TURF TALK
By Chris Hartwiger and Patrick O’Brien, USGA Green Section
T
he topic of bunkers has been on the minds of many golfers these days. Even though construction techniques have never been better and the intensity of maintenance has never been higher, I’m not sure the overall level of satisfaction is higher. If I were king for a day, or at least if I were in charge of a golf club with a rising tide of dissatisfaction among members aimed at the bunkers, this is what I would do…
D
Dear Members of Thick Woods CC, It has come to my attention that there is a growing undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the condition of the bunkers on our golf course. The course officials and staff are getting bombarded with complaints about the bunkers being too wet, too dry, inconsistent sand depths, and having the wrong color sand. We have studied these comments and can only conclude that almost all of them are specific to that person’s game. For some reason, golfers at our club are more likely to blame the condition of the bunkers as the primary reason they are not getting up and down as often as they believe they should. On the contrary, apparently there is nothing wrong with a bunker when a golfer hits a bunker shot and has a tap-in for par. I have come to the conclusion that (1) our members are not sure what a bunker is or how it should be maintained, (2) golfers do not practice bunker shots, and (3) most are not fitted with the proper equipment to be reasonably proficient in hitting bunker shots. We asked the golf shop how many bunker lessons have been given in the last year. The answer was zero because our course does not have a practice bunker. We asked the golf shop how many of our members have sought advice for what type of sand wedge is best for our specific sand. Again, the answer was zero. Outlined below is a multi-step solution that is much less expensive to the club than the
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TENNESSEE TURFGRASS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2005
Email TTA at: tnturfgrassassn@aol.com