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Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore

December 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore: Founded in 2004, the Sagamore Club to the north of Indianapolis has a lot of bunker sand. In fact, according to superintendent Dan Grogan, who has been with the club since 2006, it has a total of four acres of formal bunkers, with high-sand flashed faces into the […]

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year

December 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Yvonne Alexander

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year: Celebrating a remarkable chain of events with the golfing community in Poland, the team at Modry Las Golf Resort has described 2022 as “momentous”. With successes on and off the course, The PGA National Poland enjoyed a remarkable season receiving a trio of international accolades that have cemented its reputation […]

Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore

December 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year

December 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Yvonne Alexander

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Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore

December 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore: Founded in 2004, the Sagamore Club to the north of Indianapolis has a lot of bunker sand. In fact, according to superintendent Dan Grogan, who has been with the club since 2006, it has a total of four acres of formal bunkers, with high-sand flashed faces into the bargain.

It isn’t surprising, then, that bunker maintenance has always been a big job at Sagamore. “When the course was built, there was a liner installed under the original sand, but as the bunkers were repeatedly edged, more and more soil was exposed around them and the sand got more and more contaminated,” says Grogan. “Inevitably, it took us a long time to get the bunkers back into condition after severe rain – we had to pump them out, which took a lot of time and a huge amount of labour. We had to do something about it.”

Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore

Grogan started looking at the best options available to line his bunkers. After research, he concluded that the Capillary Bunkers solution seemed best for Sagamore’s needs. “I started doing some homework and talking to other superintendents about bunker liner technology, and I realised that Capillary Bunkers had one key advantage for us over competing products – we could install it ourselves,” he says. “So, in 2016, we did so on an initial test bunker. We picked one that washed out regularly and didn’t drain too well, and we were very pleased with the results. Based on that, we started an in-house bunker update project, picking off the bunkers one by one.”

This went on for a while. “Eventually, we had done more than fifty bunkers in-house – more than two and a half acres of them,” he says. “There was only one greenside bunker left, but it was an enormous one, more than 20,000 square feet. I realised it was time to bring in the cavalry!”

The cavalry, in this case, was a crew from contractor Landscapes Unlimited, which owned Sagamore at the time. “They mobilised on site in September 2018 and were onsite for two and a half months to complete the remaining bunkers,” says Grogan.

Four years on, Dan Grogan is still extremely happy with his decision. “We are delighted with our bunkers,” he says. “Sometimes we get a huge rain event, and there’s a tiny bit of contamination, but it isn’t anything we can’t easily deal with, and apart from that, there’s nothing. Before we installed the Capillary Bunkers liner, if we had an inch of rain, half of our bunkers would need to be pumped out. Maybe a third of them would be back in play the first day after the rain. Now, we are fully back up and running by lunchtime on the first day. This fall, we had six and a half inches of rain in eighteen hours. There were definitely some washouts – we have steep faces that are eight to ten feet high – but we were back to normal in two days. That would have been an impossible dream beforehand.”

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Modry Las celebrates pivotal year

December 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Yvonne Alexander

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year: Celebrating a remarkable chain of events with the golfing community in Poland, the team at Modry Las Golf Resort has described 2022 as “momentous”. With successes on and off the course, The PGA National Poland enjoyed a remarkable season receiving a trio of international accolades that have cemented its reputation as a world-class venue providing incredible value.

The optimistic tone was set during the first half of 2022 when Poland’s only signature-designed golf resort unveiled a luxurious spa complex along with new accommodation options. The investment paid off a couple of months later when Golf Monthly magazine published its compendium of Europe’s lesser-known destinations that offer quality golf and excellent value. Not surprisingly, Modry Las was in the mix.

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year

“One of the best is Modry Las Golf Resort in Choszczno in the north west of the country,” noted Golf Monthly’s contributing editor Fergus Bisset. “It’s a Gary Player design in an area of rolling terrain with lakes and thick woodland. It’s an excellent layout carved through the forests with lakes and wildflowers abounding. Modry Las offers exceptional value.”

In October, Golf World unveiled its list of the best golf resorts in Continental Europe which, according to the magazine, rewarded venues that “excel with accommodation” and have “the wow factor”. Highlighting the “delightful cottage” options, Golf World concluded Modry Las was one of the most tranquil break destinations in its rundown. “This Gary Player design has flair and imagination, and it’s in fabulous nick,” noted the review. “We loved the chalets nestled in the silence of the woodland that surrounds the course. If you want to get away from it all, this Polish bolthole is for you.”

The assessment followed the magazine’s spotlight on the Best Value Golf Resorts in Continental Europe published a year earlier. Taking third spot, Modry Las was identified as the kind of resort that would attract golfers “who appreciate a high-calibre modern course in fabulous condition.”

To round off the year, the chairman of Modry Las, Arthur Gromadzki, gratefully collected a seventh national title at the renowned World Golf Awards; the leading authority to recognise and reward excellence in golf tourism. Speaking in November, he noted the 2022 season had been “a momentous year for both Modry Las and Poland on the international stage”.

His remarks correspond to the historic win this summer by Adrain Meronk who became the first Polish golfer to triumph on the DP World Tour. He repeated the feat at the Australian Open in December and was also joined in the Polish winners’ circle by Mateusz Gradecki who recorded his maiden win on the Challenge Tour in 2022.

The significance of these achievements were not lost on Gromadzki. “In many ways, this season has been full of challenges both political and environmental, and yet it has been a watershed moment for Poland. Despite the hurdles, not only did the country record its first win on the DP World Tour, but we also received international recognition that Poland offers incredible value while delivering a world-class golfing experience.”

He continues: “In fact, during these uncertain times, I would argue Poland has become an increasingly important golfing destination for those golfers wanting to enjoy world-class golf despite a challenging economic headwind. After all, Poland provides an alternative to the more established and expensive European golf locations. So, in many ways, it’s been a pivotal year and the perfect preparation for 2023.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

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Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year

Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year

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Four acres of Capillary Bunkers at Sagamore

Modry Las celebrates pivotal year

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