[Scott Witter]

This is a slight spin from the Maturity post and it was a statement within the reply post by Tom Doak which got me wondering.

What other options exist with sodding a restoration/renovation project on bunkers or tees, etc., but would allow for the work not to appear so "new" for years later.  I can appreciate Tom's indication of the natural look regarding where the work started and ended, however, as I too hate to see renovation work on an old course look new and too clean with sodding, how can this older/natural/lived-in look be achieved unless you seed.  Even then, matching seed varieties can be difficult.  You must keep in mind the board, the greens committe and especially the membership, who wants their course "playable as soon as possible" and not also to diminish the amount of work it would place on the maintenence crew to grow-in the extensive seeded areas spread out all over the golf course.  Your answer isn't as easy as custom contract growing sod to match your course.  This is expensive and it requires considerable planning far out in front of the project that may simply not exist.  Even with an architect on board, few clubs can see the light through the tunnel and plan accordingly, especially when more money is on the line.

[TEPaul]

Scott:

Are you talking about bunker surrounds?

[Mike_Cirba]

Scott:

Are you talking about bunker surrounds?

I took it that's what Tom Doak was talking about in the original thread.

Has anyone seen any good bunker surrounds after a restoration?  I can think of very few, but include Philly CC and Fenway among those I've seen.  Not sure if those were sodded or seeded.

[Kyle Harris]

Mike,

Schuylkill's are looking quite good, and those were sodded. We're going back sometime in September.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

I would add the bunker surrounds at LuLu to this list.

[TEPaul]

"I can think of very few, but include Philly CC and Fenway among those I've seen.  Not sure if those were sodded or seeded."

MikeC:

Actually PCC used the absolute correct option with their bunker surrounds during their recent restoration----eg, they just left their bunker surrounds alone!!  

Frankly, this thread's question is a most interesting one on this website, particularly as it relates to bunker surrounds and grassing.

Clearly, there was a massive hue and cry on here when Merion East redid their bunkers and bunker surrounds. Should just done drainage and sanding during their bunker project and left their bunkers surrounds alone, and just attempted to fix them the way PCC did? I always thought so.

However, they did take their grassing and bunker surrounds  completely apart and redid them and they sodded them in and over. In the first year (before their grassing grew out) that led most of us to scream and wail and call them things like "puffy and upholstered looking" (actually that was my term).

And, in retrospect, what did that mean? It meant that none of us on here knew enough about these kinds of things to understand that we should've given Merion East's bunkers the app 2-3 years they needed to let those bunker surrounds grow in to the way they wanted them. The point is now the grassing on Merion Easts' bunker surrounds is about as rugged and natural looking as grass bunker surrounds can possibley get. And if any of us on here can't admit that now, there's something seriously wrong with us---eg like we're either blind or totally hypocritical.

Of course, that's not to mention the highly rugged and natural grassing on the Merion East bunker surrounds is very little like the bunker surrounds on Merion East ever looked before!  

But give it time Boys----after all, the Beatles didn't hit it big either until they finally decided to grow their hair into mops and then BOOM---they became probably the most famous band in the history of the world. What first got the world's attention regarding the Beatles? Well, anyone who's honest knows it all started with their new and improved "mop haircuts"!  

[Scott Witter]

Tom,

Yes, bunker surrounds and tee slopes.  The point is how not to have them look so new for the next five years after they are finished due to the new sod.  In some respects, I agree with everyone in that it looks clean and new, but that doesn't solve the issue of how this doesn't look good on an old course restoration project IMO.

Honestly, I'm not sure how this can be avoided, but it is interesting to me and important as well since I do a lot of this work.

I thought I might also hear from Ian Andrew given all of his experience with renovation/retoration as well as other architects or superintendents.

[Forrest Richardson]

Bill Kubly used a tree spade to dig up native vegetation at Sutton Bay and plop it behind bunkers and features. It turned out very cool.

There is nothing wrong with sod. Occasiionally it needs to be left to grow wild and not maintained as close. Also, it can sometimes work well to introduce native seed and fescue seed to areas around newly restored bunkers — but this is usually a partnershop with the greenkeeper...not the builder/shaper.

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