Mountain Sky Guest Ranch announces bunker enhancement project

Montana’s Mountain Sky Guest Ranch has announced the start of a bunker enhancement project on its Rising Sun Golf Course.

Spearheaded by Davis Love III’s Love Golf Design, the project will include the removal of ten bunkers, while adding 30 more. The existing bunkers will be modified and updated for improved drainage and edging using the Eco Bunker system.

Used primarily overseas at notable layouts such as Kingsbarns, Open Championship site Royal St. George’s and 2023 Ryder Cup host Marco Simone, the Eco Bunker system incorporates stacked sod bunker edges using recycled artificial grass. Rising Sun will also implement Sandtrapper liner in the basins to drain and minimize washouts during inclement weather. Once completed, the bunkers will be refilled with the same sand currently in the existing bunkers.

Heritage Links will begin working on the bunker enhancement project in mid-March, with completion set for later this summer. Once completed, Rising Sun will join a roster of U.S. golf courses using the Eco Bunker system that includes The Medalist in Florida, Secession Golf Club in South Carolina and TPC Sugarloaf in Georgia.

“The bunker renovation is a major investment back into the Rising Sun Golf Course and emphasizes our desire to maintain a world-class golf course for our ranch guests,” superintendent and general manager Mike Petersen said. “The new bunkers will enhance the golf experience at Rising Sun, both aesthetically and from a playability standpoint.”

The Johnny Miller-designed, par-72 links style course is exclusive to the guests at Mountain Sky Guest Ranch. Through their conservation efforts, Rising Sun is the first golf course in Montana to become a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary by Audubon International.