Bunkers at home course are a mess!

[DaBuckBoys]

Not sure what to say or do or expect... They've never been great. They've worked on them regularly over the years. Have redone the drainage in most. But the whole covid year of no rakes and I'm not sure they've been touched since. They've thrown some rakes out there but judging how they are buried in the grass, no one is using them.

Damage done by large storms has not been repaired. I know 6" of rain CAN do a lot of damage but its been 2 months. The rest of the course is in good shape, they water the heck out of it. But half the bunkers sit wet and are unplayable.

We already went thru one course renovation where multiple bunkers were sodded and are now just grass bunkers. That took some of the original design elements away. It just seems that a course that is busy, has some cash flow, would care enough to get the bunkers in playable condition.

 

[Scooby555]

I know ZERO about course maintenance but it seems bunkers would be one of the easier things to maintain around the course? Throw some sand in them couple times a year and keep them raked? Maybe have a drain pipe under them? I also assume there is much more to it though????

 

[Junkyard]

You are not alone. I think bunkers are one of the more expensive elements of a golf course to maintain. The pandemic provided a bunch of courses an excuse to remove what little maintenance they did do from their regular schedule.
We got rakes back on Saturday morning, fortunately most of our bunkers were still in good condition. Previously we had been either "foot raking" or calling them unplayable and taking a free lift. One can only hope once courses get their crews back to pre-pandemic numbers they can get caught up. Well maintained bunkers can add real beauty to a course, while non-maintained will be the scourge of social media posts

 

[Follow The Sun]

A course I look forward to playing in the near future was bought by one of the large casinos after hurricane Katrina in my neck of the woods. A decision was made to eliminate most of the sand traps. The course has a slope of 129 and a rating of 73..1.

My point: you don't need a lot of sand traps to have a challenge and enjoy your round of golf. It usually will speed up play, too.

Good Golfing

 

[BigMac]

I feel your pain. Our bunkers are by far the worst part of my home course. They're either soaked/muddy or hard as concrete, not much middle ground. They're so bad that we often declare them GUR (within our own group) and allow free relief outside the bunker, no nearer the hole. It's frustrating when we go play another course and struggle with bunkers because we either have no practice, or the techniques we're using to get out of our crappy bunkers don't work in 'real' bunkers.

 

[DaBuckBoys]

Sounds like I'm not alone on this one... I too have heard they are expensive to maintain, basically $1k/year... I'm sure thats a generic number but makes sense.

As far as the bunkers that have been let go to grass, its a mixed bag. On hole has such sheer slopes that it isn't mowed and they only weed eat it occassionally, so 20 yards in front of a green on an uphill par 4 you have foot tall grass that swallows balls up. Its so thick its not only unplayable, you're lucky to find it.
Another bunker where the sand always washed out and gravel would be everywhere on the surface was seeded one spring with grass. Now instead of a bunker that catches balls greenside, the ball will roll off the hillside and is lost... I know, dont hit it there, but it was an original design element for a reason.
Some of the others that more or less were fairway type bunkers are fine as sod. Play like moguls instead of bunkers so they can be penal with a bad stance but rarely an impossible shot...

 

[donny475]

I play Waterchase in Fort Worth every so often with some guys from my Saturday group that play there every Wednesday. The bunkers there absolutely suck. They are fine dirt, not sand no early when the dew is burning off they are wet, generally not consistent throughout, some areas deep some might as well be 1/4 inch at best.

 

[Phil75070]

The course I belonged to for the last three years had bunkers that in many case you could not see over the front lip, to include fairway bunkers! Every time there was a decent rain the sand would wash down from the front slopes exposing the gravel and liner. It could be days of effort for the grounds crew to get them back in playable shape by manually shoveling sand back up. Also, the sand used was that really soft sand where you could sink to above your ankles just by walking into one of them.

The course we joined this year had great greenside bunkers when we joined but all of the fairway bunkers were in need of repair and were unplayable. The rebuild process certainly wasn't a case of just throwing more sand in them. Creating proper drainage, adding gravel and liners ended up being a lengthy process but they got them all done. The course can get very windy so the sand used in all the bunkers is a heavier sand that is not prone to being blown out by the wind. They were all in great shape by the time a Korn Ferry qualifier was held there, followed closely by local qualifying for the U.S. Open.

 

[pattyboy21]

We had all new bunkers less than a year ago. But this has been a crazy wet few months, even for Houston, and now our bunkers suck...

 

[Muchmore]

I always feel so fortunate to have a home course with really well maintained bunkers because it seems bunkers around my area recently are either fantastic and fluffy or like playground gravel. Sucks dealing with terrible bunkers

 

[DaBuckBoys]

I always feel so fortunate to have a home course with really well maintained bunkers because it seems bunkers around my area recently are either fantastic and fluffy or like playground gravel. Sucks dealing with terrible bunkers

I just wish they were playable... Its not a like a manpower issue. They have been laying brick pavers in some high traffic areas where carts funnel into fairways off the cart paths. Looks really nice but seems like a good offseason project...

 

[Iceman!]

On Sunday, we just got to the point of taking the ball out and play from the Fringe.
They aren't maintained and there are no rakes.

 

[golfboyblues]

When I started to read the initial post I thought he was talking about my home course! Bunkers are in terrible shape, mostly due to the area getting about 6" of rain above the average for July. Throw in bad drainage and it is a real mess. Some of them still have standing water in them and it has not rained much at all for over a week.

 

[ntanygd760]

I know ZERO about course maintenance but it seems bunkers would be one of the easier things to maintain around the course? Throw some sand in them couple times a year and keep them raked? Maybe have a drain pipe under them? I also assume there is much more to it though????

If you by easiest you mean the most expensive thing after greens then yes.

 

[JAM01]

Same here, home course bunkers are filled with dirt and fine gravel. I refuse to destroy clubs in them.

 

[InTheRough]

Bunkers are in bad shape here too. Rakes in them too. I mean why even bother? There's not enough sand to bother. They're mostly dirt. Just smooth them with your foot and play them as sandy waste areas.

 

[Hitsnmisses]

I don’t have. A home course as such ,but it’s a pet hate that bunkers are left off ‘the look after them list ‘ you would think that with courses populated by abundant bunkering , that directionally balls travel into or near and greens surrounded by them ... that they would have significant layering of loose sand( most are compacted or very thin layer particularly in lowest point.

Yes the work is intensive and manual but the frustration and aesthetically is significant , particularly when you see golf around the world in pristine bunkering , no wonder the pros can get out beautifully if the conditions are beautiful.

lve even played on elevated slope in bunker at a course unnamed, on third shot trying to get ball out it became apparent that they had carpet turned upside down on the slope in order to reinforce the sand ,,, try getting your wedge under that !!