Better Billy Bunkers on Winged Foot Golf Club - Home of the 2020 US Open

Bunker renovations continue at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY under the guidance of consulting architect Gil Hanse and Certified Golf Course Superintendent Steve Rabideau.  Certified installers Labar Golf Renovations and Maxwell Turf are teaming up in a joint effort to install Better Billy Bunkers on the entirety of the course. 

Winged Foot Golf Club began installing a series of trial Better Billy Bunkers in 2011 and they performed so well that the decision was made to completely renovate using the revolutionary method that eliminates washouts and contamination by eliminated fabric liners and binding local stone together while maintaing porosity. Because of Better Billy Bunkers extreme drainage capabilities the sand does not get a chance to load with water and therefore wash out (known as "Radial Slide").  The Better Billy Bunker method also serves as a barrier to keep the sand contaminate free. 

Winged Foot Golf Club has also been selected to host the 2020 US Open. It will be the club's first major since Geoff Ogilvy won the US Open in 2006. Winged Foot Golf Club has previously hosted US Opens in 1929, 1959, 1974, 1984, hosted the PGA Championship in 1997, and US Amateur in 2004. Steve Rabideau and staff continue to make the beautiful A.W. Tillinghast original design look immaculate.

Poppy Hills Golf Course - Pebble Beach, CA - Renovation

Superintendent Manny Sousa at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach is looking forward to reopening his facility after a massive renovation to the legendary California course. In addition to some other major renovations the course selected the revolutionary Better Billy Bunker Method (Better Billy Bunker Website) to go in on all 130,000 square feet of it bunkers. Certified Better Billy Bunker installers Frontier Golf Construction and DHR Construction are combining efforts to bring to life the Robert Trent Jones II renovation. The project is in its final phase, and is looking fabulous.

Check out the link below to see how it is going:
POPPY HILLS GC RENOVATION - Pebble Beach, CA

Valhalla Golf Club - A year after Better Billy Bunker installation

Roger Meier and staff have done a wonderful job getting Valhalla Golf Club ready after the course was closed for much of 2012 for a bunker, irrigation, and greens renovation. On a recent trip to Louisville, the Better Billy Bunker crew stopped in and took a tour. Roger Meier and staff have done a fabulous job preparing the grounds for the PGA Championship in 2014. The beautiful Nicklaus design has previously hosted four PGA Championships (1996, 2000), two Senior PGA Championships (2004, 2011) and a Ryder Cup (2008).

In 2012 Better Billy Bunkers were installed in a number of bunkers on the course, and a year later the sand is still contaminant free and the bunkers are draining as advertised. Below are a few pictures a year after installation.

How The Better Billy Bunker Method Works

Start with a poor draining contaminated bunker

Old material is removed and bunker core is prepared for local rock installation

Local rock is installed per specification

The local rock is ready for the patented application installation

The patented method of application takes place. Only done by certified installers. Contact for Listings/Questions

Product is applied to specification insuring customer satisfaction

Bunker in foreground with white sand used the Better Billy Bunker Method. The two bunkers in the background used traditional methods, and over time sand contamination resulted causing clogged drain lines and washouts

Beautiful bunker after 2 inch rain. The Better Billy Bunker! 10 Year limited warranty. Durable-Linerless-Guaranteed!

Patent Pending 2009 Installed ONLY by Certified Installers

The History of the Better Billy Bunker

The Evolution and History of The Better Billy Bunker

The industry tagged the name Billy Bunker for former Augusta National Golf Club’s superintendent Billy Fuller, who invented this bunker construction specification in 1981. The design was to improved a bunker’s drainage and playability by using drainage pipe, a layer of pea gravel, a cloth liner and quality bunker sand.

And it worked! Billy Bunker became the standard specification used by hundreds of golf courses.

The specification has been improved, eliminating the need for a geo-textile liner and now the Better Billy Bunker Method has been developed to eliminate geo-textile. It uses a patented construction method that is the most durable and fastest draining bunker construction method on the market. Below the ST410 polymer is applied using the patented technique.