As was communicated in my previous message, I will be sharing some best practices on these and other course etiquette items. This information is intended to provide members with the necessary knowledge to ensure that we are doing our part to protect and care for the golf course. By doing so we will help the maintenance team focus on their most important tasks while also providing every member and their guests a memorable experience day in and day out.
For this week we will be dealing with bunker care and raking. Below you will find some information provided by the course team:
Bunker Care and Raking:
- We have a significant number of bunkers at Niakwa. These bunkers are labour intensive – it takes 6 team members to rake bunkers for play in their entirety ahead of the game of golf.
- The Turfcare team does not have the ability to rake bunkers every day.
- As members, if we are doing our part, the bunkers can remain in presentable and playable condition each day regardless of if they have received a rake for play.
- When your ball inevitably lands in a bunker, please note the following:
- Never enter a bunker from the high side. Always walk around and enter the bunker at the lowest point. This prevents deep depressions on the faces of the bunkers, protects the integrity of the turf surrounding the bunker and provides the safest option for a golfer to enter and exit (see Figure 1 below).
- While using the rake, ensure that both hands are utilized on the rake handle. One handed raking will not provide enough down force to properly smooth the entire area of impact.
- Bunker rake placement is also important:
- Once you are finished raking the bunker, the head of the rake should be placed in the bunker with the handle in the air on the perimeter of the bunker (see Figure 1 below).
- There are ample bunker rakes on course. If the rakes are simply returned to the general position they are found, then each golfer will have a rake within a short distance of their bunker shot. Misplaced rakes create more work for our fellow members and slow down the pace of play.
- The following two links will provide you with information on how to care for bunkers
Figure 1 – See the placement of the rake above. We want the handle in the air on the perimeter of the bunker. The head of the rake in the bunker. When entering avoid the steep faces shown by the X above. Please enter from the low side where the green arrow is.
Respectfully
Paul Beatty, Chair
Course Committee