This past winter was one to never forget. With all the snowfall up to our ears, March thunderstorms, and tons of flooding will not soon be forgotten. Unfortunately the troubles are not finished at the golf course.
The main parking lot has experienced frost boils the past several springs, but this year it is the absolute cake topper. The entire parking lot seems to be a frost boil. Sioux Central buried their van trying to leave after practice last night. Not a good feeling all across the building.
A frost boil happens when you have the wet fall season, then cold temperatures, then warm temperatures, finally followed by cold temperatures again. This creates a stratus of frost down deep, moisture above the frost, and finally more frost above this moisture. Come into Spring and we have rainfall that thaws the top part of the soil profile. The top layer of frost leaves the ground and exposes the middle layer of moisture to the surface but the lower frost level is still present and does not allow the moisture to leach through the soil profile.
Our parking lot has been worse each Spring over the past four years. Mark White is working with me to get project estimate from Kruse, Cate, and Nelson to pave the parking lot. With us being open year round and also trying to provide parking to our golfing public, I think it is a great idea. Not gonna be cheap….right Mr. Weuve?
Anyway, Mark and I are meeting this morning to try and find a temporary fix for the parking lot so we don’t miss out on our scheduled tournament tomorrow. I appreciate his time and professional advice he is always willing to share.
The bottom line is……the parking lot is out of our control, but we are still trying to control it.
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 