Bangkok, Thailand: Award-winning Amata Spring Country Club is currently undertaking a bunker renovation project with Sports Turf Solutions. The objective is to restore the bunkers to their original design while making them almost maintenance free for the next 25-plus years. 

Two key products being used in the renovation project are SandTrapper and EcoBunker.

SandTrapper is a bunker liner that holds sand in place on bunker faces during tropical storms and eliminates contamination from the native soil below. EcoBunker is an artificial sod wall stacked in order to maintain the integrity of the bunker’s edge. 

EcoBunker comes with a 20-year limited warranty and SandTrapper a 10-year limited warranty that ensures the bunkers are trouble-free for many years ahead. 

“We needed a long-term solution to our bunker maintenance headaches, not only from a playability aspect, but also as a cost-saving exercise,” said Mike McKenna, Golf Course Superintendent at Amata Spring, a Facility Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

“When we have heavy rains the labour hours spent pushing up sand was rising at an exponential rate. Over the years the bunkers have become contaminated with soil and the original shapes had been lost. So, we did a trial at our worst bunker for washouts and the results were spectacular. The reduction in labour hours added with the savings in general maintenance will more than cover the cost of the instillation,” he added. 

Sports Turf Solutions, a Full Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation, has been selling SandTrapper in Southeast Asia since 2016 and has completed more than 80 projects and installed its first EcoBunker in Thailand in January, 2017.