Bunker lining specialist ZLine has introduced a new sand-coloured synthetic material that is designed to provide a cost-effective and more durable alternative to real sand for use in bunkers on driving ranges, where they are only used as visual aids around target greens.
RANGEline is a UV-coated synthetic material that replicates the aesthetic value of sand bunkers on the range, giving golfers a powerful aiming tool, but it is essentially maintenance-free. The product was formerly known at SRL-16, but has been redesigned to be thicker and denser, so it absorbs impacts better. It is also UV resistant, ensuring that the colour of the material can withstand sunlight exposure.
“RANGEline helps course operators improve the playability and shotmaking of their practice ranges, without increasing maintenance costs,” says Casey Jones, inernational operations manager of ZLine. “It is very cost-effective – the cost of the product is roughly the same as sand – and over time it will produce an excellent return on investment.
“Ball picking from RANGEline is much easier than from a sand bunker, as the picking machine can drive over it. Even if the ‘bunker’ is inaccessible to the picker, it is far easier to rake up the balls than to pick them from sand – which has to be done by hand.”
