Supply chain issues delayed bunker work at course

One of the most obvious side effects of the global pandemic has been supply chain issues, causing shortages in everything from new cars to baby formula.

But there is a shortage of something that you might not expect hitting one desert golf facility: a lack of sand for bunkers.

For Desert Princess Country Club in Cathedral City, California, the shortage meant plans to replace sand in 51 bunkers on the 27-hole golf facility were derailed. And it meant golfers were hitting shots into bunkers covered only with black rubber liners rather than sand.

“We are going to write it off this year because of (the upcoming) prime season,” said Rodney Young, in his first full year as head golf professional at Desert Princess. “We can’t be doing bunker projects. So we are going to reset and reorganize and see if we can’t get it done next July.”

In the last week, the course finally found about 500 tons of sands from a source in central California, meaning the greenside bunkers on the Lagos nine-hole layout were finally filled with white sand. But the rest of the work on the Vista and Cielo nines will wait until next summer.

The board at Desert Princess had approved the replacement of the bunker sand and work had actually begun on greenside bunkers on the Lagos course, one of three nine-hole layouts at Desert Princess. The plan was much like the plans at dozens of golf courses in the Coachella Valley each summer. Take the summer months that see fewer golfers on the course and make capital improvements to the layout in anticipation of the busier winter months.

But work on all 27 holes that was expected to be finished first in August and then in September came to a halt because of both the shortage of bunker sand and an inability to get that sand to the Cathedral City facilities.

Young said staff at Desert Princess made the decision that new sand was needed in the greenside bunkers because of contamination from desert blow sand and deteriorating liners. Young said some members at the course said the sand hasn’t been changed for at least 15 years.

Not just desert sand

Sand used for bunkers on golf courses is much different than the sand found in natural desert dunes. Desert sand is smaller (between 0.1 and 0.5 mm compared to up to 1.0 mm for bunker sand) and doesn’t support the weight of a golf ball when it hits the sand. In fact, the United States Golf Association designates nine key characteristics of bunker sand, from size to particle shape to crusting…