[Andrew Summerell]

I was interested to know if there was much written (Newspapers, Club Histories, Letters, etc.) about Sod-Faced bunkers when they were first built? What thoughts did golfers of that time have regarding them?

Were other methods of building bunkers experimented with?

Thanks,

Andrew

[Tommy Williamsen]

Here is a different kind of sod-face bunker.  This is at Woodhall Spa. As you can see they lay the sod vertically instead of horizontally as in a revetted bunker. It is my understanding that they have been building them that way since the course was first built 100 years ago.



Here is one of the more famous bunkers.  It is the gigantic sleepered fourth at Royal North Devon. I think it came into being when Fowler did a redesign 100 years ago.



I can't comment on how song revetted bunkers have been built but would guess they predate these two examples by a lot.

[Andrew Summerell]

Thanks Tommy, I've played both of those courses & I think you are correct in saying that revetted bunkers pre-date those two.

Interestingly, we have a few courses with the bunkering style of Woodhall Spa in Australia, but our grass types & growing conditions don't really suit that bunker style as well as Woodhall Spa.

[David_Tepper]

Andrew -

You might want to track down a copy of "Bunkers, Pits and Other Hazards," a book by GCA-ers Mark Fine and Forrest Richardson. It likely contains more info about bunkers than you might ever want to know.

I have been told, by someone who knows far more than I, that sod-faced bunkers did not become the norm or the dominate bunker-style on links courses in GB&I until after World War I. That is not to say they did not exist or were not used before WWI.

DT   

[Melvyn Morrow]

Tommy

The same Cape Bunker from pre 1897. The photo was taken from the book British Golf Links published in 1897 showing the development of the same bunker.





As for the sod wall bunkers, this was discussed some months ago and the photo again from the same book shown TOC Hell Bunker with sod walls. The sod or riveted bunkers seem to have been a feature of Fife Golf in the 19th Century. I believe it may have had something to do with golfers walking up the loose sand and the sods help maintain the deep face. You may note by the photo of Hell Bunker that only the front side has been reinforced in this manner.

Melvyn

[Andrew Summerell]

Melvyn, thank you for the pictures.

I was interested to know whether there was ever much discussion (writings, letters, etc.) in the 19th century on the virtues, pro or cons of sod-wall bunkers. You mentioned that they stopped golfers walking up the face, but did any course/club ever make a conscious decision to convert some or all of their bunkers to sod-wall.

Did anyone like Allan Robertson or Old Tom have any thoughts on the subject that may have been written down?

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()