Bunkers at Cork Golf Club

[Padraig Dooley]

The bunker remodel was finished last week at Cork GC, architect was Marc Westenborg of Hawtree Ltd. The construction company was DAR golf. Following are some nice before and after pictures.

1st






3rd





12th









14th





A bit more mounding on the back of the bunkers, any ideas on easier maintenance?



15th






17th

[Kalen Braley]

Perhaps I'm unrefined, but i like the before pics better. 

IMO, the newer ones look more artificial than the older ones.

[Neil_Crafter]

Padraig
Thanks for these. A couple of questions if you don't mind.
Was the bunker style sold by Hawtree to the club as being a Mackenzie style?
Was their any historical evidence of the bunkers at Cork ever looking like this?
Thanks
Neil

[Padraig Dooley]

Padraig
Thanks for these. A couple of questions if you don't mind.
Was the bunker style sold by Hawtree to the club as being a Mackenzie style?
Was their any historical evidence of the bunkers at Cork ever looking like this?
Thanks
Neil

The main purpose behind the bunker style was to make them more visible.

The bunkers after MacKenzie's visits were visible but simpler shapes. The bunkers were sodded in the 80's and lost their visibility.

[Robert Thompson]

Very similar to what Hawtree did at Toronto Golf Club, which is a Colt course that had quite simple bunkering. The more elaborate style appeals to some, though I'm not entirely convinced -- and it has nothing to do with what was at the club before. I actually don't think -- from the limited amount I've seen -- that Hawtree's firm does restoration. They seem to do something akin to a historical reconception -- at Toronto he did what he "thought" Colt would have done had he been there later in his career. It is an interesting idea, but it also is not restoration.

[Bill_McBride]

Most importantly -- what do the members think of the new bunker style?

[James Bennett]

it appears to be a pubescent version of 'tits and bums' bunkering.  Not a full-blown adult version but still 'tits and bums'.

James B

[Malcolm Mckinnon]

While the old bunkering appears somewhat dull did the new bunkering add strategy or is it the same as before?

To my eye the new bunkers do not look natural, not my cup of tea. I agree with Bill McBride however, if the members are pleased, so be it.

Where did they get that white, white sand?

[Neil_Crafter]

Thanks for that Padraig

A similar historical "reinterpetation" was done at Titirangi in New Zealand, which now has ragged edged bunkers that Mackenzie did not use in Australia and NZ in 1926/27, but rather later on in the US.

Personally I'm not too enamoured with it and the fussy mounding looks out of place and scale with the much broader slopes of the course landform.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

I wish I could say I like the style, but I don't. They all look very similar. Are there any that exhibit some individuality and deviate from the cookie cutter style? It's all very clumpy and wavey.

I think what displeases my eye is the center tongue that runs down (or even below fairway level?) into the bunker and gives the impression that there are two small bunkers instead of one larger one. The bunkers on the 3rd look more appealing to me; perhaps it's because I can see more sand. Was that photo taken from closer range?

[Colin Sheehan]

Those "before" bunkers were classicly simple and elegant and maintained a certain understated quality found at many of the century-old layouts around Britain and Ireland. I haven't seen such horrible work in a while. Perhaps that's what the members want, or they were convinced they needed to become modern. Who knows, but I feel bad Hawtree would impose such a forced style.

[Kirk Gill]

I'm trying to look at the new bunkers as if I never had a chance to see the old ones - and they still don't seem to "fit." Of course, they're new, and so time will perhaps soften the clear demarcation between the bunkers and the rest of the course. I've tried to find the proper adjective to describe the look of those bunkers, and all I can come up with is.......spidery.

[Rory Connaughton]

The old bunkers remind me quite a bit of Mullingar.  I would really like to see the new ones in person before making a judgment.
At least from the photos, the green side bunkers look like a better fit than the fairways but I suspect that we are losing something by not seeing these in three dimensions.

[Padraig Dooley]

While the old bunkering appears somewhat dull did the new bunkering add strategy or is it the same as before?

To my eye the new bunkers do not look natural, not my cup of tea. I agree with Bill McBride however, if the members are pleased, so be it.

Where did they get that white, white sand?

Malcolm, there was 52 bunkers last year we now have 54, 16 old ones were taken out, 18 new bunkers were added in. Strategy has been added, when some of the new positioning is being moaned about it's a sign that strategy has been added. Also some people are surprised when it's mentioned that the total numbers of bunkers has only increased by 2, which indicates increased strategy as well.

The white sand came from Wicklow just south of Dublin.

As to whether members are pleased, like all projects some are some aren't.

 

[Padraig Dooley]

The old bunkers remind me quite a bit of Mullingar.  I would really like to see the new ones in person before making a judgment.
At least from the photos, the green side bunkers look like a better fit than the fairways but I suspect that we are losing something by not seeing these in three dimensions.

Rory

From the tee to green view the bunkers fit quite well to my eye. From green to tee the mounding doesn't fit as well, to a certain degree form followed function, if the bunkers were to be visible the height needed to be raised.

As for styling questions it's a difficult answer, I'm sure all architects struggle with it, which suits better simple or elaborate? That debate will continue for a long time.

[Kalen Braley]

I think Donal hit it closest to why they seem "off" to me.  And it has nothing to do with thier placement, I actually think the "where" they are is quite good.

Its the size and shape of em thats of-putting, namely they are all more or less the same size and shape.  If he left em in thier same location and made some big ones, medium size ones, maybe a few bitty ones they would go down much smoother I'm guessing.

[Tim Pitner]

I too don't want to judge the work too harshly without seeing it in person, but my impression from these photos is not positive.  The wavy look doesn't seem to mesh well with the land.  At first glance, I'm hard-pressed to come up with what the architect was thinking.  And Cork is often the one inland course in Ireland that people regard as a must-see (no disrespect intended to Malone, Belvoir Park, etc.).  I hope the passage of time will do some good. 

[Dick Kirkpatrick]

I agree with Robert Thompson on this one. The new bunkering at Cork looks very similar to Toronto.

The bunkers on both courses look more like Mac or ST than Colt.

Perhaps the spirit of Mac is walking around Cork influencing "restoration?"

[Brad Fleischer]

These pics just brought a tear to me eye . In a bad way . My opinion and my humble means nothing opinion they are awful FOR that golf course. Granted it's just pictures and it might look better on the ground but to me they so do not fit the place or the location.

Brad

[Rory Connaughton]

Dirk

  Isn't Mac the architect of record?

[Alex Miller]

They look like Simgolf bunkers now.

I'm sure they'll get better as time goes on and I also bet they look better in person, but I too prefer the ones before. Question: Does the mounding around the bunkers make cutting the grass to fairway length more difficult, and is there more rough between sand and fairway now than before?

[Dick Kirkpatrick]

Rory:

My mistake, when I looked at the pictures of the original bunkers I thought they looked like Colt's with the grass banks and little flashing, so I just went down the wrong track.

Now I know the spirit of Mac made sure of the restoration. LOL

But they still look almost identical to Toronto which is a Colt course, so the same style of flashing and repeticious small bunkers prevail at both places.

[Gary Slatter]

Perhaps I'm unrefined, but i like the before pics better. 

IMO, the newer ones look more artificial than the older ones.

I also prefer the before pictures in most cases.  During last week's PGA Tour event in Texas, the bunker style also looked out of place, in my opinion.

[Duane Sharpe]

I know I don't post too much on here but as a superintendent, I have chime in to say these bunkers would be very difficult to maintain!  I also do not like the look.
Thanks for posting though. It is easy to appreciate bunkers that are really well done on GCS after seeing these pics.

[Greg Chambers]

You asked about the maintenance on the bunkers, whether the new ones are easier to maintain.  The simple answer is absolutely not.  The mounding will require hand mowing, and the white sand will require constant attention, including constantly adding, to keep the sand white.  The maintenance actually looks jarring.

So does the white sand.  EEEEE gaaaaadz.