La Cumbre Country Club Bunker Renovation

La Cumbre Country Club was George Thomas and Billy Bell's 1925 redesign of an exisiting Tom Bendelow design dating to 1908. As the club approaches its 100th anniversary, it has endeavored to get in touch with its roots by celebrating both its Thomas-Bell design and its magnificent George Washington Smith clubhouse.  

As evident in the below "before" photos, the bunkers at La Cumbre Country Club had taken on a two-dimensional and tired appearance. Constructed in 1994 as part of a greens reconstruction project, they were also not functioning very well, having passed the ASGCA's 10-year bunker lifespan window.

None of Thomas and Bell's original bunkers remain and only a few of their original holes are in the same location. And since the club membership is generally happy with the design and the excellent conditioning work of superintendent Wayne Mills, it was decided that some form of reclamation of the Thomas-Bell style should be the goal.

This was complicated by La Cumbre's status as a kikuyu grass golf course. The "lacey" style that the two favored in their last four or so courses (Bel-Air, Riviera, Los Angeles-North, Stanford) would be very difficult to create and maintain with that strain of grass.

Therefore it was decided that an "evolved Thomas-Bell" look similar to Riviera's bunkering post-Coore and Crenshaw and pre-Fazio, combining elements of the lacey look with the larger capes and bays evident in the historic photos at La Cumbre. It was decided that sod stacking would employed to create a thicker three-dimensional lip on the bunkers with random fingers and other shapes crafted in the surrounding to create the shapes, while also preserving those shapes.

As you will see, some bunkers came out better than others. In several instances there was very little to work due to the construction style or constraints on impacting member play. Nonetheless, the goal of a more dramatic and eye-catching look, combined with improved access and a slight reduction in size, has been met with positive feedback by a majority of the club's membership.

 

La Cumbre Bunker Renovation Process

The following set of photos takes you through the process we used to renovate the bunkers. It can't be stated enough how incredible it's been to watch Wayne Mills and crew work, especially as we've refined the process. Holes were never closed for more than a few hours at a time, so if they didn't want to take a complimentary par, at the worst golfers had to come back and play a closed hole to post their 18-hoel score.

Because we were working with existing bunkers, the process generally went something like this. Though some of the larger bunkers that we were resizing took longer, while others revealed new problems as soon as sand and sod were removed.

Here we go...the captions describe the photos below each.

Below, we sand removed and lines painted in orange to outline new bunker shapes and boundaries. The orange also is easier to see from a distance.

 

Depending on the bunker, dirt might have to be added to fill in areas no longer deemed necessary or to create shapes currently lacking. In this instance, three bunkers were being turned into two hazards and a few bays added to spice things up.

 

If shapes had to be added where there were none, Felix and the boys did whatever was necessary to get the job done, including using this compactor-rope concoction.

 

After various repairs and modifications are made to the shape of the bunker, the final shape is painted by the architect and crafted by shovel work.

 

The final shape is determined in the dirt so that it will be hard to lose bunker shapes with edging and exploding sand.

 

Wayne Mills cutting in a shelf for sod stacking after the final outline has been determined. This was the first bunker we built and you'll note the sand and drainage complete, something we now do as the final step in order to avoid sand contamination and to have more room to work.

 

Felix laying the stacked sod installed to give the bunkers a little more of that evolved and 3-d look.

 

A close up of the shelf created to stack layers of sod. The number of strips of sod vary depending on the mood of the architect, the crew and the superintendent! We have no formula, just to make sure to vary it enough so that you do not have a polished, perfect bunker edge.

 

The sod stacking viewed up close.

 

Drainage is generally installed before sodding, but lately we've altered it to sod and only leave a small opening to finish drainage and sand installation since the edge shapes were getting destroyed by the process of sand/drainage installation.

 

Kikuyu sod is in, and stacking is evident. In just a few days the stacked shelves disappear and look like thick bunker lips that have been around for decades.

 

La Cumbre 1st Hole Before and After Photos

The first hole featured bunkers out of scale and not particularly interesting. The tee shot bunkers were reduced in size but brought out into the landing area just a touch more.

 

The first tee view soon after completion of the bunker renovation. This bunker adjoins the 9th hole as well, which may explain questions about the unusual shape:

 

The first green prior to reconstruction (below): 

 

The view of No. 1 green after reconstruction...

 

The approach view before reconstruction (below):

 

Below, post-reconstruction view of the greenside bunkers.

 

A close up of the left greenside bunker looking nice and shaggy.

 

The rear bunker on No. 1 after reconstruction (below).

 

La Cumbre 2nd Hole Photos

The second hole is an uphill par-4 with a big false front green. The rear bunkers were washing out too easily and were clearly built to be visible from the fairway. Unfortunately this created maintenance issues and up close, they were totally out of scale. So we tried to keep flashes of sand that the golfer would see from the fairway, while reducing the possibility of washouts and giving us a chance to inject some more intricate shapes.

The second green before renovation:

 

 

Below, the rebuilt bunkers before and after.

 

The new bunkers on No. 2 from No. 1 fairway. Note the practice bunker up the hill, which was the look of the previous bunkers.

 

A view of No. 2 from well back in the fairway.

 

3rd Hole Before and After Photos

Here's the tee view before and after, followed by some miscellaneous shots. We shifted the fairway bunkers in a bit to add some interest off the tee. Tree removal is a sore subject on this hole, and as you can see, I have not been able to convince them that more need to go. 

The tee view before:

Below, the after view about a month after sodding.

Below, the 3rd green bunkers as construction commences.



The 3rd green bunkers after renovation.


An early morning view from the 3rd tee, about a week after the sod was installed. 

 

A close up of the fairway bunkers.