Good Morning,
The past week the maintenance staff and I spent the majority of our time mowing. All the rainfall and warm temperatures caused the grass to be growing out of control. We mowed the rough three times during the week. It was necessary to mow several evenings into the dark.
Equipment maintenance is usually at the top as we complete each work week. The reel type mowers need to be kept into adjustment in order to get the proper cut on the greens, tees, and fairways. These adjustments keep the reel in correct contact with the bedknife on the bottom of the reel. The reel spins across the bedknife and completes the cut of the turfgrass. If it is out of adjustment then the quality of cut is poor and causes stress to the plant as well as a non uniform cut.
Other equipment repairs were completed during the week. A hydraulic hose broke on a rough unit, the traction cable broke on a tee mower, and several other small items popped up on other equipment. Most of the down time was short and we were back mowing right away.
Our irrigation system was actually started on Tuesday evening. The high temperatures and winds were starting to dry everything out quickly. Surprisingly enough there was a thunderstorm early in the morning. I shut the irrigation system down about 3:00 AM and discovered the other intake line had a crack in the elbow as well. This repair was completed the following day and everything should be working properly if it stops raining.
The amount of play has really dropped off at the golf course. We had very slow days during the majority of the Clay County Fair as well as the past week. It’s frustrating to see the number of golfers decrease each year. I don’t know what the answer is but I can assure you raising prices will only decrease the amount of play more.
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 