Bunker Update May 5th

The Nk Mip turfcare team has been diligently working on greenside bunkers to get them ready for the remainder of the season. You could say that maintaining bunkers are the achilles heal of most maintenance departments in the golf industry. They require an extensive amount of labor, time and effort to retain their aesthetical appeal and playing conditions.

We allocate two laborers Monday to Friday for 4 hours with one personnel on weekends for 5 hours to give you an idea of the time already spent on bunker maintenance. The shift consists of strictly raking the material with a Toro sand pro machine to loosen up material and groom them for play.

Along with retaining those playable conditions, we emphasis the aesthetics of our golf course are kept at a high standard here at Nk’ Mip. In the picture below you are able to see the grass and invasive weed hanging over the bunker edge and notice the sand has worked its way up to the lip.

This past week we have been improving the visual representation of green side bunkers by edging and moving material to areas with little or no sand. The process begins with removing material around bunker using a simple edging tool to create and flat vertical surface.  In some spots we had to edge over a foot out of the bunker due to extensive growth.

Edging Bunker

Material Removal

In the picture below you can really see the visual difference of a renovated edge and an untreated edge.  The next process involves a probe to measure sand depths to move material to those areas with no sand such as steeper bunker faces, using a John Deer trap rake. This particular trap rake is very versatile piece of equipment when rebuilding bunkers. It is equipped with a blade and belly blade to move large amounts of material. You may have seen it being used for construction on the new greens and tees. 

Finished vs. Unfinished Edge

Moving Material

This before and after picture illustrates a bunker that has been completely renovated on hole #13.  The edge is clearly defined, clean and increases the visual aspect of the hole. Doesn’t that make you want to play out of them?!

Before Renovation

After Renovation

We hope to complete all the bunkers within the coming weeks, but again the allocation of manpower is limited but be patient! In addition there are a few tips you can do to help us, always enter a bunker from the lower end. Barreling into a steep bunker face moves material to the bottom of the trap, in turn maintenance must happen more regularly. Also, keep in mind that you are maintaining the hazard for the groups behind you so please take the time to rake your footprints.

The approach this year is to focus on keeping greenside bunker sand tilled and continuously softened with fairway bunkers to be firmer and let you pick the ball out of the sand easier. Hope you are all enjoying the conditions provided by the turfcare team as we strive to enhance your experience on the golf course. On that note bring on the heat!

Franz Unterberger

Assistant Superintendent

BASc. Horticulture Majoring in Golf Course Management