Bunker Lining Work

[brfcfan]

Having spoken to a friend of mine at the weekend, their course has just trialled a rubberized bunker lining that prevents sand being washed away and significantly improves drainage. Has anyone had experience of such a system at their course and what were the results?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Think Caversham Heath redid all their bunkers a few years back with rubber from old tyres. It was supposed to create a permeable lining and stop sand washing away and stones coming through. I am led to believe, it wasn't a great success although I don't know why. There were definitely a lot of stones in the bunkers when we played there in the summer

 

[Wabinez]

Rubber isn’t a great liner really....one, it’s not good for the environment for one, and can perish.

We have capillary concrete under ours and it’s superb. Bunkers are amazing.

 

[upsidedown]

We are going to install in 3 bunkers in Feb with this system. Handsworth and Olton in the Midlands have them done . Very friendly for the environment as you are recycling old lorry tyres . Chose that system as didn't fancy going through the sand onto concrete ( in the unlikely event of low/no sand )

 

[Roops]

We trialled the same at our course. We are having it removed and replaced with a fabric membrane. The crumb has proven to be a failure for us. It doesn't have any adhesion so if it is run up the sides of the bunker, the sand falls away from the crumb and then you start making contact with it when trying to play a bunker shot. The same happens at the bottom of the bunker if the sand gets a little low. The Fabric membrane is more like a firm but flexible cloth, we trialled this in one of our bunkers and it has proved to be a far better solution. Our course is clay based which does have a bearing, but crumb wasn't for us.

 

[patricks148]

i think they use a fabric menbrain in our reveted bunkers, not sure about the new waste area type, not seen any of those finished off as yet

 

[Cobbslane]

Might not be exactly the same but have a look at this..
http://topsport.co.uk/portfolio-item/chart_hills_anaconda_bunker/

 

[clubchamp98]

We trialled the same at our course. We are having it removed and replaced with a fabric membrane. The crumb has proven to be a failure for us. It doesn't have any adhesion so if it is run up the sides of the bunker, the sand falls away from the crumb and then you start making contact with it when trying to play a bunker shot. The same happens at the bottom of the bunker if the sand gets a little low. The Fabric membrane is more like a firm but flexible cloth, we trialled this in one of our bunkers and it has proved to be a far better solution. Our course is clay based which does have a bearing, but crumb wasn't for us.

Everyone of our bunkers has a fabric membrane.
They are a disaster you can’t play a proper bunker shot as you hit the lining and the bounce on the club shoots the ball out.
You can never tell how much sand is on top of the lining and playing consistently is a joke ,every bunker plays differently.
I am (WAS) quite a good bunker player ,but am just happy to get out now.
We had one lad tore the lining with his SW and broke his wrist.
They are the biggest thing complained about and really let the course down.
They have stopped the stones ,so not all crap.

 

[TreeSeeker]

Everyone of our bunkers has a fabric membrane.
They are a disaster you can’t play a proper bunker shot as you hit the lining and the bounce on the club shoots the ball out.
You can never tell how much sand is on top of the lining and playing consistently is a joke ,every bunker plays differently.
I am (WAS) quite a good bunker player ,but am just happy to get out now.
We had one lad tore the lining with his SW and broke his wrist.
They are the biggest thing complained about and really let the course down.
They have stopped the stones ,so not all crap.

exactly this at my course, they've redone a few, but its been really hit and miss, some of them there are spots where you may only have 1/2 an inch of sand under the ball, so if you get a "fried egg" you've actual just got a shot off a matt. started to work out when there is and isn't sand under the ball, but still a good few shots where i've found the bottom bounced up and got 50-60 yards instead of 10.

 

[Roops]

We found the "club bounce" issue much more of a problem with the rubber crumb. The fabric has proven to be almost indestructible (we had it fitted to a test area and had people thrash it mercilessly with a variety of wedges, it survived intact). The one bunker that has been done is perfect to play out of. I think a lot of clubs go down this route and think that they now have perfect bunkers that require little maintenance. To me, whatever you do, if you want good bunkers, they have to be maintained daily, without fail.

 

[clubchamp98]

We found the "club bounce" issue much more of a problem with the rubber crumb. The fabric has proven to be almost indestructible (we had it fitted to a test area and had people thrash it mercilessly with a variety of wedges, it survived intact). The one bunker that has been done is perfect to play out of. I think a lot of clubs go down this route and think that they now have perfect bunkers that require little maintenance. To me, whatever you do, if you want good bunkers, they have to be maintained daily, without fail.

Yes I agree .
The biggest problem with our bunkers is there is not enough sand in them, so the lining is within striking distance of the club.
The worst aspect is we are guessing if we will hit the lining or not, so it affects the way you play the shot as you have to assume you will.
The club assumed the linings would save money on sand but it’s not correct the sand still needs to be topped up to a level that lets you play a splash shot without hitting the lining.
On some bunker faces slopes you can see the fibres sticking out of the sand that’s very off putting as you know you will hit the lining.

Go to the range and try playing a bunker shot 2” behind the ball of a mat it’s a thin at best.