Bunker Construction and Maintenance Costs

[Mike Bowline]

I am working on the construction of a new golf course and I have learned hands-on what exactly is involved in the construction of a sand-filled bunker: shaping, finishing, edging, interior contouring, exterior drainage lines to daylight, interior drainage installation, sand installation, and grow-in of grass around the perimeter. It is quite an involved process and much more detailed than I had imagined prior to actually being a part of the work.

My question for architects on GCA is this: what is the rule of thumb for the price to build a bunker on a new course? I understand there are many variables, but I am hoping there is a ballpark number or cost range that is used during conceptual estimating.

And for those involved in golf course maintenance: what is the annual cost to maintain a bunker (again, rule of thumb)? Annual maintenance would include the cost of bunker re-building every ___ years amortized over the bunker’s life.

I am also interested in the relationship of costs between building a new bunker on a new golf course and re-building an existing bunker on an existing golf course.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Mike- This is so difficult to answer because bunkers are just so variable, a little pot in a natural site can be fairly cheap but others can cost. Sand is variable from place to place. In the UK some quality sands have risen from $30 to $80 per tonne in just 4 years. Maintenance costs could largely be worked out by area x use x location. Each bunker can be quite unique.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Mike,

The Golf Course Builders has some generalized cost guides that might be of help.  Here are the basic costs from a recent project, but as noted, site conditions make bids vary considerably.

For example, for shaping, is it one bunker or an entire cousre. The price will vary, but for a typical 2000 sf bunker it might look like this

BUNKERS- 4" COMPACTED SAND DEPTH
           
Move In, Staging, Tests   LS   1,000.00   1,000.00
Strip Topsoil and Replace   120 CY   3.00   360
Shaping                                   LS   2500   2500
BUNKER PREP          
Spray Weeds                 2000 SF   0.05   100
4" Perforated Tile - 20'Spacing   200 LF   7.00   1400
6" Perforated Pipe   20 LF   8.00   160
Flush Outs/Catch Basins   2 EA   75.00   150
Cut Bunker Edge                  300 LF   6.00   1800
Purchase Fabric Liner
(SandMat400)                 2200 SF   0.50   1100
Install Fabric Liner                 2000 SF   1.00   2000
SAND         
Purchase Sand- 4" Depth      2000 SF   1.00   2000
Place Sand ($70 PER TON)     2000 SF    0.40   800
SODDING         
Banks and Edges                10,000 SF   0.35   3500
         
TOTAL          13,370.00

Biggest variables are sand cost, which I have seen between $10 and $100 per ton, and going up with trucking, the decision to use liner.

Project size matters, too. We did an entire course with similar costs for about $346,000, translating to just over $4 per sf.  There rather than the $7 for a single bunker above.

We had alternate bids for getting rid of existing sand in that, and hauling materials off can raise bids substantially, This presumes you can bury every thing on site.

BTW, its also the average of the three low bids. I suspect you could get all those unit costs down a little bit with in house labor, a good bid whatever.


Sorry for the formatting.......