Since labour day the weather has been a virtual roller coaster, we have had lots of rain, some sunshine, warm temperatures and a variety of all three in one day. Throughout this weather our staff has been hard at work trying to restore our bunkers to the original shape and size. Over the years turfgrass begins to encroach into the bunkers, especially on the back or low sides. We have been using the pitchfork method to work our way back from the inside edge. The pitchfork is inserted repeatedly moving back from the edge until the original soil edge is found. The edge is then torn back to this soil/sand interface. Then the existing edge is tamped down to force the grass edge down to the sand, therefore reducing the soil lip on the back sides of the bunkers. This creates a more traditional, Stanley Thompson look to the bunker surrounds. As you will notice from the first picture, the red stakes are in place prior to the edging. In the second picture you can see the amount of over growth and shrinking that the bunker has experienced.
Last fall we utilized a “new to us” method of revitilization for our practice tee. Our contractor TDS, fraize mowed the surface of the tee to remove organic matter as well at to aid in leveling. The tee was then aerified and seeded to a new variety of creeping rye grass. We chose this type of turf grass as research shows rapid recovery and a low growth habit. We were able to get some great growth in the fall, but the tee is still not ready for traffic and full use. The plan is to utilize the mats until growth has filled in some of the voids etc. We will then begin to slowly set up hitting areas on the grass tee. For a while we will alternate between grass and the mats with a 50/50 ratio of use. Once the grass tee is established and is in adequate recovery mode, the practice areas will be back to normal. As always our membership’s patience is appreciated as we try to improve these areas for use.
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