The week started off great with 86 senior golfers enjoying a late morning lunch followed by 18 holes of golf. This was the first senior golfing date of the 2019 golf season. We provide lunch and golf four times a season for two different men’s senior groups. Thankfully the weather cooperated and the day was a success. This was the last nice day until Friday.
Yesterday we hosted 24 high school seniors in the morning and 24 more in the afternoon. They played for two hours during each session. This date is the annual senior skip day for the high school. They line up activities for the kids to participate in throughout the day. The great part of this day was a silent donor paid for the golf and cart rental for each of the high school students. That was such a great act of kindness and the students really appreciated it.
Our parking lot continues to be a weekly discussion. We used a drag from the park department to address both of our parking lots. Tuesday was the first day and it worked great. The clubhouse parking lot looked as close to normal as possible. The Wednesday rainfall brought us back to reality. On Friday the parking lots were dragged again and seem to be drying out. This will continue to be addressed multiple times each week.
We continue to hand topdress several of the greens. The main area is #17 where we experienced lost turfgrass at the start of the 2018 season. Last year we added 450+ plugs throughout this green. Overseeding was also done four times with limited success due to the heavy downpours. It is finally looking really good and the topdressing is helping fill in the small areas that remain. This topdressing is applied several times during the week.
Our greens still remain an off color and don’t look real good. The cold temperatures really zap the life out of bentgrass especially the Providence variety we have at the muni. The warm weather and a granular fertilizer application will help bring them back to life this coming week.
I sprayed all the tee boxes with a herbicide to control the presence of crabgrass. i also added a herbicide to control the dandelions and other broadleaf weeds growing on the tees. The broadleaf weeds need to absorb the herbicide and the crabgrass control needs to be irrigated into the upper part of the soil to eliminate the germination of the crabgrass. I started the irrigation system around 4 AM to get these tees watered before we start getting golfers.
You’re receiving this email one day early due to my dad’s Christmas present. My brothers and I bought him two tickets to the NASCAR Kansas race last year. This year we planned on the same gift but he said he wanted all three of us to go to the race with him. So, we are leaving in about an hour to drive to Ankeny to meet both my brothers followed by a drive to Kansas City.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the ladies that keep their households running smoothly. You are all appreciated and honored more than one day a year. Being a mother has to be the hardest job in the world. Not only do you take care of your children but us men need to be guided as well. Enjoy the weekend ladies and thank you for everything you do!
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 