Recognize 'red flags' now, avoid future headaches

Golf Course News, Jan 2003 by Pinson, Bob

If superintendents and course owners haven't noticed by now, let me spell it out for you: The course construction business is getting pretty tight, and by that I mean too many contractors for too few projects. If you've put a new construction or renovation job out to bid during the last six months, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I bet you never thought you'd have so many friends in the construction trade.

I've been in the course contracting business more than 10 years, and I can tell you this: When things get this tight, the bidding process becomes hyper competitive-meaning contractors will do almost anything to secure the low bid. I don't mean they'll start sending flowers to your wife (though they might); I mean they will promise a price so low, you'd be crazy to refuse it.

Now, I'm not saying you should refuse it. I'm just saying there are times when a bid price is so low, something isn't right. Something has been left out or ignored, and accepting that bid, as is, might risk the success of your project-maybe not immediately, but down the road when you have to go back and fix what wasn't done properly.

Superintendents, course owners, greens chairmen and general managers need to recognize these warning signs. Here are some "red flag" indications that the low bid on your job might have been dangerously under bid:

* Clean dirt. Is-this low-bidder planning to clean the fill it finds on-site or brings in from off-site? If he's not, he's either "forgotten" to include this significant cost or he doesn't do good work. Quality fill means the soil has been rid of oversized rocks, big sticks, old bits of PVC pipe and other debris. It's not cheap to screen this stuff out, but if you don't, it will eventually resurface (literally and figuratively) to damage your mowers and aeration equipment.

* A little water music. If a contractor has priced irrigation installation by the head, and if the head price is a lot less than everyone else's, you should ask yourself, "Why?" It's difficult to cut costs when it comes to laying irrigation because in most cases the irrigation designer specs the pipe, the sizes and everything else - the contractor just follows orders in this regard. If a construction firm is promising significant cost savings on irrigation installation, maybe he's not planning to put in as many thrust blocks as he should, or tamp the ditches properly, or he plans to level the heads in a way "just to get by" and leave it for the superintendent to do later. Find out.

* It isn't always greener. Not all grass is created equal, and the supply of sub-standard turf may be contributing to a blatantly low bid. We've seen recently that some bad grass has come out of Florida-grass the grower would be eager to unload at reduced cost. Be sure this stuff isn't used on your golf course. Familiarize yourself with the farm your course or club will be dealing with. Make sure the turf is clean and certified; check with other clubs that have used it. If grassing costs are markedly lower than those in competing bids, you must do this sort of background checking.

* Get spec-specific. With all due respect, many architects spec their jobs in a manner that can be interpreted five different ways. For example, a particular bunker style can be built several different ways but come out looking basically the same in each instance. Bottom line: The superintendent or course owners should go over the specs-alongside the architect - with a fine-toothed comb. Procedures on bunker construction and green profiles must be spelled out to the last detail. Some course designers might take offense at this sort of scrutiny, but it's vital to determining the lowest realistic bid on your job.

This last point leads naturally to the taboo subject of change orders, i.e. the late-stage springing of hidden costs (extra work authorizations, time and materials). This is an all-too-common method of making unprofitable, low-bid projects more profitable for the contractor. However, if specs are written well enough, and if the superintendent knows them as well as the contractor, the only justifiable change orders would involve unforeseen conditions-like the removal of hidden rock or treatment of totally unsuitable soils. So make sure your act is completely together ahead of time, and change orders won't be an issue.

The course construction boom of the mid- and late-1990s brought a whole bunch of new contractors into the golf market. Not all of them are members of the Golf Course Builders Association of America (GCBAA). Make sure your contractor is GCBAA, and you probably won't be dealing with the issues I detail above. That said, I'd still make a habit of checking all the references I can find, because there's no better indicator of a contractor's skill and bid dependability.

Bob Pinson is founder and president of Course Crafters Inc., a golf course construction and renovation specialist based in Gainesville, Ga.