PROJECT NEXT25 PROJECT NEXT25
Fact Sheets
Bunkers, sand, turf 2026
THE BETTER BILLY BUNKER METHOD
Guaranteed Performance and Maintenance Savings
Revolutionizing Bunker
Management
The Better Billy Bunker (BBB) Method is globally recognized as the leading solution for bunker construction and renovation. It is a patented, high-performance drainage system that replaces the need for old, failure-prone fabric liners, offering a guaranteed solution that addresses the three most critical bunker problems:
washouts, contamination, and high maintenance costs.
Developed by golf course architect and consultant Billy Fuller, the BBB system utilizes a specialized, seamless polymer-bonded gravel layer that creates a superior, durable interface between the subgrade and the playable sand. Simply put, the Better Billy Bunker Method ensures your hazards are playable, regardless of the weather
Why Better Billy Bunker is Superior:
Unmatched Drainage and Durability
The core advantage of the BBB Method is its unique construction that focuses on rapid, high-volume drainage and extreme durability. It fundamentally changes the maintenance equation for golf course bunkers.
Superiority Metric
Better Billy Bunker Advantage
Benefit Over Traditional Methods
Drainage Capacity
Elimination of Liners
Extreme Water Flow: Drains at over 1,500 inches per hour (some reports up to 2,500" per hour).
Eliminates Washouts: Water drains through the entire bunker floor and faces almost instantly, preventing sand from sliding during heavy rain events.
Sand Purity
Replaces old-style fabric or geotextile liners with a polymer-bonded gravel layer.
The bonded gravel layer creates a physical barrier
Prevents Liner Failure: Eliminates torn, exposed, or damaged fabric liners, which are the main point of failure in older bunker designs
Eliminates Contamination: Stops silt, clay, and subsoil from migrating up into the sand, keeping the bunker sand clean, bright, and playable for years.
Longevity & Warranty
Extremely durable, flexible polymer bond.
Freeze/Thaw Resistance
The flexible polymer-gravel composite allows for natural expansion and contraction
Long-Term Investment: Backed by a comprehensive 10-Year Guarantee and an expected lifespan of 25+ years.
Ideal for All Climates: Maintains structural integrity in regions with extreme weather cycling, unlike rigid liners that are prone to cracking.
The Maintenance and Economic Advantage
The initial investment in the Better Billy Bunker Method results in a dramatic and rapid return on investment (ROI), primarily through substantial reductions in labor and materials costs.
Massive Reduction in Man-Hours: After major storm events, crews no longer spend countless hours shoveling and raking washed-out sand back onto bunker faces or pumping standing water This frees up the grounds crew for other critical course maintenance tasks.
Playability After Rain: Bunkers are often playable immediately after a heavy storm, allowing for minimal course downtime and greater member satisfaction.
Protection of Bunker Sand: By eliminating washouts and contamination, the need to replenish or replace expensive, high-quality bunker sand is significantly reduced.
Durability for Equipment: The system is safe for use with mechanical bunker rakes, allowing superintendents to choose the most efficient maintenance methods.
The Better Billy Bunker System Components
The BBB Method is a simple, two-step application process utilizing proven materials:
1 The Drainage Layer: A 2-inch layer of locally sourced, approved clean drainage gravel (like pea gravel) is laid across the entire bunker floor and faces. This layer is the conduit for water movement.
2.The Polymer Bond: A proprietary, specialized polymer (ST410) is applied by a certified installer. The polymer seeps down, bonding the gravel into a strong, porous, and flexible mat that is stable enough to hold the sand on steep faces but allows water to drain through at an exceptional rate.
The Result: A seamless, rock-solid drainage layer that ensures the playable sand remains in place, stays clean, and drains efficiently, providing an impeccable and consistent playing surface
PRO ANGLE BUNKER SAND
The Geometry of Playability
Engineered for Excellence
Pro Angle Bunker Sand is a specialized, high-performance bunker sand designed to meet the rigorous demands of professional golf course management. Unlike typical sands, which often feature rounded or overly fine particles, Pro Angle is engineered to have a distinct, angular particle shape and a highly controlled size distribution. This specific geometry is the foundation of its superior performance, delivering a bunker experience that is consistent, fair, and exceptionally playable across all conditions.
Why
P
Shape
ro
Angle is Better: The Power of Particle
The key distinction of Pro Angle sand is its highly consistent particle structure The angular shape provides performance benefits that traditional, rounded sands simply cannot match
Superiority Metric Pro Angle Advantage
Penetration/Firmness
Sloping Face Stability
Angular Particle Interlock: The irregular, sharp edges of the particles lock together when packed or wet.
Benefit Over Traditional Sands
Consistency
High Angle of Repose: The interlocking particles provide greater internal friction and stability.
Prevents Fried Eggs:
Significantly limits how deep a golf ball will bury (penetration depth), reducing the dreaded "fried egg" lie and promoting fair play.
Minimizes Washouts: The sand stays in place on steep bunker faces better than rounded sands, even after heavy rain, drastically reducing manual raking labor.
Tight Sizing Distribution: Engineered to minimize fine dust and oversized gravel particles.
Drainage Rate
Ideal Air/Water Voids: The consistency of the particle size creates uniform pore spaces
Optimal Playability: Ensures a uniform striking experience across the entire bunker, enhancing golfer satisfaction and consistency.
Rapid Water Permeability: Allows water to pass through quickly, keeping the sand firm and playable almost immediately after rainfall
Playability and Aesthetic Advantages
Pro Angle Sand is chosen by highend courses because it delivers a superior aesthetic and a consistent feel that aligns with professional play standards.
Exceptional Ball Reaction: The firmness provided by the interlocking nature of the particles allows the club to enter the sand cleanly without digging excessively deep, providing golfers with predictable feedback and control
Bright, Clean Appearance: Its composition is typically a highpurity quartz, resulting in a consistent, vibrant white or light tan color that offers high contrast against the turf, enhancing the visual appeal of the course.
Reduced Splashing: The lack of excessive fines and dust minimizes the amount of sand that splashes onto the green after a successful bunker shot, reducing cleanup labor for the grounds crew.
Resistance to Compaction: While it packs firmly to reduce ball penetration, it remains workable and less prone to severe, concrete-like compaction than sands with a high percentage of silt or clay.
The Sustainable
Choice
Investing in Pro Angle Bunker Sand is a strategic choice that supports long-term operational efficiency:
Reduced Contamination: The tightly sized particles resist the introduction of foreign matter (silt, clay) from wind or rainwater runoff better than widely graded sands, keeping the material clean and extending its life.
Less Replenishment: Its superior stability and resistance to wind erosion and washouts mean that less material needs to be added back to the bunkers over time, saving on annual material costs.
Pro Angle Bunker Sand is the definitive choice for golf courses prioritizing consistency, playability, and reduced maintenance labor. Its unique angular geometry solves the classic problems of excessive ball penetration and sand instability, providing a high-quality, professional-grade hazard that holds up to the most demanding play and weather conditions.
Interesting
Facts about Pro Angel
Sand
It's 300 million years in the making: The raw material, pure silica quartz, comes from the ancient Sharon Conglomerate, a glacial deposit in northeast Ohio that dates back to the Pennsylvanian period
Hard as Steel: Pro Angle sand is chemically robust, boasting a near 100% purity of Silicon Dioxide (SiO2). This composition gives it a hardness rating of 7 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, making the mineral itself as hard and durable as steel, ensuring exceptional longevity in a bunker environment.
The sand that we are using for the bunkers could full 1 ½ Olympic sized swimming pools
34,500,000,000,000 (34.5 trillion) grains of sand will be used for our bunkers. We will have a total of 51 bunkers on the golf course averaging 1431 ft2
007XL CREEPING BENTGRASS
The Next Generation of Turf Excellence
The Superior Bentgrass for the Modern Course
007XL Creeping Bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) is not just another seed it is the culmination of decades of advanced turfgrass breeding, designated as one of the elite "Super Bents™" varieties. Developed at Rutgers University, 007XL represents the 5th generation of high-performance bentgrass, delivering superior turf quality, wear tolerance, and genetic resistance that dramatically reduces maintenance costs and elevates playing surfaces.
This advanced cultivar sets a new industry standard, offering a genetically diverse solution that Excels in all critical performance metrics compared to older and less-optimized varieties.
Why 007XL is Better: Unmatched
Genetic Resistance & Reduced Inputs
The most compelling advantage of 007XL lies in its powerful genetic defense system, translating directly into significant cost savings and sustainable maintenance practices
Superiority Metric 007XL Advantage
Benefit
Over Other Cultivars
Disease Resistance
Key Disease Targets
Superior resistance to all major bentgrass diseases.
Poa annua (Annual Bluegrass) Defense
Excellent resistance to Dollar Spot, Brown Patch, Anthracnose, and Pink/Gray Snow Mold
Requires 50% Less Fungicide or more compared to older varieties like Penncross, saving substantial budget and reducing chemical use.
Ensures turf remains healthy and playable with fewer chemical applications, especially under stress.
High turf density and excellent cool-weather active growth.
Overall Inputs
Less prone to stress and disease
Increased competition and resistance against Poa annua invasion, a major management headache for older greens.
Reduced need for pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizer, leading to lower maintenance costs and a more environmentally friendly approach
World-Class Playing Surface Quality
007XL was specifically bred to meet the rigorous demands of closely-mown golf greens, ensuring a consistently high-quality surface throughout the season.
Exceptional Turf Quality: Consistently rated among the top performers in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) trials for overall turf quality
Optimal Density & Texture: Produces a very high, uniform turf density with a fine leaf texture, which is critical for a smooth, true-rolling putting surface
Tolerance to Low Mowing: Maintains a tight, healthy turf surface even under extremely low mowing heights required for championship-caliber greens
Rapid Recovery: Exhibits superior recovery from ball marks and general turf wear, quickly bouncing back to maintain playability
Stress Tolerance and All-Season Performance
While older bentgrasses often struggle in transitional periods, 007XL is a powerhouse for year-round performance
Excellent Traffic Tolerance: Its dense structure allows it to stand up better to heavy foot traffic from golfers, carts, and maintenance equipment.
Cool Weather Active Growth: It boasts superior active growth in cool temperatures, promoting earlier and better Spring Green-Up and extending the growing season
No Cool-Weather Purpling: Unlike some varieties, 007XL will maintain a bright medium green color and will not purple during the cooler fall and winter months, preserving aesthetic quality.
Heat Tolerance: It is highly adaptable and performs well even in stressful summer environments and transition zones.
The choice of turfgrass is a long-term investment. 007XL Creeping Bentgrass is the advanced-generation solution that delivers on the promise of lower maintenance costs, superior disease defense, and an unmatched, high-quality playing surface making it the definitive choice over any traditional bentgrass variety.
Interesting facts about 007XL grass seed
Bred by "The Bentgrass Doctor": It was developed by the renowned turfgrass breeder Dr. Richard Hurley at Rutgers University, who also bred its successful predecessor, the 007 variety
The "Super Bent™" Class: The 007XL variety is categorized as a "Super Bent™," representing an advanced generation of turfgrass developed through an extensive breeding program at Rutgers University. This program, which began in 1982, has focused on transforming "wild strains" of bentgrass into highly refined, high-performance varieties.
Wide genetic base: Its predecessor, 007, was developed from 24 different parent plants, providing a broad genetic diversity that contributes to overall hardiness and adaptability.
Plant Density: A putting green can have more than 10,000 individual grass plants per square foot
Blade Density: There are conservative estimates of around 27 billion grass blades per acre on putting greens
Top-ranked performance: In Rutgers University trials from 2017 to 2020, it was the first creeping bentgrass to score the number one rank across all four trial years in both greens and fairways.
