The Golfdom Files: What bunkers are really for

This month, we head back to the February 1969 issue of Golfdom to learn about the top bunker-building techniques of the day. Camargo Club Superintendent Don Wright lends some insight into his process for building and ensuring bunkers are built for success.

Building sand bunkers

By Don Wright, Superintendent, Camargo Club, Cincinnati

Contrary to popular belief, the primary purpose of a sand bunker is not to trap the golfer’s ball. And secondly, it is not placed in a location to penalize the player.   

It is there to (1) show the player the way the golf course architect wanted the hole to be played; (2) help define dog-legs; (3) give a perspective of the fairway in relation to the bunker; (4) frame out greens and give them depth, and (5) add to the aesthetics of the course. 

With these five points in mind, let’s construct a sand bunker. 

By having the floor of the bunker at least 12 inches above the fairway grade at its lowest point and the remainder of the floor at an elevation of 1 foot to 5 feet to 1 foot to 10 feet above the lowest point of the bunker surface, drainage is possible. This is called facing the bunker and allows it to be seen from the hitting area. Another reason for surface drainage is that when it rains very hard in a short period of time, the subsurface drainage doesn’t take all the rain away. 

Subsurface drainage is the key to good bunker drainage and will greatly improve playing conditions if done properly. First, shape the floor of the bunker to drain towards the lowest elevation of the bunker. Then dig a ditch 8 inches by 12 inches at the highest part of the lowest elevation of the bunker. Run the ditch so that it falls all the way toward the area you want the bunker to drain. 

Fill the bottom of the ditch 4 inches deep with gravel (1/4-inch to 1-inch size). The gravel should be top-grade. Then place PVC tile or drain tile in the bed of rock, making sure that there are 2 inches on each side of tile. Place gravel on top and each side of tile up to the floor of the bunker and to the ground elevation outside the bunker.

Do not cover with any kind of soil. Seed or sod the ditch and let it cover by itself. It is then ready for loose sand at a minimum depth of 8 inches. Finally, when placing sand in the bunker, be careful not to run a truck over the tile.