By Design – Issue 53, Summer 2021

21 Photo: Kevin Norby, ASGCA Jersey, has also completed a project to reduce its sand areas. Undertaken prior to the pandemic, the club wanted to address issues relating to drainage, contaminated sand and deteriorated edges and faces. The club turned to Drew Rogers for help. “The bunkers were 20 years old and had never been reconstructed or renovated,” he says. “They were in pretty poor shape and the club was in dire need of a solution to address their management challenges as well as the poor playability and conditions that the golfers had to endure.” Rogers’ plan saw the number of bunkers reduced from 46 to 29. “Redundant bunkers were eliminated, grassy hollows and uneven ground features were employed, excessively large bunkers were reduced in size, green entries were opened up and specific bunker placements were adjusted,” he says. “The bunkers were reconstructed to ease management as well as improve playability, using Better Billy Bunker lining system and a high-quality sand and turf type tall fescue grass surrounds.” At Teton Pines Country Club & Resort in Jackson, Wyoming, a renovation by Thad Layton of Arnold Palmer Design Company includes work to reduce sand areas. “The catalyst for the project was the bunkers. The liners were 10 years old and starting to breach the sand surface,” says Layton. “Adding a new, heavy-duty liner evolved into a conversation about bunker styles, purpose, locations, sizes and maintenance. The plan calls for an overall reduction of 25 percent of the sand area, which should create more avenues for play and a more interesting golf experience.” Layton also took a more simplified approach to sand areas for his 2018 renovation of The Saticoy Club in California. “The focus was on bunker shifting and reduction while adding short grass to create strategy and variety,” says shaper Brett Hochstein, who worked with Layton at both The Saticoy and Teton Pines. “Both projects have a stylistic response to history, context and the surrounding landscape – The Saticoy plays off the hilly topography Kevin Norby, ASGCA, has reduced the bunker square footage at The Meadows Golf Club by nearly 50 percent “ We experienced an average of a 45-minute decrease in pace of play for 18 holes last season”