Golf course architect Harrison Minchew and former PGA Tour professional Fred Funk’s new RainDance National golf course in Windsor, Colorado is expected to be completed later this year, ahead of a July 2022 opening.

The project is part of a housing development that was first announced in 2014. Work on the golf course started in September 2020, when developer Martin Lind had progressed the residential community.

“I am here 24/7,” said Minchew. “To get it all done this year is a really tight schedule, though we already have around two thirds of the course seeded.”

Capillary Bunkers lining technology is being used on the new course. “I did a course with Ed Seay back in 1985, and I remember the contractor saying to me, ‘you know, one day we’re going to put concrete in the bunkers to make them work better’,” said Minchew. “Well, for me, that day has come.”

Minchew first used the Capillary Bunkers product on a six-hole First Tee course in Augusta. “Landscapes Unlimited were building that project, and wanted to install Capillary Bunkers,” he said. “That enabled me to see how effective the product was – I saw the water basically going straight through the bunkers – and I came to understand how it works, and to realise that it could be installed in conditions that would be impossible for competing products. So, when it came to this job, I knew I wanted to use Capillary Bunkers.”

Minchew says that the golf course build, and all seeding, will be finished this year, despite an extremely wet spring. “We will have a total of about 75,000 square feet of Capillary Bunkers,” he said. “Capillary Bunkers’ Scott Grego has been working closely with us – he came in while we were installing the first few bunkers to make sure we were doing it correctly.”