Stone Age Mowing

Anyone who practices bunker shots at the learning center knows that those two bunkers contain many tiny stones. These stones are part of the drainage system installed with the bunker, and can not only damage golf clubs but they also cause major problems with mowing equipment. Every swing made causes sand and stones to be splashed on to the green and subsequently picked up by mowing equipment. Mowing over small rocks causes nic's in the reel and on the bedknife reducing the quality of cut. Poor mowing and mower set-up can have a direct impact on turf health and ball roll. Efforts have been made to hand pick 100’s of stones daily, but many stones are left undetected by staff. In fact, the mowing was being impacted in such a manner that we began to use a separate greens mowers just for the pitching and chipping greens.

The best long term solution was to remove all bunker sand, and remove all the stones from the drainage line. Once these materials were removed we installed a Benofix geosynthetic clay liner and the drainage lines will be back filled with sand rather than gravel.

The benefits of having this liner include:

• During heavy rain events – Sand will not be contaminated by soil or rocks

• Texture of sand will remain consistent

• Less weeds

• No stones

• No Staples

The first of 2 Bunkers have been completed and repairs will be completed on the second bunker next week.