Sean Sullivan, Superintendent at The Briarwood Golf Course, Stateside in Montana, has introduced black bunkers as an environmentally-sound solution to replace traditional sand.
Sean was one of ten American Superintendents who visited BTME Harrogate as guests of Bernhard and Company and the GCSAA.
Here he explains his thought process and how successful the implementation has been.
B
uilt in 1982 the 18-hole, privately owned, Briarwood Golf Course covers 350 acres, of which 300 are
maintained. Sean’s first task when he arrived in Billings, Montana from Georgia in 2002, was to arrest the course’s slide in the rankings - it had gone from ‘number one’ in the mid- 1990s to its lowest ever rating. Sean explains “I was brought in to try to stop the bleeding and put the country club back on track. In this part of Montana there may not be many golf courses but there is still considerable competition in attracting membership.” Following the re-design of some of the
greens complexes, bunker renovation was next on the agenda. And this is where Sean had a radical plan. “All other golf courses in our area had undergone
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renovation and they had used white sand. I was looking for a hook to draw in new membership. I had seen a couple of courses in North Dakota using coal slag. They were near a tower plant where the slag is a by-product of burning lignite coal. It is almost jet black and looks like glossy glass.” The product proved remarkably suitable as a replacement as it is dense, does not blow around in the wind and weeds cannot grow through it. The price was similar to white sand and nearly all 300 members of the club voted in favour of the material, with only one or two gripes.
IN THE BLACK!
it an environmentally sound project, it brought us a lot of media attention from TV and newspapers because of the novelty factor” said Sean. “And when people are flying into Billings airport they get the most striking view of the bunkers.” “There are other benefits as well” said
So the club went ahead and started the
process last year - work was completed early in the spring. “It was a fantastic project. Not only was
Sean. “The material actually causes less damage to the sharpness of cylinders and, because it is heavier, less of it is thrown up onto the surrounds and greens. In addition, the members say that it is easier to play out of and does less damage to their clubs.” “The comparison between the glossy black and the green grass in spring and summer is absolutely wonderful, unbelievable as that sounds.” The golf course has two distinct
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