The past week gave us a chance to let the golf course dry out after the recent flooding. I am shocked how well everything rebounded after close to 10″ of rain. There are very few wet areas around the course which allowed us to have everything in great shape by the end of the week.
A few weeks ago, we repaired a lot of areas in the fairways and the roughs. These spots had fill material added, a clean edge cut with a spade, and finally fresh sod laid to complete the repairs. We were finally able to remove the flags from these areas and start mowing them at a normal height of cut. They have turned out very nicely. In the coming weeks we will continue to address other areas.
The trees from the soccerplex entrance are too big for the city tree spade to move. I tried multiple angles with no success. I have inquired about a tree spade and the estimate is $250 per tree. There is no room in the golf course budget to support this expense. We will need to rely on private donations or let the soccer group cut them down. I was disappointed to be unable to move these beautiful Oak trees.
Our tiling project, on number 16, has been delayed for quite some time. The contractor is still on another large project where the heavy rains have put him behind schedule. I have decided to fill in these two sand traps around the green. We will add fill material followed by nice topsoil. The area will be graded to establish a couple of nice berms. These areas will be sodded and mowed as rough. This will eliminate some of our standing water issues.
The shed on number five has been completed to almost 90%. The only thing left will be to complete some additional trim work. The shed looks very nice and once the trim is completed it will be a finished project.
This past week I prepared and end of the year report which concentrates on some of the issues we have dealt with during the season. There is also a spreadsheet that shows different totals since 2003. This chart definitely shows a downward trend in our golf population. I have included these two reports as attachments listed below:
Please let me know if there are any questions or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner. Again, direct people to the website for automatic withdrawal, credit card payments, and to the golf course blog. I will see each of you at the respective meetings Monday evening.
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 