Bunkers Update

Friday, two weeks ago, the course received 124mm of rain in 18 hours, causing quite a mess, the heavy and constant rain washed bunkers and paths as well as flooding the usual low lying areas of the course. We were fortunate to have the golf course open for walk golf 24 hours later, which is testament to the waterway clearing and remediation works.

The 13th, 16th and 4th greenside bunkers were flooded and a number of close mown areas were inundated as the course remained saturated for a number of days. There was some minor damage to the turf on the 1st hole project as surface water flowed from quite a way including the practice fairway, 1st, 9th, 18th and 10th holes.  A further 24mm fell 48 hours following the initial deluge, softening and topping up the waterlogged and sodden areas. In all, the course has been copping rain constantly since the week of Christmas, coupled with hot and humid conditions has created a headache with the amount of growth on all areas of the course.

The decision was made late last week to not touch the bunkers, which were still quite wet, as the forecast for more heavy rain was due Friday and Saturday of that week. Fortunately, only 20mm of light showery rain fell, not causing any damage to the bunkers.

This week, the team have been working hard to clean the bunkers and push up washed sand, now dry and more easily moved, as well as clearing the debris washed and blown in during the rain events. The layers of silt, which are common throughout our bunkers due to the natural clay and heavy soils that form the faces and edges of our bunkers, is a growing concern as the years of constant silt wash and its incorporation into the bunker sand has contaminated it to the point that many of the bunkers sand bases have been compromised and fail to drain freely and become quite hard and muddy.