3-24-19

Last week there was two feet of snow covering the course which was followed by two inches of rain.  Everyone saw the amount of flooding and problems this caused.  The golf course was no exception.  The entire golf course had more flooding than ever before.  A few days of sunshine and no precipitation has made a huge difference.

Winter is a very difficult time to figure out what is going on with turfgrass.  Ideally snow cover makes a big difference and acts as an insulation barrier.  Two feet of snow can stick around for a long time and cause some headaches.  I went out everyday this past week to remove as much snow as possible from the greens.  This was done to eliminate the threat of snow mold.

Snow mold is a fungus that grows underneath the snow on bentgrass.  Once temperatures start to rise the snow begins to melt and creates a warm climate underneath the snow.  This becomes a perfect environment for this fungus to thrive.  By removing as much snow as possible definitely lessened the presence of this disease on our greens and collars.

You treat your greens with a fungicide treatment as late in the year as possible.  This is normally done in November.  The treatment has a limited life expectancy which generally decreases after 100 days.  With all the snow accumulations I was very nervous about the threat of snow mold.  Fortunately by removing the snow it left only a few areas of damage.  Below is a picture of snow mold on #1 collar.

 Snow Mold 2019.JPG

The driving range opened on Friday and there were a fair amount of patrons hitting balls.  Saturday was also a beautiful day with more folks practicing on the range.  The simulator also had some good use.

This week the snow is almost completely gone from the course.  I toured the course on Friday afternoon and everything is looking very nice.  The frost level is down about 12″ on most of the greens.  I’m hoping the weather is nice the next few days and I can open the golf course on Wednesday.  Only a few days later than the March 20 date I predicted.

3-17-19

Good Morning,

It has been an extremely difficult week, to say the least, for most of Spencer and many other communities.  The flood waters hit our city with blow after blow most of the week.  Water damage is definitely a personal issue that can wipe out one person’s livelihood.  It has been a battle that is still causing many problems.

I was able to work with Public Works on Wednesday when they were trying to gain control of the flooding waters around the golf course.  The water was flooding all around the golf course property threatening Stoneybrook, homes on 4th Ave SW, and the business district in South Spencer.

The water was 12″ deep going down 4th Ave SW.  When you glanced to the west, the water in the ditch was almost at your eye level.  The water coming onto the east section of the golf course was over the bridge on #12.  The entire golf course was being bombarded with melting snow and surface drainage from every angle.

The Street Division, SMU employees, DeLoss employees, and Craig and Mark did an amazing job controlling this problem.  I watched the teamwork and communication first hand.  It was truly an amazing work environment where everyone kept plugging along.  I was impressed and definitely, in my opinion, these guys saved a lot of homes in this area.

 The shop area is currently under a full makeover.  The office is being cleaned, painted, and organized.  The work area will soon follow under the same steps.  A clean shop allows us to work on our equipment in a safe environment and also allows for a good first impression to guests.

The simulator was used a few times early in the week.  On Saturday, the simulator was reserved from the time we opened until 8:00 PM.  It was pretty cool to see so many different faces in one day.  Everyone had a great time and expressed their desire to come back.  Success!

3-10-19

First off, I’m going to take a step back and admit my concern about meeting the March 20 opening date I predicted.  I’m finally coming to terms with the fact it is not going to happen.  However, the clubhouse will be open for simulator golf that day!

There is always concern about the golf course whether there is snow or no snow cover during the winter.  Right now my worry is if the chemicals applied in November will provide enough control to eliminate the possibility of snow mold on the greens.

This is a fungus that grows under the snow cover when temperatures start to rise.  The ground temperature starts to warm under the snow and creates a perfect environment for this fungus.  At some point, I plan to remove some of the heavier snow on several greens as a precaution against this disease.

The past week has included a lot of preseason orders and housekeeping activities.  The shop area is currently going through a thorough cleaning.  Everything has been removed from the office and recycling efforts are taking place.  The entire shop area will be cleaned, organized, and inventoried.

Our golf simulator has continued to be fairly active.  It is never as busy as I would like it to be but it has been beneficial as a revenue source.  There are a few reservations for this coming week and we generally get some walk ins during the week.

Please pass the word for golfers to enter their email address on our website for golf updates and other information.  I have also included a new photo gallery on the website.  Fees can be paid any time even though there is snow on the ground.

3-1-19

It has been a busy week at the golf course even though the snow drifts are deep.  I ordered our pro shop supplies, new range balls, logo baseball caps, and other merchandise available for sale.  We don’t stock a very large pro shop selection.  The main focus is on “what does the golfer need right now?”  All of this merchandise will start arriving next week.

Part time staff is currently going through the process of being hired back on the crew.  All the maintenance staff is returning except one individual.  I am planning on absorbing his hours into the staff and myself in order to save some budget dollars.  Almost all the clubhouse staff is returning plus a couple of new faces.  The staff will be ready to roll as soon as the snow is gone.

I spent a lot of time working on our website.  Our database was lost and I am starting fresh to accumulate an email list.  This email list is used to reach out to everyone about events at the golf course and I will also be including my weekly email updates to these subscribers.  I want to reach as many people as possible to share the weekly activity at the golf course.  Everyone has questions and I want to provide them with as much information as possible……if they read it!

Our tournament schedule has been completed on the website as well.  I have added a photo gallery to share pictures of projects or issues at the golf course.  Information.  That is what I am trying to share with everyone to help educate and understand the how?, what?, and why? of everyday at the course.

I am close to completing the final draft of the SMGC history.  I want to thank Robyn and Kirby for the editing and final touch ups.  It is currently shared on our website.  I will finish it by formatting it into an online book form.  I am sharing it below if you want to give it another read:

 SMGC History (Final Copy) (1).pdf

This is going to wrap up another week at the golf course.  I am beyond excited to get this new year started.  Come on sunshine and warm weather.  I will see each of you at the respective meetings Monday evening.