The recent rains cause major problems with the golf course, especially bunkers, as seen from the pictures above. The heavy rain washes the sand down the faces and to the bottom of the bunker. Not only does the sand get misplaced and moved, but the silt and soil under the sand also washes down the banks and sits on top of the sand at the bottom. This is the A#1 reason why we do not have consistent bunkers. Some bunkers wash and others don't. This contamination of soil cause the bunkers to get filled with rocks and debris, making it impossible to remove from the bunker sand. The process pumping the water out, sorting out the silt and pushing the bunker sand back up where it belongs is obviously extremely labor intensive. The pics above were taken 24 hours after 1.5" of rain fell, so we can seen they do not drain well. New bunkers today are installed with a geo-textile liner in the bottom under the sand so siltation and contamination does not occur. Also, bunkers are installed with drainage to move the water out of the bunker to keep the sand consistent the whole way around the golf course.
Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent
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