Bunker Rejuvenation Part I

For those who are TV sitcom fans you may remember the show "Home Improvement" which aired in the 1990's. In that show the main character played by Tim Allen hosted a TV show called "Tool Time".  It seemed like each week they would feature something new on "Tool Time". For example, Car Week or Wood Week. This week (and probably next) the Fieldstone Agronomy Team is doing "Bunker Week". Last years member's survey clearly stated that bunkers were not up to standard. So we have a plan to bring the bunkers up to standard. In the next few blog posts I will go into detail as to what we are doing to improve the bunkers.

Edging and Sand Distribution

Our first step is to put a real good edge on the bunkers then distribute the sand evenly throughout the bunkers. The edging is done with a half moon like spade. Modeled here by longtime Fieldstone Agronomy Team Member Juan Nunez.

Here is how the edging is done with this tool:

Then the excess material is removed:

Next a separate crew arrives to determine the sand depth in each bunker. Our goal is to have 6 inches in the bottom and 4 inches on the slopes. A snow stake is used to check the depth with a piece of tape used to mark the depth:

The sand is moved around within the bunker to create these depths. Sometimes more sand is needed and is then brought in from our stockpile:

Here's what the final edge looks like:

It's nice clean and straight! In the next few days I will post pictures and describe how we are going to "set-up" the sand for better playability. Also, our method for maintaining the faces of the stacked sod bunkers will be described along with photos.