Most everyone has seen the conversion of the bunkers on #1 from Sand Traps to fescue Grass Bunkers. The reason for the change is because of the amount of work that some of our bunkers take to to become "playable". Even when our bunkers are in a "playable" state many of them have sand that has been contaminated by the subsoil and the rocks in it that have migrated upwards from years of mechanical raking and out of date construction techniques.
The reason that grassing them over was chosen was due to several factors. First off, we do not want to remove the hazards from play. By converting to fescue we can retain the shape and placement of the hazard while maintaining a stand of grass that can vary from a height of 4-8 inches. This still encourages golfers to hit the fairway, or they will face a very difficult shot. Secondly, the ability to do this in a minimally invasive fashion came into play. The three bunkers that we just converted on #10 fairway took us one afternoon to complete with no evidence that we were ever there. Renovating these sand traps would take a considerable amount of earth moving, drainage, sodding, and irrigation system rerouting. The process I just mentioned would have taken 2-3 weeks with heavy equipment traffic to add to the mess.
We have completed 5 bunkers so far. I hope to have 2 more done by the end of the week. The list of bunkers to change over is; #1 fairway, #8 fairway, #10 fairway, #12 fairway, #17 fairway.
Here are some pictures the day after #10 was completed.
The above picture is a view from #10 Tee.
The above picture is the 3rd fairway bunker on #10.
The above picture are the two fairway bunkers on the first half of #10.
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