The golf course experienced a serious irrigation problem early this morning on hole #17. The main line going down the fairway blew out and has created quite a mess. The staff and I have spent the majority of the day trying to repair this issue. I hope to have the repair completed late this evening. There is a possibility I will be without water for tonight.
The irrigation system continues to be very problematic on a daily basis. There are also lots of electrical issues affecting several of our fairways. The system is 20 years old and the electrical connections and plastic coverings continue to leak groundwater into them and create a short. The solution is to replace all of these connections. This will also be a time consuming process.
Right now my main focus is to keep our greens and tees adequately watered and try to maintain the other holes not experiencing electrical issues. It is very stressful for staff as well as the turfgrass. The heavy precipitation, the first half of the year, has created a very shallow root system in the turfgrass. This places the plant under a lot of stress under normal conditions. With the irrigation issues, it is so stressful on the plant that it goes into dormancy quicker than normal.
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 