I apologize for the lack of an update on Sunday. It was a hectic morning as we held our postponed tournament from the prior week. There were 18 teams that participated in the 45 mph winds throughout the day. It was definitely not the most favorable golf weather but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
I have been working very diligently on the irrigation system. It never felt like we would get to the point of needing its use, but we are definitely at that point. There are several electrical issues that have not been resolved yet. We also had to remount the pumps and outlet line due to the modifications of the pumphouse during the water quality project.
By the end of the week I hope to have everything running smoothly and plenty of water available to the golf course. This is a very touchy time coming out of the winter months. The plant is not very strong and drying out to a point of excessive can be fatal to the grass plant. We are hand watering and making repairs to stay on top of things.
Missing the entire month of March and almost all of April is an experience I have never dealt with in my 24 years at the muni. Things are starting to pick up with folks paying for season passes and cart storage fees. Currently we have received just under half of our annual revenues for these two accounts. That is better than I expected.
The golf course is in very nice shape considering winter lasted almost through the month of April. The light rainfalls the past two nights, along with warmer night time temperatures have really jump started the grass. Things are turning around very nice.
We have been able to mow the golf course a couple of times. There are not a lot of areas of concern that I see around the course. Outside of the irrigation troubles, I am feeling very comfortable.
The water quality areas are still being addressed as we come through the winter months. A few areas have washed out and we need to place some sod as soon as those are leveled out. I also dormant seeded the remainder of these areas last fall. This was done in order to get a jump on the recovery process. Well, the majority of this grass started germinating and the cold snaps last week did a number on this new grass. I will be seeding again very soon.
I have talked to Matt Hagedorn, in regards to the problems around 16 green. We have discussed adding more tile to help eliminate the issue completely. The past snows have really disrupted this process. Now, he will be in the fields quite a bit before he is able to get to us. The area is much drier than it was last fall. There was no standing water on Monday.
This has been a lot, and again I am sorry for the missed update Sunday. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Have a great week!
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 