Prior to the advent of bunker liners, bunker designs and styles were produced with little regard to maintenance efforts. The result was a wide range of bunker styles, dramatic shapes, and increased severity that created immense maintenance challenges and problems. With the constant pressures of controlling labor costs, all maintenance schedules have become closely scrutinized. Now that bunker maintenance is such a critical concern, facilities are forced to rethink their bunker designs and develop meaningful action plans for their bunkers.
Prior to Sandtrapper, many facilities chose to refine and reshape bunkers. Some alternatives included grassing them in, making them smaller, reducing the severity of slope, or grassing the slopes. Many of these options eliminated or reduced the strategic or aesthetic characteristics of the course. Alternatively, some courses tinkered with various drainage techniques or geotextile fabrics. Neither option produced a completely optimal result.
Ultimately, it is a "Pay Now or Pay Later" proposition. Planning and investing in a bunker design strategy as a part of one's overall Master Plan makes good sense. By strategically addressing bunkers, a facility is able to make proper investments that have the best return, produce a significantly longer life cycle for the bunkers, and minimize the imapact to maintenance.
Over the past 15 to 20 years, architects have slowly and continually increased the use of bunker protection into their designs. Depending on the bunker style and budget parameters, we've seen a range of different implementations. Each option, however, has maintenance reduction in mind.
With the successful adoption of Sandtrapper into the design and build phases of bunker contruction/renovation, facilities now can enjoy the best performance without scacrificing the strategic function of bunkers or the aesthetic character. Most architects now recommend a bunker management product in their designs and Sandtrapper Bunker Liners has become the product of choice for these bunker projects.
Golf Course Architects can now pursue the the best strategies and meaningful designs that make each golf course unique, offering the right balance of risk/reward to the golfer and lower maintenance costs to the facility.