What’s happening with the bunkers!!

The bunkers at Murrumbidgee and in the general Canberra region have long been a talking point amongst golfers. The bunkers at Murrumbidgee have been built and renovated over the last twenty odd years. As a result of different design and construction methods we now have bunkers with all manner of characteristics. However most of these characteristics attract negative criticisms. Bunkers in the Canberra region, not just Murrumbidgee, attract their fair share of criticism such as:

• too much sand
• too little sand
• wrong type of sand
• wrong shape
• they are like concrete
• can’t get in or out of easily
• full of water

The main cause of all these criticisms is that they are built in clay. The main problems start when it rains or the sprinkler system hits them, silt from the clay comes mainly off the walls and from the surrounding areas. The silt then sits on top of the sand, fills in the gaps in the sand and forms a hard crust, thus resulting in the concrete bunkers everyone knows and loves. Adding sand to the bunkers to overcome this is a very short term fix, in as little as six months or the next heavy rainfall they can become crusted and hard again. While people don’t believe it, there is sand underneath this crust, usually lots of it, 10 to 20 cm on average. Even if we dig or till this back to life, because this is a mixture of silt and sand, this again turns hard very quickly. All of this adds up to a maintenance and logistical nightmare.

We have developed new design and construction techniques to address these problems. These techniques were first used on the two bunkers on the 1st hole. These were further refined when the bunker on the right hand side of the 13th was renovated. These changes have reduced maintenance and significantly improved playability, especially after rain.

Currently, after heavy or prolonged periods of rain, we have to spend significant amount of man hours to ‘repair’ or make the existing bunkers playable. The new bunkers have required no extra maintenance after recent heavy rains. The water has drained away as fast as it fell. The main changes we have made are to reduce the amount of water that enters the bunkers, flatten the bases and use a new type of drainage. This has not just aided in making a more playable and consistent surface but has reduced maintenance and ongoing costs.

The main changes are:

• steeper bunker walls (this ensures that the ball always rolls to the bottom of the bunker)
• raise the bunker walls/edges to create a water flow around the bunker, not in to the bunker
• ensure that the bunkers are visible from a distance where possible (by raising the walls this assists in making a visual deterrent and adding a reference point for players)
• raise and flatten the bases (by raising the height of the walls players do not realise that the bases have been raised)
• use a new flat drainage system which is easier and cheaper to install than previous drainage techniques
• use new membranes on the banks to stop the transfer of silt into the bunkers
• change the entry and exit points to allow easy access for players and course machinery 
• increase the size of the bunkers to allow access and maintenance by course machinery

This winter we are focussing on the renovating the 2 bunkers on the 4th, 2 bunkers on the 8th and the left hand bunkers on the 13th hole. Each winter we will continue the renovation program until all bunkers in need of renovation are complete. With the new techniques used and some slight redesign we are confident that the bunkers will remain in good shape for many years to come.