Super’ s Corner ►
Bunkers
Love `Em, Hate `Em
by Jacob Rockhold, superintendent
The dreaded sand traps( bunkers) can be a headache for all of us. Golfers hate hitting into them and often hate hitting out of them even more. Golf course maintenance crews hate constantly raking, mowing, and repairing them. Bunkers can slow play, add strokes to a player’ s game, and cost more to maintain than most golfers realize. Given all the animosity, why do courses even have them? and each requires a different amount of labor. Machines such as new riding bunker rakes can cost between $ 15,000 and $ 25,000. Other hand tools are also required to maintain bunkers, such as shovels and rakes. The bunker rakes golfers find around bunkers( though they rarely use them) can cost between $ 15 and $ 25 per rake. Courses with 18 holes are known to have 200 to 400 bunker rakes. River-based sand can be inexpensive, but the scenic, pure-white sands, often manufactured and ground from various materials, can be very expensive.
I’ m sure you’ ve noticed that all bunker sand types can become contaminated with silt or soil, which compacts and discolors— yuk! White sand is more prone to contamination. Superintendents often replace bunker sand every 7-10 years, regardless of color or cost.
Links courses in Scotland where usually built or played along the coastline or in low lying areas. As coastal sand blew across the course, it collected in low areas and eventually were adopted as“ hazards” where you play it as it lies. Yikes!
Bunkers were not necessarily part of the original design of the first golf courses. Links courses in Scotland were usually built or played along the coastline or in low-lying areas. As coastal sand blew across the course, it collected in low areas, and those areas were eventually designated as“ hazards” that golfers were forced to play from. In those days, sheep grazed courses to trim the grass. When the sheep sought shelter from the weather and wind, they often burrowed into low-lying areas on the course, eventually wearing them down to the native sandy soil. As golf became more popular, sand traps were incorporated into course designs. They eventually came to be called“ bunkers” because of the similarity in depth to bunkers soldiers used during warfare.
Few golfers know or think about the costs associated with maintaining sand bunkers today. Costs include machines, tools, sand, drainage, liners, fuel, and extensive labor. Every bunker is different,
Believe it or not, good bunker drainage is important because players want to play quickly after rainstorms. Superintendents strive for consistent conditions: dry sand and well-draining bunkers. However, bunker drainage often clogs, requiring constant repairs. The liners beneath the sand have become increasingly necessary to improve drainage and hold the sand in place on large slopes or faces. Over time, liners fail and deteriorate, requiring repair or replacement.
And then there is the labor, a mandatory requirement to maintain every bunker. Bunkers require weeding, raking, trimming, repairing, designing, and installing. Maybe robots will be added to help with bunkers in the future, at a steep cost.
14 JUNE 2026 TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE