Bunkers Take Another Hit
Heavy rain is the enemy of our bunkers and a blow to morale. We received 2.5" of rain on Saturday and we're still shoveling mud and pushing sand in bunkers. An event like that happens a few times each year and it can demoralize a staff. It's tough to lie in bed at night listening to the downpour when you know you'll be holding a shovel for the next 4 days. New guys show up to work the next morning and wonder why the veterans are slumped in their chairs. They find out why in the first half hour. We are going to log over 130 man hours this week doing nothing but repairing bunkers. It's a tough 130 hours.
Repairing the damage requires skimming the mud off the sand with shovels and then pushing the sand back into place. With each heavy rain event the bunkers become more contaminated than before. It's impossible to clean them up and put them back in their original condition. Mother Nature always wins. It would be foolish to put new bunker sand on top of the contaminated sand that we currently have. The drains need replacing and we need to have liners between the sand and the underlying soil. The industry average life expectancy of bunker sand is 5-7 years. Our bunker sand is 10 years old and in most cases in great need of replacement. The pictures below highlight the erosion and contamination that occurs after a rain.
Repairing the damage requires skimming the mud off the sand with shovels and then pushing the sand back into place. With each heavy rain event the bunkers become more contaminated than before. It's impossible to clean them up and put them back in their original condition. Mother Nature always wins. It would be foolish to put new bunker sand on top of the contaminated sand that we currently have. The drains need replacing and we need to have liners between the sand and the underlying soil. The industry average life expectancy of bunker sand is 5-7 years. Our bunker sand is 10 years old and in most cases in great need of replacement. The pictures below highlight the erosion and contamination that occurs after a rain.
With morale taking a hit is there anything you do to soften the blow/stress of this necessary evil?
ReplyDeleteIt's not really that big of a blow unless we get one storm after another. Then it becomes a real bummer. I buy lunch, donuts, etc.. and try and keep spirits up with positive thoughts. We are lucky to have a good bunch of guys that all came equipped with good attitudes and energy levels. In part, my note was designed to press the need with our members for some spending on bunkers.
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