What a beautiful week! These WARM temperatures bring a lot of spring fever to people but they are a very scary situation. I was even lucky enough to ride my bicycle to work on Thursday and Friday. I can honestly tell you that has never happened in February.
Turfgrass follows the pattern of Mother Nature 365 days out of the year. The grass feels these really warm temperatures and thinks it’s time to start off the spring days. The turfgrass starts to “wake up” from the cold winter months, then the temperature can drop drastically and wreak all kind of havoc. Ugh.
The golf course looks great right now. Most of the ice is gone from the greens and remainder of the course. The top 1-2 inches of the ground is thawed but the frost is very solid below that depth. This creates a very sponge like upper surface that has no give to it when traffic is present. Too much traffic can cause huge issues with the turf in this state.
It is always everyone’s hope that the golf season starts as soon as possible. People have been asking me all week when we will open. My response is, “please be patient and it will be here when the course is ready for play.” The threat of turf damage or loss cannot outweigh the ability to allow golfers. When it does it is definitely not an intelligent decision to open.
I met with a newly developed company, here in Spencer, in regards to some aerial recordings of the golf course. These can be used for advertisement, on our webpage, or other marketing opportunities. I am in the early stages of discussion but I will keep you all up to date on the plan to utilize their drone capabilities.
I have also been working with Direct Fairways, out of Tempe, AZ, to develop a yardage book for our facility. I discussed this with the golf board in early February. I signed a one year contract so I could make sure everything works satisfactorily moving into the future. The book will contain photos and information for each hole as well as showcase our clubhouse. The company will contact local businesses for advertising.
IGL has a new partner in their facility called Golf Ball Country. I met the owner and also toured their facility. It is located in the new IGL building NW of Spencer. They specialize in used golf balls, overstock gloves, overstock new golf balls, head covers, etc. There was a very nice article in the Saturday Daily Reporter featuring this business.
There is a great opportunity for SMGC to sell their used golf balls in the clubhouse and make a lot more revenue than dealing with strictly new golf balls. I will still sell our jar balls but these near mint condition used balls will be sold in 1 to 2 dozen containers. I am also exploring the option of selling them some of my used range ball inventory.
Lastly, I completed three online courses through FEMA. These online classes will help prepare the golf course, police, fire, as well as the rest of the city, for any type of natural disaster. The classes were very informative and helped open my mind to the need for thorough chain of command and unity of command during any event.
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 