By Design – Issue 52, Spring 2021

24 Less is more ASGCA DESIGN EXCELLENCE WHITE EAGLE GOLF CLUB I n 2019, the 27-hole White Eagle Golf Club in Naperville, Illinois, turned to golf course architect Todd Quitno, ASGCA, to complete a bunker renovation on all three of its nine-hole loops. The project was needed because many bunkers were in poor condition, while others were outdated for the modern game due to their positioning being based on 1990s ball flight data. Prior to the renovation, the club told Quitno that the bunkers were cumbersome for staff to maintain and had been contaminated with years of washouts and storm damage. Others were so big that they often extended into areas where balls simply never went, meaning the club was maintaining a lot of sand area that never came into play. Between May and October 2019, Quitno oversaw a renovation that reduced the bunker areas over 27 holes by more than half to less than 80,000 square feet, and equipped them with Better Billy Bunker liner and Pro/Angle sand. “The club wanted a clean-edged, high-flash look of the bunkering,” said Quitno. “Bunkers were cut in immediately off the edge of the green collars and fairway edges. “We added rolling contours within the bunker bottoms and faces to give them a little character and to provide some distinct shadowing when sun angles are right. I love the final look of what we did, it is unique Bunker areas have been reduced by more than 80,000 square feet at 27-hole Illinois club. Photo: White Eagle Golf Club Bunkers at White Eagle now feature a clean-edged, high-flash look