08/24/2026
We are sharing this instructional (and beautiful) short video about how to do things right, in hopes that the bunker conditions at Bobby Jones Golf Club can be corrected...before someone gets hurt.
Already, the course's reputation has taken hits, as players complain about conditions that are a factor of the design and/or construction of the "renovation/restoration". Poor reviews and word-of-mouth translate into lost repeat-round revenue and lower tourism participation.
DONALD ROSS restoration expert (guru?) Ron Prichard (who gracefully accepted our invitation to submit a (unfortunately rejected by City staff) response to the City's RFQ for its reinvestment in BJGC), DONALD ROSS student and author Brad Becken and DONALD ROSS Society President Vaughn Halyard review the masterwork DONALD ROSS Minikahda Club's bunkers with its great superintendent Jeff Johnson GCSSA, TWENTY THREE YEARS after they were restored!
(NOTE that the American Society of Golf Course Architects AND the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America AND the National Golf Foundation AND the PGA of America AND the USGA all recommend replacement of bunker sand every 5-7 years). Add it up and you'll realize that DOING IT RIGHT the FIRST TIME has SAVED Minikahda Club something in the neighborhood of (conservatively) a quarter-of-a-million dolllars, PLUS the lost revenue of course maintenance downtime.
Since the historic 1925 DONALD ROSS Bobby Jones Golf Club's reopening two years back, the design details and installation that followed those details for sand trap construction have wreaked havoc on players and course maintenance folks alike.
What does this mean?
BJGC managers have had to issue warnings to players about hazardous conditions in the sand traps, and (the once-revered City Championship) tournament players have had to accept "free drops" IN the hazards due to unacceptable and unfair conditions.
The City's golf course consultant is fully aware of the problem but has not stepped up to take any responsibility, and the City is not holding anyone in its course design, construction or management project accountable, so the taxpayer may be left holding the bag for required fixes that are clearly SYSTEMIC within the design and/or construction.
The hundreds of thousands of dollars SAVED at Minikahda represent the opposite of Bobby Jones Golf Course's likely fate: a need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars MORE (and much sooner) to catch up to the level of conditioning that allows a golf course to provide the return on investment that is otherwise expected following such a large infusion of cash ($12M+ and $1M+ to the golf course consultant alone).
The BJGC diligent superintendent Ian Murphy GCSAA is playing catch-up, having to address the issue in whack-a-mole fashion, doing the best to remove the failed fabric linings as they emerge and patch in with additional sand. But every single day, newly exposed linings only add to the problem.
This cut-and-patch strategy should not be accepted by the Bond holders (the City or its leaders, staff and citizens, your kids) as a solution.
While the contractor's Warrantee expired without City claim (inexplicably, since we met with the City Mayor and informed her about this situation months prior), Florida statutes and the courts may provide the last remaining avenue for the taxpayers to claim what it has a right to: what it paid for.
We hope that the citizens raise their voices in support of return on investment, to honor this effort and investment in the Restoration and Preservation of the City of Sarasota's greatest Historic resource.
Donald Ross Society Past President, Brad Becken, sparks a discussion with Golf Architect Ron Prichard, and Jeff Johnson, Golf Course Superintendent, Minikahda Club. A Donald Ross Society Film Executive Producers: Brad Becken and Vaughn Halyard for the Donald Ross Society Produced and Directed By: Va...
