these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

Technical
Normally carried out
under the cover of
darkness, away from
prying eyes, revetting pot
bunkers has been a
closely guarded secret
passed down through
generations of
greenkeepers.
Iain Wakeman, Links
Superintendent at Rosslare
Golf Links in Ireland, has
risked his life by telling us
the mystery surrounding
this art and by revealing
the skills involved,
stage by stage
There are many steps involved in the
construction process before any work
takes place. When constructing a pot
bunker, the site must be visited, and
all the work that needs to be carried
out should be considered, i.e. design, any
contour work to enable the bunker to fit
into the landscape, the bunker’s size and
shape, the severity of the angle of the wall,
the depth of the bunker, irrigation and
associated works - pipes, cables, zones and
decoders - construction, including time,
materials and labour and, most importantly,
if it is a member club, the members’ wishes.
All these factors have to be looked into
before any sitework proceeds.
Bunkers are usually rebuilt in the same
shape and style as before, in keeping with
the aesthetics of the course. These bunkers
usually last between five to eight years,
depending on aspect and the amount of
play the bunker receives. Photo 1 shows how
a pot bunker can deteriorate over the year,s
with photo 2 showing the damage caused by
the accumulation of sand splash out.
Selection of turf is important for building,
as it should not have a high amount of
thatch in it or long grass growth, as this will
Revetting pot bunkers -
UNDER THE
COVER OF
DARKNESS!
Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4
allow for excessive sinkage. Usually, the
shape of the turf should be between 1” to 2”
thick (photo 3), 12” wide and between 18”
to 24” long.
There are two schools of thought with the
layered sod, grass side up or grass side
down. It is felt by some that if the grass side
is up, you will have a better chance of a
grass face bunker, with less chance of
erosion of the face. However, during the
summer months, this will incur a lot more
maintenance, as the faces will have to be
brushed and trimmed. Grass side down will
create a black face bunker. It may need
some application of herbicide, but will need
little or no maintenance thereafter.
However, the black face bunker is more
susceptible to erosion, and will have to be
rebuilt sooner.
Sand selection and depth, including
consistency or texture, is also very
important with pot bunkers. A ‘happy’
medium must be found between members’
expectations of playability, and the
suitability of sand to the course. Ideally, the
sand should be local, native and indigenous.
However, not all courses have this luxury. It
is possible that over 200 tonnes of sand
would be required just to fill 75 bunkers to a
2” depth. This does not include
replenishment from well played bunkers,
sand splash and wind erosion. Bought in
sand must satisfy the golfer (a very difficult
task, as it is a personal thing for each
individual). In Ireland, lime and salt levels
in sand are a major consideration. Sand
particle distribution, shape and size are also
high on the list for consideration.
To start the actual building, you will need
some powerful lights to undertake the work,
under the cover of darkness (a highly
secretive thing!)
Remove approximately a metre of turf
from the edge of the bunker (photo 4). Use
a 12” sod cutter, and keep any good sod to
use as building turf. This will reveal the full
extent of the work to be completed. If there
are associated contours, it is best to remove
the sod from these areas too at this point.
The extent of the removal of top turf
depends on whether it is a rebuild or a new
bunker.
Gather all playing bunker sand into the
centre of the bunker, this is used as backfill.
The turf that formed the old side walls can
now be removed. You will find the old
Photo 8 Photo 9 Photo 10 Photo 11
110 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012