Bunker Liner Options

[John Kavanaugh]

Adam Moeller from the USGA Green Section gave a very nice talk on the various liners at the NJ Turf Expo a few weeks ago - it may be worth contacting him for the benefits/potential issues with the various products.


I've seen and played with most of the liners; After exhaustive research I settled on Blinder from the UK (and ended up having to import & license it in the US). We finally installed it in PA in May of 2015 and it has been performing great.


http://ledgerockgcmaintenance.blogspot.com/2015/06/ledgerocks-new-bunkers.html

It took me some work to find out this isn't asphalt. How much savings did you realize with this method?

[Adam Lawrence]

Adam Moeller from the USGA Green Section gave a very nice talk on the various liners at the NJ Turf Expo a few weeks ago - it may be worth contacting him for the benefits/potential issues with the various products.


I've seen and played with most of the liners; After exhaustive research I settled on Blinder from the UK (and ended up having to import & license it in the US). We finally installed it in PA in May of 2015 and it has been performing great.


http://ledgerockgcmaintenance.blogspot.com/2015/06/ledgerocks-new-bunkers.html

It took me some work to find out this isn't asphalt. How much savings did you realize with this method?

It didn't need to. If you'd asked on here, I, and several others, could have told you

[Jimmy Cavezza]

Reading through the Tacomaturf blog the grass liner seems to do its job early on.  Has anyone maintained and/or renovated bunkers with a grass liner and what challenges did the liner create?

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

Adam Moeller from the USGA Green Section gave a very nice talk on the various liners at the NJ Turf Expo a few weeks ago - it may be worth contacting him for the benefits/potential issues with the various products.


I've seen and played with most of the liners; After exhaustive research I settled on Blinder from the UK (and ended up having to import & license it in the US). We finally installed it in PA in May of 2015 and it has been performing great.


http://ledgerockgcmaintenance.blogspot.com/2015/06/ledgerocks-new-bunkers.html

It took me some work to find out this isn't asphalt. How much savings did you realize with this method?

Sorry for not describing it as rubber. Being familiar with it, I didn't even think to describe it....

Quantifiable savings are hard to calculate as they largely depend on how many damaging storms come through in a summer. The club only did three bunkers last spring so the savings so far are minimal as the remaining bunkers still needed repair after storms. The club is going to work on them over the next few years, so in time it will be easier to see the benefits.

Saying that just to give you an idea of the potential savings. There were not many heavy/large rain events last summer that caused bunker damage. Counting the repairs after snow melt, in 2015 there were probably five occasions where the bunkers needed washout repair. It takes an average 128 hours to put them right and at an average of $10/hr means there was ~$6400 spent on fixing washouts last year. A few summers ago the bunkers were being washed out at an average of twice a week so that number jumped greatly. The bunkers that were rebuilt did not wash out at all, so if all the bunkers were done, that labor would have been saved, or at least directed to where it should have been!

Looking at those numbers it would take a long time to recoup the cost of a bunker renovation however there are other factors also. Once a bunker washes out the sand is contaminated, after numerous washouts the sand no longer plays/performs/looks as it should (even if you try and remove the worst of the contamination). When a liner is used the sand does not get contaminated from washouts and the liners also prevent stones etc coming up from below so the sand can potentially stay good nearly indefinitely. There is a slight potential from contamination from the lip but it is minimal depending on how the lip is built. If the sand doesn't need replacing then regular bunker maintenance is greatly reduced - basically raking and checking sand depth from time to time (which is just a good practice).

The other factor is the bunkers are fully in play after a storm, there is no down time or temporary rules needed.

And to cover a few other items from the thread. I did a trail sod liner about 4-5 years ago. It turned out great. I laid the sod green side up and grew it in as I felt having it knit coupled with the deeper roots would help make it last longer. It performed well but after a few months on the one face that washes out I noticed that the thatch/mat had eroded away and the sand was back on the native soil so the sand got contaminated. The sod/thatch on the floor and other faces performed well and was still there the last time I checked. So I think it works but is largely dependent on the bunker design - I think it can be successful in a bunker like the one shown in the Tacomaturf blog as the faces are minimal and there looks like little potential for water flow into the bunker.

As mentioned in previous threads on here about liners, bunker design and site location will determine if a liner is needed. If the bunkers are designed so water flows away, has small sand face area etc then all that may be required is adequate drainage in the bunker. If the course is built on a native sand soil, which is also used for the bunkers, then a liner may not be required either as the sand won't be contaminated if it washes out.

Depending on the bunker, liners are a great tool to increase the life span of bunkers and reduce maintenance costs while keeping the architectural /aesthetic intent of the bunker intact.

[John Kavanaugh]

Alan,


I was interested in how much you feel you saved using rubber over asphalt. btw: I'm in the asphalt business.

[Ryan Farrow]

Reading through the Tacomaturf blog the grass liner seems to do its job early on.  Has anyone maintained and/or renovated bunkers with a grass liner and what challenges did the liner create?

I have the same questions. This method seems like the most common sense approach but eventually the sod will decompose (entirely) over the course of  2/5/10 years? Stones will still work their way up through the sod and into the sand.






I still cringe when coming across photos and stories of the Billy Bunker installation. I'm sure the math adds up at some clubs, but I don't see how introducing more artificial and expensive construction methods are doing the game of golf any good in the long term. This is not a feasible solution for 99% of the golf courses out there.


I would be more likely to suggest bunker removal (keep the mounding) for clubs that cannot afford to maintain the sand their bunkers.   

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

Alan,


I was interested in how much you feel you saved using rubber over asphalt. btw: I'm in the asphalt business.

John, the rubber is more expensive installed.


For us the advantages of the rubber over the hard liners is worth the extra cost.