Interviews

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Richard Humphreys
/ Categories: News

Kiawah Island Club completes bunker renovation work on Cassique course

Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina, USA, has completed a bunker renovation project on its Cassique course, using synthetic revetted faces from DuraBunker with the Better Billy Bunker liner.

The private club has two layouts, the Tom Fazio-designed River course and the Cassique, which was designed by Tom Watson’s firm and opened in 2000. It is close to the famous Kiawah Island Resort; whose Ocean course hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup and 2012 PGA Championship.

According to Rhydian Lewis, the founder of DuraBunker, the new bunkers are a mix of classic ‘Golden Age’-style bunkers and revetted traps more typical of links courses. He says that some have been modelled on famous bunkers from other courses, such as two on the sixth hole which closely resemble the ‘Spectacles’ on the fourteenth at Carnoustie.

“Any golf course set near the shoreline is particularly susceptible to the effects of coastal erosion and extreme weather conditions,” said Lewis. “Our US partner, Better Billy Bunker, discussed the benefits of our product with the client and explained how a combination of their seamless liner and our synthetic bunker faces would offer what we christened the ‘Fully Sealed Bunker System’, which eradicates problematic issues associated with bunker bases and bunker faces.”

Charlie Arrington, director of design and planning at Kiawah Island, is overseeing the renovation of the Cassique course. “All golf courses change over time. They evolve sometimes in a direction that wasn’t part of the original design, sometimes they evolve for the better. DuraBunker gives a much crisper edge on bunkers as well as stronger shadow lines.”

“The biggest thing that the membership will notice is the artificial stack sod bunkers that we put in,” said Dylan Thew, director of golf at Kiawah Island. “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.”

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Slideshow HTML
  • Cassique

    Kiawah Island Club has introduced new bunkers on its Cassique course

  • Cassique

    The ‘Spectacles’ bunkers on the sixth closely resemble those on the fourteenth at Carnoustie

  • Cassique

    DuraBunker has added contouring and edging around the outside of some bunkers

  • Cassique

    The bunkers combine the Better Billy Bunker liner with synthetic faces from DuraBunker

Richard Humphreys

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