Two of golf’s great names collaborated to create Hartsbourne Country Club in the 1920s: renowned golf course builder Fred Hawtree and 5 times Open Champion, J H Taylor.
Unsurprisingly, the result is an excellent test of golf, built partly on imported soil created from the construction of the original Wembley Stadium. Not resting on their laurels, the club had been considering a bunker renovation project for many years, and after obtaining design guidance from a leading golf course architect, they turned to EcoBunker Ltd to deliver their vision.
The club wanted natural looking bunkers that would sit effortlessly in their mature parkland setting, but at the same time they also desired the lowest maintenance burden possible. EcoBunker Ltd provided a full turnkey solution, following the architectural guidance, but specifying and installing the range of features that would deliver the benefits the club were looking for. Specific features included the Ecosward bunker liner, the EcoBunker Advanced edging system, a fully automated subsoil bunker edge irrigation solution and high performance china clay bunker sand.
Shaping work was undertaken by regular EcoBunker partner AMG Construction Services (Andy Greenslade). The results were beautiful bunkers, which drain perfectly whilst maintaining optimal sand conditions, elimination of surface water ingress and healthy natural turf covered artificial bunker edges assisted by sate of the art remote controlled double dripline irrigation. Since completion of all the bunkers on the main 18 hole course, the bunker maintenance input has been closely monitored by Course Manager Simon Watkins. He is confident that there has been an 80% reduction in the amount of man hours spent on bunker maintenance: A fact that fully supports the club’s forward thinking investment decision.