Page 11 - GreenMaster Winter 2025

Carnmoney Golf Club’s
Innovative Approach
to Bunker Renovation
With construction complete, the right front bunker on #6 is ready for play.
The irony is clear: superintendents
allocate staggering amounts of labour
to maintain hazards that, in theory,
should merely exist as obstacles. In
fact, at many facilities, more staff
hours are devoted daily to bunker
preparation than to critical playing
surfaces such as greens and tees.
CARNMONEY’S CHALLENGE
Alberta’s Carnmoney Golf Club, like
many facilities with aging
infrastructure, reached a tipping
point. By 2019, its 87 bunkers had
become a persistent source of
complaint. Drainage failures, clay contamination, sand washouts, distorted
edges, and oversized designs had left them maintenance-intensive yet
strategically underwhelming.
When Cameron Kusiek was hired as superintendent that year, he brought
a fresh perspective with a new set of eyes. His review of daily staff operations
and member survey data made it clear: bunkers were consistently rated as one
of the weakest aspects of the course.
By 2021, during the board’s renewal of Carnmoney’s five-year Strategic
Plan, bunker renovation became a top priority. The discussion, however, was
not limited to “should we renovate?” but rather “how should we reimagine?”
BEYOND A FACELIFT: A STRATEGIC DECISION
Renovating bunkers is never simply a matter of replacing sand and reshaping
edges. It is a strategic decision about course identity, maintenance philosophy,
and long-term sustainability. At Carnmoney, two guiding principles emerged:
GreenMaster • CGSA •
11