Artificial bunker edges provide a long lasting and low maintenance alternative to the natural and more traditional bunker edge. The revetted edge shown is made up of layers of recycled synthetic turf which provides a stable shape, and easily maintained bunker face with the aesthetics of a revetted face, without the added maintenance of natural turf. The synthetic edge requires little edging, a trim with sheers to keep tidy we have found to be sufficient in our first year of working with the newly installed edge.  As the traditional styles of maintaining the bunker edge are reduced and no longer require a regular edging iron to keep the shape of the bunker, we also reduce the cross-contamination risk within the sand profile of the bunker ensuring high quality playing conditions.

Photo 1 .. installation of artificial bunker edge

Installation of an artificial bunker edge is fairly straight forward, once the edging and shape has been done, base layer of the bunker finished, we then lay the synthetic turf in steps to provide the aesthetics of the revetted edge and backfilled with a sand and dry concrete mix to complete the final shape of the bunker. Once installed and turfed it is essential to maintain moisture levels within the turf of the bunker edge as we found through the summer and hot spells with the backfill of sand and concrete it was these areas which were most likely to suffer from the heat and dry out. Routinely hitting these edges with extra hand watering and some wetting agent will help with establishing the turf. The main areas we found to suffer were the steeper edges of the face and so these will be returfed and filled with extra soil to provide better moisture retention for the future.

 

 

 

Photo 2 .. finished bunker

 

 

 

 

Article by: Shaun Kernaghan (Deputy Course Manager).