We have made it through quite a few days without a thunderstorm hitting us hard. For the first time of the season it has been necessary to irrigate overnight for multiple days. Running the irrigation system with warm temperatures and no precipitation shows the areas where there are problems with the system.
I continue to deal with electrical problems throughout the course as well as valves not functioning properly. This has required a lot of hours manually working through the irrigation system at night. It has been time consuming and very frustrating.
Several fairways have experienced a lot of damage from the flooding occuring the whole season. Five and ten fairways are probably the worst areas stressed by the water damage. You can see plenty of cart tracking throughout. This is happening due to the stressed turf and the wet soil after irrigation. These areas will recover eventually.
The past few weeks we have been aggressively hand topdressing the damaged areas on all the greens and collars. I have also sprayed the greens with foliar fertilizer and a recovery treatment. There has been quite a bit of recovery in these areas. We plan on continuing the hand topdressing and will eventually aerify all the greens followed by an overseeding.
I was finally able to apply a granular fertilizer application to the tees and fairways. We also used the rotary spreader to fertilize around all of the green surrounds. The fertilizer application has been delayed due to the constant thunderstorms throughout the year. This fertilizer application will help with the recovery process.
The weather patterns of 2018 have made this one of the most difficult years to grow grass. The turf has been under constant stress prior to the opening of the golf course. The grounds staff has done a great job staying on top of the work schedule each week.
Our clubhouse continues to do a great job working with the golf customers on a daily basis. I appreciate the job they all do and the leadership by Bob Cody to help keep the day to day running smoothly.
The golf simulator research has been completed. I have chosen the new machine and will be placing the order this coming week. I’m very excited about this addition to the golf course. It will allow us to accommodate our golfers year round and also generate another revenue source.
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 