11-11-18

This past week I was in Iowa City for several days.  My brother in law received his second liver transplant in a two week time frame.  As of Saturday morning, he is in stable condition and the doctors are very happy where everything is at with Todd.  He has a long road ahead of him and obviously circumstances can change daily.  We are very optimistic and praying for a full recovery.

The weather has not been the best but we did complete one of our large fall projects.  Mounding around #16 green was completed in the area where sand traps previously sat.  There were 119 loads of material to complete both of the new mounds and eliminate the sand traps.  I finished grading the area early this past week.

Late in the week, we received 12 pallets of sod, from Del’s Garden Center.  The sod was laid over the two new mounds and will be watered in prior to the irrigation system being winterized.  Here are a few pictures of the finished project:

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The golf simulator is programmed into the wifi and working quite nicely.  I had planned on downloading the new courses this week, but the family medical issues took precedence.  I will get the software downloaded this weekend and indoor golf will be available next week.

The majority of the seasonal staff is finished for the off season.  Some employees will still work part time in the clubhouse during the indoor golf season.  Outdoor staff is down to only Mark Lawson.

The irrigation system will be winterized this coming week.  This is usually a two day event to ensure all lines are completely free of condensation.  In the past, we have dealt with the issue of melting snow draining back into the heads and causing some broken elbows in the spring.

Almost all of the electrical connections were repaired throughout the golf course.  This was a very tedious process, but I feel confidant the majority of the issues should be behind us moving forward.  Listen closely….you can hear me knocking on wood.

The golf course is pretty much closed for the season.  We do have the Iowa League of Cities coming this Thursday night.  There will also be a golf simulator party scheduled for Saturday night.  I am looking forward to the simulator and hoping it increases our revenues.

Please contact me with any questions or comments.  My goal is to always address everything in a timely manner.  Stay warm today.

11-4-18

The week was pretty nice for golfers to enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather.  The amount of play was decent, for this time of year.  It was also a nice work week for our outdoor projects.

We removed all our perennial plant debris from landscaping areas around the golf course.  This is the growth that bites the dust once the heavy frosts hit the area.  The landscaping grasses were left alone and will not be trimmed back.  This will allow them to go to seed and also provide some visual effect during the off season.

Trees have continued to be at the top of our list.  We still have all the stump work to grind from over a dozen trees removed this fall.  Tree pruning has also begun around the course.  We also removed several dead trees from the Public Works property SW of #15 tees.  This debris was hauled to the golf course.  The Street Division will eventually haul the debris to the tree site.

 Drier weather allowed us to finally get back into the green surrounds on #16.  Previously we hauled 76 loads of fill material into these two sand traps.  This past week another 35 loads were added to these areas.  I used the loader to level and shape both mounds.  Lastly, eight loads of black topsoil was hand raked into the uneven areas in preparation for sod early next week.

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The tiling project has still not been completed in the area of #16 green surrounds.  Eliminating the sand traps will help with the majority of the problem around the green.  I plan on adding more tile to the north of the green and tying into the tile that is present between #17 tees.  This should eliminate the majority of the issues.

Much of Wednesday was spent working on the simulator.  Solutions was on site to help install all the software and get everything working through the WiFi.  I was able to download a 30 day demo golf course in order to get the feel for the operations.  New software will be purchased to install close to 20 golf courses on the simulator.

This golf simulator will be open for play in the next week or two.  The cost will be $20 per hour and the machine can be reserved through normal tee times in the clubhouse.  We will be open around 11:00 AM on weekdays and 9:00 AM on weekends.  This will be a trial basis to see what kind of demand there is for the simulator.