Bunker work, First week in March

Bunkers.... are a major concern of the course and we are doing our best to renovate them.

So far this year we have renovated 8 bunkers lining them with astro turf and I'm happy to report back.... so far so good. However, we have 46 bunkers so that leaves a large amount left to do, but this doesnt mean were going to neglect the other ones.

First we have to edge the bunker using the 'half moon' tool, trying to take away as little as possible, so that we're not making the bunker that much bigger.

Once we've cleared away the turf by using a Gator , we then by use the back of the rake, (the smooth end)  to pull the sand to the edge trying to leave a 1 inch lip.   A lot of golfers don't approve of a lip on the bunker faces, but let me just explain why I think it's important to have a one. If the sand was raked to the top it would invade the grass making the structure around the face weak, thus making it crumble and leaving us with no edge at all. Also more weeds and grass will then start to grow on the faces which is something we want to avoid.

I then approach the bunker from the lowest point, working my way around it.  I'll move the sand around trying to fill in the shallow parts.  We are currently aware that some of the bunkers are shallow in places, so topping them up with new sand is on the "to do" list.

Now the raking is done, I exit the bunker at the lowest point
Using the back of the rake to smooth out the footprints on the faces. This stops any loosening of the sand which causes plugging of the ball.
Leaving the bunker at the lowest point prevents anyone hurting them self from slipping or falling.

The aim of back raking the faces is to allow the ball to roll to the centre of the bunker making it less difficult for the golfer to play the shot and less time consuming for us greenskeepers.

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The Correct Way To Rake Bunkers......