Subject: Superintendent's Newsletter

All sand whether it is bunker sand or rootzone mix is tested using a sand sieve analysis. This separates all sand particles within a specific blend from 2mm - .05mm. With bunker sand, particles within the .5mm, .25mm and .1mm range are supposed to make up 78-100% of the total blend and the distribution of these three sizes determines whether it is a firm or soft mix. The bunker sand we have is an extra firm which means it's angular, it has 25.3% .5mm(coarse), 34.9% .25mm(medium) and 28% .1mm(fine) sand particles. The high percentage of fine particles is the factor that really gives our sand the firm quality because it fills in the voids around the coarse particles and compacts. In comparison to the other bunker sand our supplier provides which is a softer blend, it only has 9.7% .1mm(fine) in it's mix. 

 When considering these two types of sand, drainage rate is also a major factor. The extra firm blend because of it's ability to compact so tightly only drains at 17"/hr as compared to the softer blend that drains at 49"/hr. 

 There is a device called a Penetrometer that can measure the firmness of sand. On a scale of <1.8(high tendency for a ball to bury) to >2.4(very low tendency to bury) our sand measures at a 2.6.

 The bunker sand we get from Bruceton Mills has been used at 3 US Opens(Winged Foot, Congressional) and will be used at the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot, it is also used at Laurel Valley and Caves Valley.


 Mike Bogroff
 Golf Course Superintendent
3062 Point Marion Road, Morgantown, WV` 26505, United States
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