A bunker renovation project has been completed at GlenArbor Golf Club near Bedford Hills, New York.

The work commenced in early 2017 and was led by Jeff Lawrence, senior designer at Gary Player Design. The project reached completion early this month. 

GCA spoke to Jeff Lawrence of Gary Player Design to find out more.

“GlenArbor is a course designed by Gary Player Design (GPD), and we have a great relationship with the client,” Lawrence said. “It was a collective effort by ownership and GPD to recognise the bunkers needed work so we embarked on a bunker study to identify the best method to update the bunkers in a meaningful and sustainable way.”

Lawrence and the project team discussed the possibility of introducing a new style of bunker at GlenArbor, but eventually decided to keep the same style – instead investing in restoring the existing bunkers with enhancements to improve strategy, aesthetics and maintenance requirements. All 18 holes underwent renovation.

“Every bunker on the golf course was refined in some way – either reshaped, added, eliminated, or relocated,” Lawrence said. “We simplified the bunkers to help make them more maintenance-friendly. The project also helped simplify the look and feel of the bunkers, but in a visually appealing and impactful way.”

The Better Billy Bunker liner has been added to the bunkers, with Lawrence reporting that this has performed very well thus far. Regarding the aesthetic work on the bunkering, Lawrence also took the opportunity to enhance strategy in selected parts of the course by repositioning bunkers.

“We brought some fairway bunkers in a little tighter, and wrapped around some greenside bunkers to capture interesting pin locations,” he said. “We also repositioned some of the greenside bunkers to make the overall composition more aesthetically pleasing.”

Lawrence and the team also incorporated additional native, naturalised grass areas, which will help frame and define the golf course as well as reduce maintained turf areas.

“We made multiple site visits during the process as well as using ‘Facetime’ to keep updated on the progress of the project and provide added input when needed,” Lawrence said. “We produced a great set of plans, but there’s nothing like being out in the field so we occasionally utilised those visual tools to fine tune, finalise and approve some of the work.”

The project has now been completed, finishing on schedule and within budget.

“We feel we’ve made a meaningful impact to the golf course,” Lawrence said. “The feedback we have received has all been very positive.”