New Bunkers Rejuvenate Muni

A bunker renovation has brought new life -- and more play -- to a classic Donald Ross course.

"I can see the difference in the business," said Matthew Bunch, general manager and superintendent at the Monroe Country Club in Monroe, N.C. "It's paying off."

The back nine holes of the 18-hole course were designed by legendary architect Donald Ross and built as a semi-private course by the federal government in 1936.

Then later it was part of a park complex that included a swimming pool and clubhouse.

The city took over golf course operations in 1948, changing the name to Monroe Country Club.

An additional nine was built in 1982, with a different design by architect Tom Jackson.

Pea gravel migrated up to mix with the sand from the beginning. The problem grew worse over the years, with bunker faces constantly washing out and drainage problems mounting.

"They needed to be more maintenance-friendly," said Richard Mandell of Richard Mandell of Richard Mandell Golf Architecture in Pinehurst, N.C., who was called in to help make corrections.

Working with a small budget (just $145,000), Mandell developed a more Ross-like look for the Jackson nine and rebuilt 17 of the original Ross bunkers.

Malphrus Construction Co. of Hilton Head won the contract. To Get the original Ross look, a significant amount of finishing work had to be done by hand.

The new bunker bottoms are designed to allow balls to roll to the middle, as Ross intended. The design also improves drainage, with all bunkers getting new four-inch corrugated drainage pipe.

Faces of the new bunkers are grass bulged in a convex pattern, with little sand flashed up on the face. They are wide enough to accommodate the course's Sand-Pro bunker grooming machine.

Mandell increased the total number of bunkers on the front nine from 14 to 22, including four new fairway bunkers on one hole and three on another. The design improves the strategic merit of the course, Bunch said.

"It makes you think about your shots before you execute them, not just hit the ball as hard as you can as far as you can," he said.

Mandell also designed several more bunkers, which may be added later as funds become available.

The project started April 1. Eighteen days of rain during the 45-day construction period for the front nine slowed things down. It finished June 1.

The Ross nine renovation began Aug. 1 and was completed Sept. 15.

Mandell was able to recover the original Ross plans from the Tufts Archives in Pinehurst, as well as U.S. Department of Agriculture aerial photos from 1938 and 1960. By overlaying them, he found that the bunkers had been constructed to Ross' specifications, but the greens were much smaller.

"The bunkers were so accurate, built in the right size at the right places, that it must have been built to the conceptual plan rather than the master plan," said Mandell. He conclude that Ross probably visited the site only once or twice.

The renovation has helped Monroe stay competitive with ither golf courses that have been built in recent years. The course sees around 40,000 rounds annually, a number that Bunch is comfortable with. Rounds have been as high as 50,000 in the past.

So what's the secret to a bunker renovation project?

"Plan for the worst and hope for the best," he said. "Bite the bullet and it will pay dividends."

Originally featured in the March 2004 issue of Golf Inc magazine.