Sod used to drain a bunker

[Jerry Kluger]

I went to Wisconsin a few months back and played Lawsonia and discussed their new bunkers with their head professional.  He said they had done the rebuild in house and their method was to dig out the bunker and then lay some sod in the bottom of the bunker and kill the grass. They would then put the sand in on top of the sod and they said that the sod would absorb the water which came through the sand. Is anyone familiar with this method of rebuilding bunkers and has it been successful?

[Jeff Schley]

I know this has been used, with inverting the sod with green down to kill the grass and avoid any grass growing through. 

[Anthony_Nysse]

I went to Wisconsin a few months back and played Lawsonia and discussed their new bunkers with their head professional.  He said they had done the rebuild in house and their method was to dig out the bunker and then lay some sod in the bottom of the bunker and kill the grass. They would then put the sand in on top of the sod and they said that the sod would absorb the water which came through the sand. Is anyone familiar with this method of rebuilding bunkers and has it been successful?

http://www.tacomaturf.net/2012/05/i-cant-find-words.html


http://www.tacomaturf.net/2012/05/bunkers-and-teeways-lookn-good.html

[Jeff_Mingay]

The sod has nothing to do with drainage, or absorbing water. It's a liner in the cavity that serves as barrier between the native soil and the bunker sand to prevent the latter from getting contaminated with stones, rocks and other soil.


We've used this method to great effect, particularly throughout the Pacific Northwest; similar to what's also been done at Tacoma, linked above.

[Rob Marshall]

What we did at my club.

[Mark_Fine]

Jeff answered before I could. We have used this technique often and it is effective.  Personally I don’t like liners and only use them when absolutely necessary but sod is a cost effective option when budget is a concern. 

[Thomas Dai]

Laying turf in the base of bunkers has been pretty standard practice at UK parkland courses or courses where stones are likely to ride up and 'contaminate' the bunkers forever. The debate often seems to be grass side down or grass side up but killed-off but let's not go there! Turf can be harvested on-site.
atb