Dig Deep Enough and You Will Discover...

The bunkers have been a hot topic during my tenure here at Arrowhead Country Club.  It is gratifying to know that when I first arrived, the directive from the Green committee was to:  "Make it through the summer with the greens."  Now we spend a majority of our discussions on what in the golf world is considered, a hazard.  At the risk of deviating from the post, I would like to focus on bunker drainage.  As many of you can attest, the bunkers do not drain well after a weather event.  

After searching the archives, I found that the bunkers here at ACC were renovated in 2000 by an outside contractor.  That contractor was said to have installed "drainage" in numerous bunkers.  The bunkers on Hole #2 are included in that list and as you know, do not drain correctly.  After years of experience in construction, here are a few things I found fault with:

1.  The pipe selection.  The pipe installed was primarily developed for leach bed applications, not golf course drainage.  The pipe utilized could be purchased at any local hardware dealer and consists of a series of dual holes located on the bottom portion of a polyethylene shell.  N-12 would have been the correct application.  N-12 is a world standard, double walled, perforated, corrugated polyethylene drainage pipe with a smooth walled interior.  It is rigid enough to handle the weight of traffic and is more more accepting of water with the design.

2.  The trench width.  The trench was cut 6" wide to bed a pipe 4" in diameter.  This leaves very little room for error or gravel installation on each side of the pipe.  A minimum 8" trench should have been cut to allow for 2" of gravel on each side in conjunction with 2" below and above the pipe.

3.  The low point.  Drainage should be trenched into the lowest point of any bunker floor.  This point should be located where the sub-floor collects.

4.  Sand Quality.  If poor quality sand (containing high silt/clay percentages) is present, the drain will fail regardless of depth of sand and installation practices.

Pipe Utilized

N-12 Pipe