Major bunker renovation at the Kiawah Island Club

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The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, hosting this year’s USPGA Championship, but just 10 minutes along the coast, a major bunker renovation involving UK based Durabunker, has just been completed. Cassique GC, at the Kiawah Island Club, designed by golfing legend, Tom Watson, began its first major renovation in 2017.

Durabunker’s synthetic bunker faces are not new to the USA, having undertaken multiple projects at PGA Tour Venues such as Conway Farms GC in Chicago, Greg Norman Designed Tennessee National, the iconic Indy 500 golf course at Brickyard Crossing, as well as the new build at TPC Colorado.

Dylan Thew, director of golf at Kiawah Island, commented “The biggest thing that the membership will notice is the artificial sod wall bunkers. The bunkers on hole eight, demonstrate the versatility of the product, we haven’t just built high walls, we’ve actually used Durabunker to add contouring and permanent edging around the outside of some bunkers.”

Rhydian Lewis, described as the co-inventor of all design patents associated with synthetic bunker edging, commented: “Any golf course set near the shoreline is particularly susceptible to the effects of coastal erosion and extreme weather conditions. Not only have the club safeguarded the deeper pot bunkers for many decades to come, but they’ve also utilized the product to frame bunker edges and future proof the re-design. We offer our synthetic bunker edges in conjunction with multiple different liners, offering objective advice to clients and enabling them to make informed decisions based on their often unique circumstances. Cassique chose a seamless liner to complement our synthetic edges, producing what we pioneered in the marketplace as the complete bunker system, and Christened ‘The Fully Sealed Bunker System’. This system really is the gold standard in bunker construction and is eradicating the long tolerated issues around bunker maintenance, such as washout, erosion, flooding and contamination.”