Golf course superintendents say they can't be faulted for grumbling about the expensive chore that has become bunker maintenance. Bunkers are where golf balls go to die, after all. Why then should they be maintained to play firm and easy? And why do they have to look so darn pretty?

If golfers aren't complaining about green speed, they're complaining about imperfect lies in bunkers, says Dale Caldwell, superintendent of the Minneapolis (Minn.) Golf Club.

"They don't understand that bunkers are hazards," Caldwell adds.

Jason Straka, a senior golf course design associate for Hurdzan/Fry Design in Columbus, Ohio, says many golf courses are spending as much on bunker construction and upkeep as they are on greens.

It's not just the bunkers themselves that require more maintenance. They often must be hand-mowed and hand-trimmed. And then the grass clippings must be blown out of the bunkers.

"I'd say that's probably accurate with us," says Dennis Bowsher, superintendent of The Ohio State University Golf Club in Columbus, noting that many of today's golfers demand "flawless" bunkers.

Bowsher joined Ohio State last year after the club's Alister MacKenzie-designed Scarlet Course underwent a $4.2-million renovation directed by Jack Nicklaus. The course's bunkers received much attention as part of the restoration and now require more handwork because of their maintenance-intensive design.

Alas, golf course maintenance budgets are getting bigger because of an increase in bunker maintenance. And while Straka says it's a crazy trend, there's not much anybody can do about it.

It's the We-Want-That-At-Our-Course Syndrome at work again. Well-traveled golfers see perfectly maintained bunkers at other courses and decide they want the same at their clubs back home.

At The Ohio State University, the Scarlet Course's bunkers received much attention as part of a $4.2 million renovation.

"It's hard to reverse that trend," Straka says. "[It's the same with] the distance issue, with Pro V1 golf balls and 460cc titanium drivers. I'm not going to be the person to tell golfers that they can't use that equipment anymore."

And superintendents surely aren't going to tell golfers that they can't have finely edged and firm bunkers either.

But as long as golfers are willing to pay for what they want, Caldwell is fine with fulfilling their requests. He told the club's members it would cost about $1 million to restore the course's bunkers to their liking at the Minneapolis Golf Club. The members said "fine."

That's not to say the course's bunkers didn't need attention. The previous sand in the bunkers had become contaminated with soil that eroded into it after heavy rains. The bunkers are being reshaped and will be filled with some of the best sand on the market from the Chardon, Ohio-based Best Sand Corp., Caldwell says.

Even before the bunker renovation, which began in mid-August, Caldwell says maintenance costs for bunkers at the Minneapolis Golf Club have soared the past decade. Caldwell has had a $13,000 line item in his golf course maintenance budget for bunker repair and renovation for several years.

"It's mostly for adding sand in the bunkers," he says, noting that he and his staff monitor closely the sand's depth.

So meticulous