What Is A Revetted Bunker?

What Is A Revetted Bunker?

What exactly are revetted bunkers and what does the word 'revetted' mean?

They are a common feature on a vast number of courses across the British Isles, including the Open Championship venues, the best links courses in the UK and many of the UK and Ireland's top 100 golf courses.

The dictionary definition of revetted is: "to face, as an embankment, with masonry or other material." It comes from the French word 'revetir', which means 'to put on, wear or don.'

In golfing terms, a revetted bunker is one where sods (grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by roots or a piece of thin material) are used on top of each other to create a layered effect, which helps to fortify the bunker and play mind games with the golfer.

Other benefits include better on-course aesthetics and a reduction in wind-based erosion, which can be a real issue with non-revetted bunkers.

Construction starts at the base and works its way upwards in a sphere all the way around the bunker. There will be between 25 and 50 layers, depending on the size and depth of the trap. A typical revetted bunker costs around £1,000 to build.

They are often employed as strategic features, too, as the grass around them tends to be shaved, attracting more golf balls and essentially doubling or tripling the size of the bunker from a strategic point of view.

After the bunker has been revetted, the next stage is to excavate a hole for drainage purposes, before coring - which includes cleaning and smoothing the bunker, compacting the bunker floor and distributing the top soil - and sand filling.

Revetted bunkers, which can also be known as 'pot bunkers' when in the fairway of links courses, look great but they're definitely ones to avoid when playing a round of golf.