Bunker Maintenance Costs

[Nicholas Coppolo]

I was inspired by Chip's post on bunker styles and thought I'd ask something I've always wondered :

To those who know, what are the maintenance costs in terms of man-hours, equipment, chemicals, and materials associated with the following bunkers?

#1


#2


#3


#4

[Jim_Kennedy]

Nick,
Here is a good place to start:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/interviewrandquistno1.html

.......and to continue:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/interviewrandquistno2.html

[Matt OBrien]

I recently played Rolling Green and they were in the process of renovating thier bunkers. I didnt not realize the work that goes into installing drains,re-shaping, and stapling the faces. After seeing that I have a new appreciation for the work done by the crews. Does anybody know what it would cost to do a project that big?

[Mark Chaplin]

A small links pot bunker will take a couple of men a couple of days to re-build the sod wall. A new bunker will cost around £2500 to build from scratch. A well built bunker will need completely re-building roughly every ten years so a links course with 12 bunkers will have an annual commitment to keep the bunkers in tip top order.

[Charlie Goerges]

I know this doesn't answer your question, but it is related.

I learned from an assistant superintendent that at his club (36 holes) they spent as much on bunker maintenance as they did on green maintenance. I asked why that was, he said "expectations". Is that not the most insane thing you've ever heard?!

Per the other thread on bunkers, I think Tommy N. needs to show a few of these players the 2-club maneuver...on the back of their heads!

[JSPayne]

Ok, I'll try to do some math. 

The bunkers at my course are similar to the first picture....manicured edges with "fingers" or "noses."

First, the cold, hard numbers: 39 total bunkers amounting to 93,454 sq. ft. and approx. 1226 tons of sand

Regular Maintenance:

Spot rake (drive around in a cart and manually rake any really bad areas):
3x week @ 3 man hours = 9 hrs/wk = 468 hrs/yr

Speed rake (Sand Pro 3-wheeler just rakes the bottom, as in the first picture above):
2x week @ 4 man hours = 8 hrs/wk = 416 hrs/yr

Full rake (Sand Pro + hand rake edges)
3x week @ 6 man hours = 18 hrs/wk = 936 hrs/yr

Mow Bunker Fingers (use manual push mower, because riding mowers can't access that skinny of a section)
Every other week @ 32 man hours = 16 hrs/wk = 832 hrs/yr

Full Bunker Trim (weedeat edges, push sand from bottom back up onto steep faces, pull weeds, mow fingers)
Every 6 weeks @ 72 man hours = 12 hrs/wk = 624 hrs/yr

Other Bunker Work (such as pumping water after storms, replacing small amount of sand lost by play, cleaning out wind debris)
Approx 300 hrs/ yr

Total Annual Maintenance = 3,576 hrs/yr @ avg wage of $10/hr = $35,760

Capitalized Costs = Bunker rebuilds after approx 8-10 years
(Involves removing all sand, reassessing/repairing drains, strip surrounding sod and regrade, install new sod and sand)
We just started doing this and the cost on our initial bunker recently completed are approx $2 per sq foot

Total Rennovation Cost every 8-10 years = Approx $200,000 = $20,000 per year


Never actually did that exercise before......good info for me to carry forward to my boss and golfers. I prefer to keep bunker maintenance as little as possible, but the design and aesthetic intentions of this course require the above as a minimum to keep the bunkers in sync with the rest of the course.

I've considered the options and they basically are to do minimal raking or rake less often (reduces quality of bunker surfaces and aesthetics and increases golfer complaints), rennovate less frequently (same issues as the last option) or try to redesign the original intention, create a different look for the course, possibly eliminate some bunkers.....but I have no idea what all that would cost. Significant money up front that may take many years to actually realize as savings.

[JMEvensky]

JSPayne,thanks for taking the time/trouble.

My understanding,I think from a USGA publication or maybe from something/someone on this DG,was that bunker maintenance represented ~ 22% of a "normal" budget's manpower hours.

Is your $35,000 figure the result of your bunkers having been de-maintained relative to past years in an effort to hold down labor costs?

[JSPayne]

I don't know exactly what you mean by de-maintained, but the figure I pulled there is just from quick brain-math. As usual, the actual expenditure is probably significantly higher (factor in use & abuse of machinery, cost of added sand, payroll taxes, etc. etc.).

Doing a little more math, I discoverd that the hours I represented above only amount to about 2.5% of my budgeted manpower hours for the year for the whole course. Doesn't seem so bad looking at it that way.

I guess the easy response is, yeah, the bunkers could be maintained to a much higher standard (full rake daily, edge/trim/mow more often, fluff the sand for better playability, more diligence in checking for proper sand levels and functioning drainage, etc.) but the reality of it is that I feel what I am doing now is the near minimum to keep them in reasonable condition and aethestic appearance by what I've subjectivly ascertained as an acceptable level for my course and golfer satisfaction. The further reality is that in order to maintain them better, I would need more people (and payroll is being squeezed big time right now) or something else on the course would have to suffer when I pull manpower away to the bunkers.

I agree with most on this site and think bunkers are hazards, and should not be pristine and perfect. Just maintained to a reasonable level. The figure I came up with represents that for my course and my course only. I think you'll find it wildly varies.

[JMEvensky]

Thanks for the reply.

By "de-maintained",I did mean maintained to a lesser extent than previously.

The reason I asked was that,like most clubs,we were looking for ways to cut back some labor costs and bunkers seemed like a logical place to start.It's easy to assume the moral high ground of saving money while,simultaneously,upholding the "hazard" part of the bunkers.

My theory has always been that de-maintaining bunkers is a great way to penalize the better player while doing no harm to the poor player.No matter how pristinely a bunker is raked,most poor players are dead anyway.

Unfortunately,they never really understand the favor that you're doing them by saving them money based on their lack of talent.People are funny that way.

[Bradley Anderson]

Ok, I'll try to do some math. 

The bunkers at my course are similar to the first picture....manicured edges with "fingers" or "noses."

First, the cold, hard numbers: 39 total bunkers amounting to 93,454 sq. ft. and approx. 1226 tons of sand

Regular Maintenance:

Spot rake (drive around in a cart and manually rake any really bad areas):
3x week @ 3 man hours = 9 hrs/wk = 468 hrs/yr

Speed rake (Sand Pro 3-wheeler just rakes the bottom, as in the first picture above):
2x week @ 4 man hours = 8 hrs/wk = 416 hrs/yr

Full rake (Sand Pro + hand rake edges)
3x week @ 6 man hours = 18 hrs/wk = 936 hrs/yr

Mow Bunker Fingers (use manual push mower, because riding mowers can't access that skinny of a section)
Every other week @ 32 man hours = 16 hrs/wk = 832 hrs/yr

Full Bunker Trim (weedeat edges, push sand from bottom back up onto steep faces, pull weeds, mow fingers)
Every 6 weeks @ 72 man hours = 12 hrs/wk = 624 hrs/yr

Other Bunker Work (such as pumping water after storms, replacing small amount of sand lost by play, cleaning out wind debris)
Approx 300 hrs/ yr

Total Annual Maintenance = 3,576 hrs/yr @ avg wage of $10/hr = $35,760

Capitalized Costs = Bunker rebuilds after approx 8-10 years
(Involves removing all sand, reassessing/repairing drains, strip surrounding sod and regrade, install new sod and sand)
We just started doing this and the cost on our initial bunker recently completed are approx $2 per sq foot

Total Rennovation Cost every 8-10 years = Approx $200,000 = $20,000 per year


Never actually did that exercise before......good info for me to carry forward to my boss and golfers. I prefer to keep bunker maintenance as little as possible, but the design and aesthetic intentions of this course require the above as a minimum to keep the bunkers in sync with the rest of the course.

I've considered the options and they basically are to do minimal raking or rake less often (reduces quality of bunker surfaces and aesthetics and increases golfer complaints), rennovate less frequently (same issues as the last option) or try to redesign the original intention, create a different look for the course, possibly eliminate some bunkers.....but I have no idea what all that would cost. Significant money up front that may take many years to actually realize as savings.

JS,

Thanks for putting that up there for everyone to see. 

Very impressive. One of my goals is to get into the renovation of bunkers on an 8 to 10 year cycle. But there is some ground work that I need to lay first before we can take that work on every fall. You mentioned that you just started doing this. Can you share what got you started on this effort, and what some of the preliminary steps were to get started?

Thanks.

[TEPaul]

"Total Rennovation Cost every 8-10 years = Approx $200,000 = $20,000 per year"

JSPayne:

Would you mind being a bit more specific about what you believe constitutes total bunker rennovation cost every 8-10 years? I assume you mean basically sand and drainage rennovation. You don't mean essentially taking the surrounds apart and basically starting all over again, do you? The latter is what Merion East did in 1999 and 2000. Some wish they hadn't done the latter instead of just sticking with the first two steps.

[JSPayne]

Brad and TEPaul,

Regarding the bunker rennovation.....I use the word rennovation very lightly. It's more or less a face-lift and much less of a major overhaul. Rennovations can be extreme......when I was at Meadow Club we did a RESTORATION that was much more work, involved removing many more square feet of sod and involved major regrading and groundwork. Here's what my plans basically consist of:

First off, this is not a MAJOR project....and I never announce it as such to my management. It is merely a maintenance project that I meld into the normal routine maintenance during this time of year when there are less golfers and the grass doesn't need as much attention and we have a little more manpower available.

The rennovations come about mainly by necessity. By no means are we rennovating every bunker this year, or within two years. The way I basically see it is that if we do 3-4 of our 39 bunkers every year, we can keep on a continuous cycle of rennovation without having to request large sums of money all at once.

The first bunker we did was the one with the most contamination of the sand, it didn't drain properly and always puddled, was in a high traffic area right in front of a green and as such had the most wear around the edges including a large amount of sand splash build-up around the edges. The grass was growing very poorly and large clumps of the edge had started to erode into the bunker itself.

The process went as such: remove all the old sand from the bunker, remove about 2 passes of sod with the sod cutter from around the entire edge, including all the sod on the fingers. Regrading merely consisted of scraping down the sand build-up mainly on the top edge and fingers of the bunker to find the original grade soil. Find the end caps to all the drain fingers and flush the drain to see if it's working. Repair any cuts/breaks/etc. This first bunker had one severed finger of the drain and one finger was installed without an end cap and was completely full of sand, which is why the bunker wouldn't drain well. Now we've got the bunker back to more or less original condition. Resod the edges first, so nightly irrigation or rainfall doesn't wash exposed soil into new sand and contaminate it right away. Then refill the bunker with fresh sand, 6 compacted inches in the bottom and 3-4 compacted inches on the faces.

The costs that I came up with were only based on the manpower I listed at an average hourly rate, cost of new sod for the edges, and the cost of sand. The cost of repairs to the drain were minimal in this case.

This is the same basic formula I plan to follow on the next worse-shape bunker, then the next, then the next. Hopefully completing 3-4 before tournament season late next spring. Next fall we will reassess the next 4 worst bunkers.

For a moderate budgeted, busy public course like mine, I think this is the least intrusive and budget-minded way to keep up on keeping the bunkers in good working condition. Private clubs may find this process easier as most are closed on Mondays and have larger crews and can probably knock out a few bunkers per Monday depending on size and any other restraints or obstacles.

Essentially, all I'm trying to do is hold on to the orginal design of the bunker as much as possible. No doubt the edges will deteriorate and the bunker will get bigger and lose shape with more time. And in 20-30 years it may neccessary to do a more major overhaul, along with other golf course elements that will need some rennovation undoubtably.

And I will state one more time, this is what works for MY course and only my course. If there's one thing I've learned in this industry, it's that every golf course is it's own animal, with it's own challanges, and every project seems to need it's own special tweaks and adjustments, as well as adjustement to costs based on cost of materials, local wages and expectations of the membership. Please only view this as somewhat of a loose guideline about how one superintendent plans to try to stick to a decent rennovation schedule. 

[Sam Maryland]

JME,

I found your theory on de-maintaining of bunkers being more penal to the better player to be interesting.

At Bethpage the crew does such an incredible job maintaining all the courses but there's just so much overall bunker surface that keeping them all raked on any sort of regular basis is almost impossible.  As such some of the guys in our group instituted a "bunker rule" whereby you can rake it and place it if your ball lands in footprints (some can be very very very deep). 

I always figured I was giving away shots to lousy bunker players by letting them rake.  My theory being I think I can get it on the green from just about any lie in the bunker, reasonably close from perfect lies.  But even though several of the guys I play with are quite good they are mostly self-taught and have no concept of opening the club face and using bounce (or not).  For them a good result from a perfect lie is on the green, close is an accident...on the flipside, in some of the big bunkers we have at Bethpage unraked these guys would only have a 50/50% chance of finishing the hole.

Just a thought.

SM

PS...caddied for a tour player friend of mine at Westchester a few years ago, the only time I felt a bit uncomfotable was raking those bunkers, tour players fanatical about it.

 

[Willie_Dow]

J/S & Sam:

Do you not find that the sod you have replaced facing to the south or southeast is dying ?

Would it have been a better choice to leave that sod in place ?

[Nicholas Coppolo]

Thanks JS for the numbers breakdown!

All,
Does raking flashed sand faces require more or less maintenance than mowing steep grass faces, or maintaining revetted faces or is it all the same?

Also, how difficult is it to mow closely the edges of the bunkers like picture 1 and 3?  I'm assuming it requires hand mowing every bunker which must be extremely expensive/time consuming.

[Bradley Anderson]

JS,

The process that you described in post 11 is what I have in mind for my club.

It would be really benefical to everyone on this site if you could show some pictures of your process JS. I think that what you have shared here is hugely significant.

[JSPayne]

Willie-

Sod to the S/SE will burn up quicker than anything else. The bunker we just did needs regular attention even at this time of year, with handwatering mainly, until it roots well and can survive on it's own. However, the end result after babying it for a bit will be much better than leaving the 4-6" of sand build-up that was there before that the grass could barely grow out of.

Nick-

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm not really sure what "revetted" faces are. But in regards to steep sand vs. grass, I would put the maintenance about the same, and it depends on what look or playability aspect you want for your course. Steep sand has to be raked carefully to not pull it all down to the bottom and has to be compacted well enough that balls won't plug on it, causing the players to try to hit from a Mt Everest type uphill fried egg lie. Occasionally and after most big storms, you would have to go in and push alot of sand back up on the faces after it erodes down to the bottom. Steep grass faces would probably all involve handtrimming on a regular basis to keep them looking decent and playable, which can also be very time consuming.

Bradley-

Sadly I did not take any pictures of the last bunker we did. But I appreciate your interest and will make it a point of taking some on the next. I had planned to do one more before winter really set in, but am questioning it now because I'm not sure how well the sod will root at this time of year. If I could be sure golfers wouldn't still climb all over it and try to play shots from it even when it's obviously marked ground under repair I'd start tomorrow......but such is public golf. As such, we might have to wait until rain lets up a bit and temperatues warm for faster rooting in the spring.

[JMEvensky]

Sam Maryland,my "theory" is just a nice way of saying that poor players are just as proficient from a footprint as a perfect lie;so what's the point?I know guys who declare a "sandy" when they get a ball out of the bunker on the first jerk.Spending a lot of time/money on bunker maintenance for esthetics is just a waste,IMO.

I,too,have caddied for tour players and agree with their fanaticism of a properly raked bunker.Unfortunately,I learned this the hard way.The upshot is that everyone should be lucky enough to play from a bunker that I've just raked.

JSPayne,again thanks for your responses.This kind of stuff is invaluable.