Powell, OH
POWELL, OHIO, OCTOBER 7, 2021 – Designed by Arthur Hills and opened in 2004, the Kinsale club sits just outside the golf hotbed of Columbus, Ohio. Part of a successful upmarket real estate development, Kinsale is one of the most successful family-oriented clubs in the area, and, under the watchful eye of superintendent Rob Fisher since 2016, the course has gone from strength to strength.
Built on heavy clay, bunker drainage is Kinsale’s single biggest maintenance issue, especially given the high flashed sand faces that dot the course. When the course was built, a fabric liner was installed in some of the steeper faced bunkers, and it worked well enough for a time, but not long after he joined, Fisher realised that something more substantial was needed.
After reviewing the bunker liner options, Fisher and the club’s leadership settled on the Capillary Bunkers solution – because he says, of the great things he had heard about it from local clubs that had installed the product. A key part of the attraction of Capillary Bunkers was that it was possible for Fisher and his team to install it themselves, without hiring an external contractor. And, for the last three years, that’s exactly what they have been doing.
“We have been going round the bunkers, pulling out the sand, the gravel and the drainage, reshaping them and putting in the Capillary Bunkers product,” he explains. “My assistant and I are doing most of the heavy construction with the backhoe, and we take three people off our mowing crew two days a week, and they do the rest, including installing new bunker sand, by hand. Currently we are on our twelfth hole – we have over 127,000 square feet of bunkers on the golf course, and our goal is to do them all.”
“The product is unbelievable. In this day and age, everyone is trying to save a dollar here and there, but when the ownership saw how the product works, it was a no-brainer for them – they wanted it done, no matter what the product cost. The new bunkers look great. Three years on, the first ones we did look as though they are brand new. When there is rain, the crew hardly has to rake them. The product is amazing. I wish I’d had it many years ago. After a hard rain, the crew’s heads are down, they know they have to go out and shovel sand. But with this product, they don’t have to!”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. At the core of our solution, Capillary Bunkers is a patented and engineered polymer-based concrete. It is the only building material that can rapidly drain water while also moving water up. Capillary Bunkers’ cutting-edge, patented technology helps you control water in any climate, season, and soil type, providing better, more consistent playing experiences while reducing costs. http://www.capillaryconcrete.com
2. Capillary Bunkers is recognized as the world’s leading and most advanced bunker liner, and the most durable bunker construction method. It allows water to flow through the base of the bunker while keeping sand on the faces and preventing washouts, keeping bunkers in perfect shape during any weather condition. Over 800 courses around the world have built or renovated their bunkers with Capillary Concrete, including dozens of golf’s top 100 courses.
3. Photography to support this release can be downloaded from this Dropbox link.
Issued by Adam Lawrence, Oxford Golf Consulting
adam@oxfordgolfconsulting.com, tel +44 (0)7971 754649.
