Soil then sod then sand

[Ronald Montesano]

I was at a local club undergoing a restoration a few days ago and had the opportunity to ask one of the laborers a question or two. We'll call him Poblano. The entire conversation took place in Spanish, which was awesome for me, as I love to use the language outside the classroom.

Anyway, they were redoing the bunkers and Poblano explained that they would core them to the soil, lay down sod, kill the grass and then lay down the sand. I was then told that another local club, that had also reworked its bunkers, had employed the same process.

Can the working supers and architects in GCA-Land elaborate on this process and why it is an improvement over previous (if there were any) methods? Gracias de antemano.

[JNagle]

Ron

It seems to me, you may be talking about a particular Donald Ross golf course located in Buffalo, NY

Yes, the CC of B is sodding their bunker floors in lieu of using a synthetic liner.  Why?  CCB has issues with the migration
of sub-soil rock migrating upward and into their bunkers.  The use of sod will provide a natural mat which will slow down
the movement and contamination.  Additionally, the price to install sod vs. a synthetic liner is more than $0.80/sq. ft. for
bunkers totaling over 100,000 sq. ft. of surface area. 

Sodding bunker floors was first experimented with in the Pacific NW in the mid-80's.  Forse Design has now been involved with five
projects that have sodded their floors.  The superintendent at Brooklawn CC in Fairfield, CT has doing the same for nearly twenty years with good success. 

[Steve Okula]

I've heard of this method which is used for all the reasons that JNagle points out. I understand that sometimes the sod is simply laid upside down to kill the grass, rather than spraying it dead.

[Jon Wiggett]

This is a very old way of doing bunkers. It has the advantages of being a) cheaper b) the sod does not cause the problems that liners do if they surface c)need no fixing down and do not come loose d)don't block up e) last longer 20+ years atleast. I only do bunkers this way.

I also lay the grass upside down.

Jon

[Anthony_Nysse]

This should answer a lot of questions...

http://www.tacomaturf.com/search/label/bunkers

[RJ_Daley]

I assume that you would trench and place your corrigated-perforated drainlines packed in pea gravel first, then cover with the upsidedown sod, then sand?  Comments.

[Anthony_Nysse]

I assume that you would trench and place your corrigated-perforated drainlines packed in pea gravel first, then cover with the upsidedown sod, then sand?  Comments.

The link says it all with pics. Pretty cool process.

[RJ_Daley]

ooops, sorry Anthony, I missed opening the link.  Very good stuff.  Thanks.

[Ben Lovett]

Anthony,
How does this work with Bermuda sod.

[Thomas Dai]

I recall reading a couple of years ago about a process where you spread a 1-2 inch layer of tiny stones across the whole base of a bunker and then spray it with a chemical that locks it together into a hard layer. The bunker sand it then spread on top of the layer. Apparently water will still flow down through this layer but stones won't come up the other way.

Has anyone else heard of this or used it and if so what do you reckon?

All the best

[Anthony_Nysse]

Its the Better Billy Bunker method. Expensive, but VERY effective and being used everywhere

http://billybunker.com/

[Ian Andrew]

We have lots of clean clay availble in most cities in Canada and we have to deal with a nasty freeze thaw cycle. It's an old method, but well proven up here. At Lookout Point the clay liners were still in place from 1922. That spoke volumes to me.

I know there is a complication getting clay around Buffalo and OP will use the same method as Jim and Ron at CCB. I'm not as fond of that method because the interface is limited by the soil in the sod (and what the soil composition is too). But sometimes you make do with the best method available.

Up here Fabric never stays in place for long and most "spray" products have not lasted more than a single freeze/thaw cycle. So if you want your bunkers to last, you need to come up with some detail to deal with the bottom and the internal edge.

[Jon Wiggett]

Andrew,

it suprises me that golf clubs spend vast amounts on bunker liners when there is a much cheaper and better method right there in site

Jon

[Ken Kearney]

http://s1232.photobucket.com/user/kenzo700/media/P2170004.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

I have used this method at a club here in Ireland.  Like some have suggested, the problem we had was the migration of stones up through the profile of the sand.  The results are excellent, although we only commenced with the program some three years ago and are just finishing the final few bunkers at the minute.  To dtae, we are very pleased.
We shaped out the bunker floor and surrounds, installled the drainage and the placed a plastic product over the drainage lines, and then turfed the bunker floor with inverted sod up to the plastic product.  I have tried to attach an image to help you understand... hope it works !!!
The results are excellent.. The work was done in-house and everybody is pleased. 
 
Slan go foill,
Ken.

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

FWIW, I tried a bunker with sod a few years ago with mixed results. I wanted to see how it would hold up long term. The bunker I tired it in had a washout issue on one end with a flashed face and the other half was similar to Kens picture below. I found it worked great on the 'flat' side and is still holding up 2-3 years later, however the washout side has failed. Since it was on the driving range I had the luxury of leaving it open for a few months so the sod could root deeply. I'm not exactly sure what happened but the sod on the flashed face is pretty much gone and there is some contamination in that end.

From my (admittedly limited) experience it looks like it works great in flatter bunkers but I'm not sure how well it lasts if it is constantly getting washed out. From the results of my trial and considering the shape of the bunkers here, I couldn't recommend it to the club and have to look at other options.

[JNagle]

Alan -

Sounds like the same bunker we looked at a few years ago.  In that particular instance we have gone to a combination of grass and synthetic liner.  Yes, there is the concern of the freeze/thaw cycle heaving a staple or two, but on bunkers in-play the amount of balls staying on a flashed area is minimal.  All raking on the flashed area would be by hand and therefore not an issue either. 

[Ian Andrew]

A "northern" clingstone experiement at a local private course just failed the freeze/thaw test.
It's all fractured and it will eventually deteriorate into smaller pieces.

BTW, I have a great image of "every" single staple sticking out of a bunker (that had a liner) from a private course in Toronto.
Freeze/thaw up here is more dramatic than people think.

[Charlie Gallagher]

Ron and other responders to this thread,
    Thank's for posting this piece, and thanks to the others who amplified upon it. I am always amazed at the things I learn here. To know that there are multiple effective ways to combat stone migration in bunkers is quite helpful, given that I am a member at two New England clubs. Fascinating to know that there is a method more than 100 years old that works well and equally useful to know that cloth liners are unnecessary.
Always learn something from GCA's legion of thoughtful communicators.

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

Jim

It is the same one we looked at. The addition of the liner looks interesting as it is very similar to your first picture. The sod is definitely working well on the flatter surfaces, so if I get a chance I'll add a piece of matting on the slope and see how it works.

[Ken Kearney]

Hi All,

I am interested to learn why some lay the turf in a "normal" fashion.  We inverted the turf.
Of course, it is always helpful if you can reshape the surrounds of the bunker a little to divert water away from the bunker without interupting the natural run of the ball.  The shaping needs to be "soft"so that it does not look contrived.


KK

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

Ken
my thinking was that it would root, therefore it would grow into a thicker layer and also once it rooted there would be no issue with it shifting etc as it would be one solid piece.

One does need to spray it with Round-up before adding the sand. I wanted to see if the sand would suffocate the grass but it didn't and I had some grass come through in spots...... not a big deal to kill off but it looked bad.

[Shaun Feidt]

A "northern" clingstone experiement at a local private course just failed the freeze/thaw test.
It's all fractured and it will eventually deteriorate into smaller pieces.

BTW, I have a great image of "every" single staple sticking out of a bunker (that had a liner) from a private course in Toronto.
Freeze/thaw up here is more dramatic than people think.

We have the same problem with staples in Pennsylvania, but it is not drastic.  One method I heard mentioned in the past is to use an adhesive called "Liquid Nails".  When the liner is installed, you would cover the top of each nail with the adhessive.  This will then help keep the nail attached to the liner, and prevent it from popping up during freeze thaw periods.  Definately very labor intensive up front, and I do not have any experience with this method.  I am not sure exactly how it would hold up, but it could be a possible solution.

[Craig Sweet]

We used this method on some new bunkers two years ago and are very pleased with the results.  I ran into a old dude who claimed at one time he was the turf guy at Hofstra University...he said they would patch large portions of the football field with sod and use Popsicle sticks as "pins" and they were able to play on it right away.

[Tony Ristola]

Ron Forse goes through various bunker construction methods and their relative cost. Sod method is discussed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hXxIJdfxd0

[Ronald Montesano]

Coincidentally, RF is the restoration contractor for the property mentioned in post #1 of this thread.