Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the golf course design practice founded by five-times Open Champion Peter Thomson, hosted golf industry leaders for a seminar on bunkering, embracing the three disciplines of design, construction and maintenance.
The seminar, held at Burhill Golf Club, Surrey, brought together golf course architects such as Dr Martin Hawtree (Hawtree Ltd), Martin Ebert (Mackenzie Ebert), Gary Johnston (European Golf Design) and Greg Letsche (Els Design) and golf course managers from Sunningdale, Wentworth, The Berkshire, Walton Heath and The Emirates Golf Club to name but a few.
The 29 delegates joined TPL’s Tim Lobb and Andrew Goosen to discuss the various aspects of bunkering, and listen to presentations from companies specialising in the bunker construction.
Representatives from bunker lining manufacturers were given the floor to explain their products and the benefits of bunker liners, while Nigel Wyatt of MJ Abbott discussed bunker construction techniques and Charles Henderson from the Sports Turf Research Institute explained the importance of particle size and shape in bunker sand.
A lengthy round table open discussion brought proceedings to a close, with a number of important topics debated, including the merits of bunker maintenance, bunker renovation and course length.
Tim Lobb, who chaired the seminar, said: “We wanted to bring golf industry leaders together, and the subject of the seminar is one close to every course architect, developer and manager. Bunkers have to be designed, built and maintained and to have such knowledge in one room discussing the subject so deeply, intensely and passionately was great.
“Everyone was quite open in the discussions so we could really go into depth on the issues brought up.”
Craig Haldane, The Emirates Golf Club course superintendent, travelled from Dubai to be at the seminar. He said: “It was amazing to have so many industry experts sitting around a table talking about a simple hazard, it was well worth the trip.”
TPL are planning to host similar seminars on various topics of golf course design and management in the future.
Thomson Perrett & Lobb www.tpl.eu.com