An Interview with Golf Course Architect Kevin Norby

Kevin, what can you tell us about golf course bunker designs?

The placement and the use of bunkers is probably one of the most important considerations in designing a golf course. This helps define the landing areas , it makes for a visually interesting golf course ... in many cases it’s what makes the course strategically challenging.

There are a variety of styles of bunkers. On a public daily fee golf course, you would probably find less bunkers than you would on a private or a destination golf course. The capes might not be as dramatic and therefore they might be less challenging to play out of and also a little bit easier to take care of.

What do you mean when you say the “cape” of the bunker?

The cape refers to the crown of grass that comes over the top of the bunker, the mound on the back side of the bunker that adds some elevation change. If those capes are very steep and dramatic, they are probably a little more difficult to maintain. This could mean be a little more manual labour, raking of the sand and some hand mowing.

I think that that people seem to remember and enjoy the most are the ones where they can see everything unfold in front of them. They can see all the bunkers; they can see the water hazards and the wetlands. You want to be able to see the hole when you’re preparing to hit your shot so you can make an informed decision on how to play the hole.

Typically we would not put bunkers behind a green where they can’t be seen. However, there are times where we might propose a “catch” bunker or a “savior” bunker in that location. If for instance there is water behind the green, we may put a bunker behind the green to gather a shot that trickled off the green, rather than penalize a player with a full one stroke penalty for going off the edge.

As a golf course designer, we are typically using bunkers to frame the holes and define the landing area. Those types of bunkers can be a cross bunker, which we put in the fairway to provide direction. If it happens to be a carry bunker, you can get a little kick off the backside of the bunker if you can carry it with your shot. This is the risk reward aspect of design.

Depending on where you are in the country, there is some very good local bunker sands. The United States Golf Association has a standard of what they consider is a good sand. They recommends a hard, silica sand in bunkers sinceit will resist weathering and retain it's original shape longer.

To some degree it depends on your maintenance budget. A little bit coarser sand with some particles that are a little bit angular rather than round, will set up so that the ball doesn’t plug or get buried.

You can irrigate your bunkers if you have the budget to do that, to keep them a little bit firmer and more consistent.

Color choice of sand is also a consideration. In the Midwest, we tend to have sands that are a light brown in color. In the southeast and throughout much of Arkansas and Ohio the sands are quite light in color.

To some degree, which sand we choose is a function of playability and budget. It is up to the owners whether they want a dark or a light sand and whether they want to spend the money for it. You can spend $13 to $15 for a good local sand or you can spend over $100 a ton for a premium white sand that’s imported. You may or may not like the way soft sand plays.

How do you overcome the problems of inconsistent bunkers?

If you’re starting with a new golf course and you’re bringing in the same sand, you can easily make sure that the depth of your bunkers is consistent.

The problem that we often see is when over the years, some of the bunkers may have had sand added or removed or replaced so there can be a considerable problem with consistency from bunker to bunker. You’re dealing with a variety of sands and depths.

The capes of the bunkers often have eroded over time and some of the soil from the edges of the bunkers have worked their way down into the sand and contaminated the sand. Once this happens, the sand becomes very firm.

If a bunker is not draining properly, they have probably long since been contaminated and are probably in needing of being rebuilt. Sometimes we find bunkers never had proper drainage installed.

What are the kinds of things you can do for a golf course that has inconsistent sand in their bunkers?

Often the golf course owner or golf committee will look at bunkers more from the standpoint of how important they are visually to the golf course. We try to help them understand that removing the sand and completely rebuilding the bunker with new drainage, new sand, new edges and new capes is really the best way to go about fixing bunker problems.

Fixing a damanged or inconsistent bunker not just a matter of adding new sand or removing the old sand. You probably have to go and completely renovate the bunker, make sure that water is draining away from the bunker, make sure that drainage is working properly in the bottom of the bunker. Then you want to go in and re-shape the bunker and put in new sand.

Golf Course Bunker Repair is a process of educating people to understand why they have to do a little more work than what they were anticipating. The golf course superintendent generally seems to understand these problems a little better because they’re in there working on the bunkers and recognize that the solution is more complicated than just replacing the sand.

To create consistent bunkers, do you have to do all of the bunkers at the same time or is there another way to solve this problem?

The only way to get all the bunkers to play with consistency is to insure that they all have the same type of sand and the same amount of sand. You can do them a few at a time by starting with the worst ones but eventually you’ll end up doing them all. What we generally propose is completing a hole by hole analysis of the golf course and then developing a phasing strategy for completing the improvements. This can be a part of a golf course master plan.

How can people reach you for a consultation about their golf course or if they are considering hiring a golf course Architect?

They can call me directly at 952-361-0644 or I can be reached at by email at golfnorby@earthlink.net.

If you would like to see the complete article or listen to the audio interview, visit Golf Course Bunker Sand

Copyright 2007, Kevin Norby, Herfort-Norby Golf Course Designers