The first thing that we need to address is the decisions behind the removal of the two bunkers. We have removed one bunker on #5 and one bunker on #10. We felt that both bunkers were non-crucial to the integrity of the course and had basically become money pits. Especially when you consider the regular labor that is involved in maintaining any bunker at a high level. We would prefer to invest our finances into other areas on the course. Another reason to remove the two bunkers was the popular opinion that these two bunkers were located in positions that didn't seem to "fit". Neither of these bunkers seemed to have any purpose from a playability standpoint. We even had a reputable designer who viewed the property and agreed with the removal of these bunkers.
Now on to the implementation. We hired a local golf excavator to assist us with the removal of the bunkers. One of his request was the removal of the sod encompassing the entire area that was to be disturbed. This needed to be accomplished prior to his arrival. We felt that this sod was too valuable to scrap and decided to relocate it to other areas that needed to be addressed. The following are pictures of that process.
#5
#10
The first area that was selected to receive the salvaged sod was the eroded cart path edges on #5 as well as a large area where rocks had surfaced which resulted in poor turf quality. Between large rocks, gravel and a large quantity of topsoil that needed to be added, these areas required a lot of prep work.
After
The second areas that were selected were areas where stumps had been removed in the past. These areas were poorly graded and very unsightly. During this step we also improved upon the location for the tee sign on #11.
During prep
After
Next was back to the bunkers. All sand was removed and areas were graded.
Trees were added to the disrupted area on #10 in an attempt to create future privacy as well as helping to better frame the hole.
Lastly, sod was purchased and applied to the spot where bunkers used to reside.
The Finished Product
