Ask a Super
You can remove rocks from bunkers—but where you should throw them might surprise you
Juan Algar
Bunkers are difficult enough for most golfers to navigate, so when you see tiny rocks scattered throughout the sand, you might be wondering why they are there—and where you should move them. Yes, the Rules of Golf allow you to remove loose impediments, like stones, from the bunker, but it turns out golf course superintendents have a strong preference for where you should put them.
To learn more about why some bunkers have stones and others do not, as well as where to throw the rocks, we asked Chad Allen, the director of agronomy at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind. Allen is a seven-year member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
Golf Digest: Chad, not every course I play has rocks in the bunkers, but when they do, they can be a real nuisance. Why are they there?
Allen: What you're seeing is the result of bunkers that do not have bunker liners in them. When you create a bunker, you core it out, and then in the bunker, you're going to trench a drain line down the middle. You put the drain line and four-inch drain tile down in there and then you're going to cover that with gravel so that water can flow down in there and move throughout.
Over time, bunkers lose sand, whether that's through being washed out, whatever it is. Sometimes you'll see the gravel because there hasn't been enough sand put in them. Sometimes you'll see the gravel due to the maintenance staff using bunker rakes and maybe going too deep into that gravel layer, which will pull it up.
It’s a combination of things, but those are usually the two reasons why you're seeing the gravel.
So a bunker liner would go over the gravel?
A course installing a bunker liner.
Yeah, so it is the same process. You core the bunker out, you trench it, you put the drainpipe in there, you cover it with gravel, and then there's several products you can use as the liner. I can speak on the one we use. It's called capillary concrete. It's porous concrete. You pour a two-inch layer of porous concrete over the top of the entire bunker so the gravel can't come up. You’re left with a bunker that drains while keeping the moisture content where you want it to be so that you can have a little bit of firmness in the bunkers.
In a bunker with gravel coming up, the rocks can get behind the ball. Where should golfers throw them?
Throw them in the rough because for us, our rough is around two-and-a-half, two-and-three-quarters inches tall, so we’re not going to kick that up any when we’re mowing with these rotary mowers.
You’re not concerned with golfers removing the gravel layer of the bunker if they throw away the rocks?
It’s a needle in a haystack situation, there’s still enough gravel in the bunker to drain properly.
Just don’t throw the rocks in the fairways because in the fairways we use reel mowers and we’re mowing under a half inch. One rock or one little pebble can chip a reel. It can chip a bed knife. You’re really messing with the quality of the cut at that time. You’re adding an expense to the department. So never throw the rocks in the fairway or short grass. Heck, if you want to put it in your pocket, the maintenance staff owes you one.
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