Course Update 7/9/13



Good Afternoon and thank you for visiting the blog. I hope that everyone enjoyed the 4th of July weekend and all of the festivities at the club.

This week I will discuss bunker maintenance. To get started I would like to share a photo and quote that may give you a laugh...

 

And a quote from Old Tom Morris: "Bunkers are not meant to be places of pleasure, they are prisons for punishment and repentance".

Ok, enough with jokes. Bunkers are serious business. It is our goal to provide you with the best bunker conditions possible. The recent renovations have given us the opportunity to accomplish this task, and it is our responsibility to do so. As I mentioned in the newsletter, one of our main priorities this summer is to develop a sustainable bunker maintenance plan that satisfies the needs of our golfers. The information below will give you an idea of that goes into this plan.

Daily Preparation: First, all debris (leaves, dirt, grass clippings, etc) are removed from the bunkers using a hand blower. After debris is removed the crew then hand rakes every bunker. Occasionally, we simply rake any footprints and do not disturb the rest of the bunker. This is done to conserve labor hours and to allow the sand to further compact. The entire process typically requires three to four employees and requires about 3.5 hours to complete.

The crew preparing the bunkers on 5 and 7.

Weekly Maintenance: Every one to two weeks we must mow and edge all of the grass surrounding the bunkers. This is one the most labor intensive practices on the golf course. There are several steps involved which are illustrated below.

1. The first step is to pull the sand away from the edges of the bunkers. This exposes the turf and allows for the use of string trimmers to edge the bunkers. This process is completed by two crewmembers.
2. Once the sand is pulled down, two to three crewmembers use string trimmers clean up the edges of the bunkers. Proper edging keeps the bunkers defined and helps maintain the original design.
   
3. A third crew of two is working at the same time to mow all the grass around the bunkers. This is accomplished using a specialized type of mower that is capable of mowing very steep slopes. We recently purchased two new Hover Mowers to accomplish this task.

   

   David Nava and Ramiro Tenorio III using the new Hover Mowers.

4. After the first crew is done pulling sand away from the edges, they then return to the first hole with hand blowers to remove any grass clippings from the above practices.
5. Finally, as the "edging crew" and the "hover mower crew" finish, they begin the process of pushing the sand back up on the edges, and hand pulling any grass that was missed by the edging.

   

   Kevin Hejl pulling runners.

Monthly Maintenance: Approximately once a month the bunkers must be checked to ensure that sand levels are consistent. Often time more sand must be added, or the sand must be moved from one part of the bunker to another. The frequency of adjusting sand levels depends on the individual bunker. For example, the chipping green bunkers (which receive more play than others) must be checked more frequently.