Interview: Steven Tate(XGD Bunkers at Lambton GC)Part 1
Lets start with Lambton GC http://www.lambtongolfclub.com/ in Toronto where TDIGolf is completing a complete restoration of the golf club with Rees Jones http://www.reesjonesinc.com/ :
MarkL: Steve, at Lambton TDI used our XGD piping system in the new bunkers at Lambton GC. How did that come about, and what was the installation like, and the final outcome, from a bunker drainage perspective?
SteveT: The idea came about with superintendent Peter Kinch requesting an alternative to traditional bunker drainage methods including peastone. The process has been a home run and worked out well, especially ease of installation with much smaller trenches, much smaller pipe to handle, and the threaded fittings are a nice touch.
ML: Did you use the traditional XGD 6′ spacing in the bunkers at Lambton?
ST: We definitely tried to tighten that up where we thought it necessary to 5′ in some areas. Used a herringbone pattern predominantly with a 2″ XGD mainline in bunker as well, which exits the bunker as a 2″ pipe, and upon the exit up sizes to a 4″ outlet. A bunker with different angles and slopes, using the threaded fittings give you a piece of mind you don’t get with traditional snapped fittings. We backfilled with bunker sand and left crowned. Fortunately, using the same bunker sand as crowning, saves product such as peastone waste from silt contamination. There is certainly less waste of material, and the overall product was much more neat and tidy than we could normally do.
ML: What has been the club’s response to the success so far?
ST: Lambton has been behind us since day one and are thrilled how dry the bunker bottoms are performing as the club is installing the bunker sand after TDI.
ML: Please describe to us the subgrade native material in these bunker rebuilds?
ST: Predominantly clay, with a few stony areas near the river holes.
ML: This is the first time this kind of bunker drainage has ever been installed, especially on an 18 hole scale. While traditional bunker drainage methods are questionable, this XGD alternative may be the wave of the future in bunker drainage.
ST: Absolutely. Bunker sand in the trenches is key, and little contamination is important, and thus using 2″ pipe eliminates need for a sock on the pipe. No sock, and no pea gravel are huge benefits, when you can say that to a superintendent. Volume of 2″ pipe is made up for by actual increased amount of pipe in the bunker, as it is spaced out to handle flow more uniformly with the XGD method.
I would be inclined to consider it in golf tee applications as well. Some architects require us to install a 4″ drain w/gravel in the tee subgrade with questionable results. The XGD System in the tee subgrade would eliminate the perched water in the tees, and for that matter more importantly in the bunker sand, eliminating areas of wet sand perched over traditional bunker drains.
This has been the first in a 3 part series of an interview with the Vice President of TDIGolf, Steve Tate. Stay tuned for the last installments in this series as Steve tells us the varied projects that they have secured for the 2010 season.
Out, Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer
