Written by: Allan Patterson
2021
Prior to the 1986 Open Championship, the bunkers on The Ailsa were natural rather than revetted. We wanted to reinstate these and return the course back to how it used to look. The project was discussed with our owner and after a consultation period was approved as part of the renovation works and extended to King Robert the Bruce and Arran courses.
The fairway bunkers are now natural and the greenside revetted on both of the main courses and all of the bunkers on the 9-hole Arran course are naturalized. Prior to the renovation, we had around 200 revetted bunkers which is now down to around 80. This saves both resources on general maintenance and material requirements due to the reduction of revetted turf.