Bunker Conditions

Over the last several weeks I have fielded several comments regarding the condition of the bunkers. The comments have ranged from "there is no sand in the bunkers" to "why is the sand so wet?"

The answer to the first question would be there is plenty of sand in the bunkers, it is just wet and plays like there is no sand in the bunker. If you look at the following picture it clearly shows how the bunker is staying wet in the lower portions of the bunker floor.

This next picture shows the depth of the sand in the bunker floor and you can see the sand is nearly four inches deep.  The problem is that the sand is wet and reacts with the club in a similar manor as a lack of sand.

The true cause of the bunker problems comes from the sand being contaminated repeatedly last summer from all of the rain storms that washed out the bunkers. The sand has been mixed with the native soils which are now clogging up the pore spaces in the sand and not allowing water to flow freely through it into the drain tile within the bunkers.

The ultimate solution is replacing the bunker sand and installing some sort of liner to reduce the possibility of future contamination.  We will be addressing the most problematic bunkers by removing portions of contaminated sand and fill it back with new sand that is the same as the original sand in the bunkers.

With all of this talk about improving the playability within the bunkers that is an oxymoron if I ever heard one.  Last time I checked bunkers were hazards aren't they?