Going bunkers: 4 courses with bunker success stories

Below are excerpts from an article that originally appeared in Golfdom.

In September 2020, Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, reopened its Kendale course after a yearlong renovation.

“I think I’ve called it a ‘restorvation,’” says Kenwood Director of Grounds and Golf Course Operations Kent Turner, with a laugh. Installing a new irrigation system on the club’s Kendale course was the main goal for the project. But, before the irrigation system went in, the club decided to restore Kendale to its 1930 William Diddel design, with modern infrastructure updates to the layout and a renovation of the 77,000 square feet of bunkers on the course.

In summer of 2019, Kenwood contracted Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design to design the golf course restoration, referencing historic drawings and photos from the club’s archives. Wadsworth Golf agreed to complete the restoration work, and Polylast signed on to supply the materials and subcontract labor to line Kendale’s bunkers. Then, in December 2019, with the project well underway, Polylast declared bankruptcy. The Kendale bunkers were only 40 percent complete.

The crew at Kenwood CC preparing to install Sand Guard (top), getting trained on mixing and spreading the product (middle), and a bunker ready for sand installation (bottom). (Photos: Jason Straka)

With no more support or materials coming in and no subcontractor, Jason Straka, principal, Fry/Straka, jumped into action to find a new bunker solution for the remaining 10 holes on the Kendale course — ideally, a rubber-based product similar to Polylast.

The ensuing search led Straka and Turner to Porous Pave. “I knew John (Harvey, Porous Pave’s parks, landscape and golf industry specialist) as a colleague and knew Porous Pave from cart paths and parking lots,” Straka says. In addition to Porous Pave’s cart path product, the company had also developed Sand Guard, a flexible and permeable bunker liner product comprised of crumb rubber and rock.

After a demonstration at Kendale, Straka says Sand Guard’s drainage, flexibility in freeze/thaw cycles and ability to cut down on erosion and soil contamination are why they selected it. “And, it’s seamless — you’re putting it in and compacting it, and it becomes monolithic,” he says.

Click here to read the full article on golfdom.com.