Few features in golf architecture embody as much identity — and maintenance challenge — as the bunker.
They frame strategy, define style, and, over time, silently erode budgets.
As clubs across the Southeast modernize, the best renovations don’t just reshape bunkers for visual drama — they rebuild them for longevity and purpose.
That’s where Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, and Lawrence Golf Design have focused much of their regional work, from Kiawah Island’s Cougar Point to Upstate South Carolina’s, Holly Tree CC, The Cliffs at Mountain Park and 3’s Greenville.
Bunkers built decades ago often suffer from contaminated sand, failed liners, compacted floors, and excessive maintenance needs. They were sculpted for visual punch — not for sustainability.
Modern renovation reframes bunkers as strategic and ecological design elements.
At Pine Lake Country Club and Holly Trees CC, Lawrence Golf Design’s Master Plan emphasized bunker renovation enhancing drainage, aesthetic, playability and maintainability.
The Southeast’s climate demands attention to detail below the surface.
Lawrence’s team designs bunkers with multi-layered drainage systems, integrating:
At Pine Lakes CC, this approach reduced post-rain repairs. The result: bunkers that recover quickly — even after intense storm events.
Bunker sand is a design tool as much as a maintenance variable. Color, texture, and particle shape determine both the aesthetic tone and playability.
Lawrence Golf Design specifies sources angular sands whenever possible — to ensure the highest level of playability and minimal maintenance inputs.
Classic bunkers often aged into obscurity — overgrown lips, buried edges, or slopes too steep to maintain.
Jeff Lawrence reshapes them for visibility, accessibility, and fairness.
At Cougar Point, bunkers were refined to accentuate approach angles without overwhelming average players.
Edges were softened for maintenance machinery, while interior contours subtly redirected runoff away from the green surrounds.
“Bunkers should look intimidating from the tee, not unplayable from the sand,” says Lawrence.
Reducing bunker count doesn’t mean reducing character. Lawrence Golf Design’s philosophy replaces redundancy with restraint — emphasizing natural shaping, shadow contrast, and strategic positioning over sheer quantity.
The shift lowered inputs while improving pace of play — a subtle win for both golfers and superintendents.
Great bunkers don’t sit on the land — they emerge from it.
Lawrence Golf Design’s work across Upstate and coastal South Carolina prioritizes edge integration through:
These techniques produce bunkers that look carved by weather, not machinery — a subtle distinction, but one that modern players and search engines alike identify with authentic craftsmanship.
While bunker renovation is visible, its biggest ROI is often invisible — realized in reduced man-hours, fewer washouts, and longer intervals between sand replacement.
As weather volatility increases, so does the importance of resilient shaping and stormwater integration.
Jeff Lawrence foresees a future where bunkers become multi-functional — collecting, filtering, and redirecting surface flow as part of the course’s larger drainage network.
It’s less about the bunker as obstacle and more about the bunker as infrastructure — equal parts form, function, and sustainability.
Modern bunker renovation isn’t a cosmetic upgrade — it’s a systems redesign.
Through careful integration of engineering, aesthetics, and agronomy, courses can transform their most visible features into their most sustainable assets.