Hermitage Golf Club renovates all its bunkers

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Hermitage Golf Club, Dublin, rich in history, is regarded as one of Ireland’s finest parkland courses, and now even more so following a recent bunker renovation.

All of the club’s 56 bunkers were edged with Durabunker’s synthetic bunker edging with the Irish-based arm of Golf Course Architecture firm (re)Golf carrying out the redesign.

“From the club’s point of view it was a maintenance issue that saw the conversation turn towards the possible use of an artificial turf,” Paul O’Brien of (re)Golf explained, “the club just weren’t getting the standard of bunker they wanted or expected.”

One of the key design decisions was to use Durabunker edging to create a crisp, defined edge, varying in height from approximately six inches through to approximately 18 inches, giving the feel of the classic sand-belt courses, such as Sunningdale and Walton Heath.

Rhydian Lewis, owner at Durabunker commented: “Permanent bunker edging safeguards design, meaning hazards will look the same in 20 years time as they did on day one. Greenkeepers love the idea that they have a fixed, low maintenance bunker edge, resting easy in the knowledge that sand areas won’t grow and turn into eyesores.”

Reducing the sand area was very much a design objective for (re)Golf Design at Hermitage GC, the overall sand area being reduced from 4,706 metres squared to 2,811 metres squared, a reduction of approximately 40 percent.

Lewis concluded: ”A reduced sand footprint represents a huge saving both in terms of cost and maintenance. Installation of a seamless liner; at Hermitage GC it was SportsBond, DAR Golf’s own bunker liner, along with synthetic bunker edges, has ensured resilient, fast draining bunkers, avoiding the dreaded ‘washout’ and eliminating contamination. By adding multiple different liners to our own product range since 2014, including Rubber Crumb Liner, Better Billy Bunker Liner and several fabric liners, we can offer complete bunker solutions, all under one company umbrella, to meet a broad range of budgets.”