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Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage

July 2, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage: Elk getting into bunkers has resulted in damage to them at Rock Creek Cattle Company in Montana, designed by architect Tom Doak. But lining the bunkers with the Capillary Bunker system is set to solve the problem. “When the course was built, the bunkers were lined with a textile product,” says […]

Green Feet Week

July 2, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Kate Hopkins

Green Feet Week: The Amenity Forum working with partners is promoting a week of celebration commencing September 20th. Too often the work of those in managing amenity and sports spaces goes unnoticed and this week gives opportunity for all to learn more about what they do, really keeping Britain moving. Never has this been more […]

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage

July 2, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Green Feet Week

July 2, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Kate Hopkins

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Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage

July 2, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage: Elk getting into bunkers has resulted in damage to them at Rock Creek Cattle Company in Montana, designed by architect Tom Doak. But lining the bunkers with the Capillary Bunker system is set to solve the problem.

“When the course was built, the bunkers were lined with a textile product,” says course superintendent Rick Hathaway. “Given the location, some sort of liner was essential. The clue is in the name: the soil here is full of rocks, from pebbles to big granite boulders. With frost heaves in winter, the rocks move up through the profile, and would penetrate unlined bunkers very easily.”

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage

But the textile liner could not cope with another problem caused by Rock Creek’s location – wildlife. “We have a large herd of resident elk, about a thousand strong. And they really like our bunkers!” says Hathaway. “Their natural position is head up, so if they are down in a bunker, they have grass at head height. So it makes eating less work for them. Especially in the fall, when they come back out of the mountains, the elk spend a disproportionate amount of time in the bunkers. And they are big, heavy animals. Their hooves inevitably cause damage to a fabric liner, and once there is a little hole, the sand gets through and the situation starts to deteriorate. It got to the point where we couldn’t manage the amount of damage that was happening. I was using six or seven guys two days a week working on liners.”

And elk are not the only wildlife that caused Hathaway sleepless nights. “We have a lot of ground squirrels here and they burrow up through the bunkers. Then the badgers – which want to eat the ground squirrels – dig down after them, and the next morning we have huge holes in our bunkers,” he explains. “A couple of years ago, I went to my greens committee chairman – a committee of one! – and he asked me what keeps me awake at night. I told him and said ‘Let’s start thinking about redoing one day’. The course is a masterpiece and the bunkers weren’t doing it any favours. From a distance, they looked pretty but from a playability point of view they weren’t as good as the rest of the course. A couple of weeks later, he called me and said ‘It’s a go’.”

“I met the Capillary Bunkers rep and started having conversations with him, and I gave a couple of local superintendents a call. I went over to one that was doing a very large renovation of the course and went out for a day and watched them install the product. That gave me confidence in how it is installed and works. Last year, my greens chairman and I made the decision that Capillary Bunkers was the right choice. We did three test bunkers, evaluated different bunker sands, and made our decision.”

The project began in April, with construction being handled by contractor Ridgetop Golf, from Seattle, and the last bunkers were lined at the beginning of June. “We typically open the golf course on May 15, and April is the month I count on getting major course work done, so for the first six weeks of construction, there were no golfers around,” says Hathaway. “When we excavated the bunkers, I had the contractor scrape an inch or two out of the subgrade to make sure we didn’t change the depth.”

Hathaway is delighted with the results. “The bunkers are spectacular,” he says. “We have these jagged faces that have eroded in the thirteen years the course has been open, and that gives them even more character. There’s a little lip and the concrete fits in there. You’d never know there was concrete there.” Hopefully, the elk will concur!

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Green Feet Week

July 2, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Kate Hopkins

Green Feet Week: The Amenity Forum working with partners is promoting a week of celebration commencing September 20^th.

Too often the work of those in managing amenity and sports spaces goes unnoticed and this week gives opportunity for all to learn more about what they do, really keeping Britain moving. Never has this been more highlighted than in the past year, keeping transport networks working, parks open for exercise and enjoyment and more.

Green Feet Week

In Green Feet Week, organisations and individuals working in the sector will get involved in charitable activities, large and small, and tell their stories of what they do and why what they do matters to everyone. So what is planned will be fun, raise valuable funds for charity and highlight the importance of amenity management to the lives of everyone.

John Moverley, Chairman of the Amenity Forum, said ‘’I often say it but it is so true that what happens in amenity management impacts upon every UK citizen every day with all involved seeking to create safe, sustainable amenity and sports spaces fit for purpose’

Kate Cooney from Perennial, the charity that helps people in horticulture, said ‘’We are very pleased to support this initiative and highlight the work of so many, so often not understood or recognised. It is a brilliant and fun idea with a very real and important purpose’’

Laurence Gale said ‘’This is long over-due and I am delighted both to support it and help bring it to fruition. Now all is needed is for everyone to get involved and make it a real success’’

Some further information on how to get involved is provided below and if you have further questions, we will be happy to help if we can. Throughout the period leading up to the week, we will release progress updates and stories about those getting involved and all press enquiries should again be directed to Kate at admin@amenityforum.net

How to get involved

It is really easy to take part with the overall aim of raising awareness of the sector, its brilliant work across the UK and the amazing employees that have worked tirelessly to ensure that green spaces are available and accessible to everyone; most importantly we are looking to raise some money for charities, who have really suffered over the pandemic and would appreciate some support themselves.

Here is how:-

If you are an organisation, or individual, working within the sector we are looking to you to get involved with a charitable activity during the week commencing 20 September 2021.
Choose the Charity you wish to support – Perennial is our partner for the event as they look after people in horticulture, but it can be a charity chosen by you or your organisation.
Select what you are going to do to raise money – this might be a sponsored walk in your local park, a cake sale, football match between departments, the list is endless!
Let the Amenity Forum know what you are planning and when so that we can promote your activity via our social media channels
Enjoy yourselves, raise some money for charity

Promote the sector and the charitable activity within your own press outlets and via the Amenity Forum. The sector trade press is supporting this event too, so they would love to hear from you too and feature your activities in their magazine articles about the event.

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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Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage

Green Feet Week

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage

Green Feet Week

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage

Capillary Bunkers solve elk damage: Elk getting into bunkers has resulted in damage to them at Rock Creek Cattle Company in Montana, designed by architect Tom Doak. But lining the bunkers with the Capillary Bunker system is set to solve the problem.

Green Feet Week

Green Feet Week: The Amenity Forum working with partners is promoting a week of celebration commencing September 20^th.

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