. As Dustin Johnson found out the hard way—bunkers are hazards and they may or may not be perfectly manicured every time we hit into them.
by Mike McCullough Director of Environmental and Water Resources
E-mail:
mike@ncga.org
FALL 2010 / NCGA.ORG / 67
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