Tag Archive for: EcoBunker

EcoBunker Highlights Thought Provoking New Research

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EcoBunker Highlights Thought Provoking New Research: Industry leading innovator of synthetic bunker wall technology, EcoBunker, will highlight the findings of two major research projects on stand 246 at BTME in Harrogate, from 21st January.

EcoBunker will showcase the full results of the Great British Bunker Study, a project produced with the support of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA). The study identifies significant opportunities for golf clubs to reduce bunker maintenance costs while increasing golfer satisfaction, two topics at the top of every club agenda.

EcoBunker Highlights Thought Provoking New Research

EcoBunker Highlights Thought Provoking New Research

Alongside the bunker study, EcoBunker will present new research by the Welsh government that reveals surprising insights into sustainability and bunker construction. With thought provoking results on show the EcoBunker stand should provide hot topics of discussion for anyone with an interest in turf management or sustainable practices in golf.

“We’re really excited for BTME,” said Richard Allen, inventor of synthetic bunker technology. “It’s always a fantastic experience to share and learn amongst such an informed group of people at the show. And this year we have some fascinating data that will provoke conversation and progress the understanding of sustainability and best practices in golf. Anyone who wants to find out more should visit us at stand 246”

In addition to the two research projects, the EcoBunker stand will highlight work at Royal Ostend Golf Club that shows how EcoBunker met the challenge of some of the most stringent environmental standards in Europe. The team will also showcase some of its installations of EcoTec bunker liners and their positive impact during recent turbulent weather events.

For more information, visit EcoBunker at stand 246 at BTME or visit www.ecobunker.co.uk

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EcoBunker Celebrating 10 Years in Business

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EcoBunker Celebrating 10 Years in Business: As 2024 draws to a close, EcoBunker Ltd the industry leading innovator of synthetic bunker wall technology is celebrating its 10th year in business supporting the rapidly evolving golf industry.

Starting out in 2014 with an injection of funding and the creation of a reliable supply chain, founder Richard Allen was able to grow the invention he had made five years earlier into the sustainable business he knew it could be. EcoBunker has since grown into a hugely successful international business that has engaged in many hundreds of projects covering every major golfing territory.

EcoBunker Celebrating 10 Years in Business

EcoBunker Celebrating 10 Years in Business

“It’s been an incredible 10 years, and I’d like to thank all of the courses, designers and golf industry professionals without whom we wouldn’t have become the business we are,” commented EcoBunker founder, Richard Allen. “Challenging the way things have always been done is a hugely difficult task, so I will always be grateful to everyone that placed their faith in us and what we were trying to achieve.”

Key milestones in the past 10 years have included the development of EcoBunker Advanced, a cement modified backfill technology that cut the shipping weight of EcoBunker in half, enabling the growth of the international business; the design of two further technologies – EcoTec bunker liners and AquaEdge synthetic water edging; and most recently, the investment in EcoBunker’s own production facility, that gives more control over R&D and product testing, a process that has already produced the next generation of EcoBunker Advanced that should be ready for mass production before the end of the year.

“When I invented synthetic bunker edging technology, I knew that it could change the game,” concludes Richard. “We can slash maintenance costs, quadruple the lifespan of revetted bunkers and provide visually stunning additions to golf courses that keep on delivering a fantastic experience for golfers year after year. I’m incredibly proud of all we’ve achieved in the past ten years and I can’t wait to see where the next ten take us.”

With the launch of the next generation of EcoBunker Advanced technology set to reduce installation costs and increase the strength of bunker walls, the next chapter for EcoBunker is already taking shape. And with the following generation of products already well into the R&D phase, the future for EcoBunker is very bright.

For more information on EcoBunker please visit www.ecobunker.co.uk

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EcoBunker take on Icelandic challenge

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EcoBunker take on Icelandic challenge: Keilir Golf Club in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland has just completed the second phase of its bunker replacement project with industry leading synthetic faced bunker specialists, EcoBunker.

Faced with year round weather challenges and very harsh winters, the team at Keilir have been spending a disproportionate amount of their budget on maintaining the quality of their naturally revetted bunkers. Having received very positive feedback on EcoBunker’s work at Royal St. Georges, among other projects, Keilir invited the team to address the unique challenges of an Icelandic golf course.

EcoBunker take on Icelandic challenge

EcoBunker take on Icelandic challenge

“Maintaining the quality of traditionally revetted bunkers is such a time-consuming job,” commented Guðbjartur Ísak Ásgeirsson, Head Greenkeeper at Keilir Golf Club. “We face harsh conditions here in Iceland, and the work to keep the bunkers in good condition is difficult enough. When you add in the need for a re-build every 5 years, they eat up the maintenance budget in a way that just isn’t sustainable.”

“Keilir is such an incredible setting. The front 9 weaves a path through lava flow and the back 9 follows a small peninsular with views of a local glacier,” adds EcoBunker founder Richard Allen. “The major appeal of Keilir is the rugged landscape so I’m delighted with how our EcoBunkers have provided solutions to the maintenance challenges the team faced, while blending perfectly with the natural terrain. This has been a fantastic project for us and I look forward to the next phases.”

Phase one of the project took place this Spring with the creation of two new bunkers. Following very positive feedback from the members and maintenance team at Keilir, a further four bunkers have been installed this Autumn, with more planned for Spring 2025.

“It has actually been quicker to construct an EcoBunker that will last over 20 years than to naturally revett our bunkers. We’re delighted with the results and look forward to putting the new bunkers into play when we next open the course. I certainly look forward to a maintenance free season for our six new EcoBunkers!” concluded Guðbjartur.

For more information on how EcoBunker can help meet the maintenance and bunkering challenges at your course, visit www.ecobunker.co.uk

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New sales operation for EcoBunker

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New sales operation for EcoBunker: Leading creator of synthetic bunker edging technology, EcoBunker Ltd, is reinforcing its commitment to the North American market by creating a directly owned subsidiary to support customers across the continent.

Inventor and CEO Richard Allen was the first to install synthetic bunker walls on US soil and his company, EcoBunker Ltd, has been delivering highly successful projects across the continent consistently since 2014.

New sales operation for EcoBunker

New sales operation for EcoBunker

After a short period trading under a different brand name through a distributor, Allen recognised that a better operating model was needed. EcoBunker Ltd has consequently removed its support for the alternative brand and withdrawn the privileges associated with its patented and solely owned patent pending construction methods.

The new approach will to be sell directly to market. This is being done through a new American company, EcoBunker USA LLC, which will be headed by Jay Morgan, (who until now has been running EcoBunker’s Canadian operation), and a commitment to hold stock of the EcoBunker product at several strategically selected locations across North America, ensuring that clients can be serviced as quickly as possible. Another benefit is that trading will be in dollars, making the purchase of EcoBunker as simple as possible for clubs right across the North American continent.

Allen says: “Obviously North America is the biggest golf market in the world, and figuring out how best to support that market has been an important question for us to answer throughout our history. We have developed very successful relationships with distributors across the world, but we have learned over the years that America really needs a different approach and more commitment. Setting up our own operation is a massive investment for us – the largest in the company’s history – but we have done some fantastic projects that provide a strong foundation and the potential for us to grow our business in America is huge. I know that when people think about a synthetic bunker edge, they think first about revetted pots on links courses, but when I first conceived the concept, I was thinking primarily about setting a firm, low edge for bunkers on parkland courses. With our own network of technical experts on hand, we are well placed to solve bunker edging problems for courses across North America.”

The LLC of EcoBunker USA will be established within the next week.

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EcoBunker aids transformation at Skylark

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EcoBunker aids transformation at Skylark: Seven years ago, Skylark Golf & County Club in Hampshire in the south of England, was in a sorry state.

“The course was opened in the late 1990s, and it was known at Quinn Dell,” says course manager Simon Bell-Tye. “And when I got here in 2014, it had been neglected and run down for most of that time. It was a field with holes in it.”

EcoBunker aids transformation at Skylark

EcoBunker aids transformation at Skylark

But the arrival of its new course manager was a sign that the place was on the up. Acquired by local company JDI (Just Develop It) in late 2013, the renamed Skylark hasn’t looked back.

“My boss at the time, Dan Richards, an ex-golf pro, had a real vision for the place, starting with making the course more presentable and playable,” says Bell-Tye. “But it was a big job. There was a weed called toad rush in the greens. I didn’t know what it was – I’d never come across it before – and the bunkers were just scoops in the ground.”

Now, though, Skylark’s bunkers are among its best-regarded features, thanks to the installation of synthetic edging system EcoBunker over several years. “I’m a member at Royal Winchester and I saw them doing the EcoBunkers there,” says Simon. “I mentioned this to Dan and he said ‘Good idea, get them in’. Rich Allen came and explained their process, and we took him and their construction manager Llewelyn Matthews to the eleventh hole, which had our very worst bunkers. Then Llew spent a week showing us how to build the EcoBunkers, and we haven’t looked back since.”

But the ‘normal’ EcoBunker method wasn’t enough for Skylark. To reduce the bunker maintenance still further, EcoBunker CEO Richard Allen devised a new add-on, named EcoEdge – which sees top quality artificial grass, backed with rubber, used as a rim for the bunkers. Compared to the usual EcoBunker Advanced methodology, where natural grass is planted on top of the synthetic edge, this obviously reduces the maintenance requirement for bunker edging still further. “Skylark was the first club in the world to use the EcoEdge system, although since, a number of other clubs have invested in it,” says Allen.

The reaction to the EcoBunkers was immediate. “Members loved them, so I got a budget to do a number of bunkers each year,” says Bell-Tye. “Ultimately, we have added fourteen extra bunkers to the golf course. We build them all in house – last winter I used forty pallets of material in four bunkers – and they look wonderful. They are huge, and they just pop out at you.”

Skylark’s success has come both on and off the course. From hosting one or two weddings a year, the club now does 140-150. And the golf? “When I joined we had 200-250 golf members. Now we’re up to 750, and we are full, with a joining fee,” says Bell-Tye.

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