7-26-20

Good Morning,

Starting off with the most positive news at the golf course involves the budget.  The month of July has been busy with lots of golfers each day.  Lack of rainfall keeps the course open on a daily basis.  Our revenues for July 2020, with one week to go, are the same as the average total month of July the past three years.  That’s a very positive outlook for the start of our 2020/21 budget process.  Let’s make it another great week golf fans!

We received very minimal rainfall yesterday morning and the storm missed us this morning.  Both days left the sidewalk wet and that was about it.  Which concludes another dry week with hot temperatures taking a toll on the golf course conditions.  Add some valve issues and the pumphouse with a broken intake and it’s been a very long week.

The pumphouse functioned at 50% one night which allowed me to irrigate greens, tees, approaches, and some of the fairway stations into mid morning the next day.  It’s nearly impossible to put enough water down on the course each night.  Last night the irrigation cycle will total about 11 hours once it concludes this morning.

There are several valves, on the course, that are leaking but the system needs to be completely shut down to make the repairs.  Examples would be the top of nine green, next to the greenside cart path on ten, and 12 along the stream and green.  The valves need to be removed and completely replaced.  We tried changing out the diaphragms but it did not control the problem.  If we ever get some rain I will spend the next day making these repairs.

There is an issue with the front of number seven green.  This valve box lid was left open and somebody closed the valve completely shut.  This eliminated any water flow since late last week.  It was not done by staff and is unfortunate that somebody decided to mess with the system.  This green was hand watered several times during the week along with extra irrigation cycles over night.  It will eventually recover once the temperatures lower but it shows how quickly a green can go down hill.

I continue to spray wetting agents and foliar fertilizers every Wednesday morning.  Some of the applications include a fungicide or insecticide.  The wetting agent helps move water through the soil profile and keeps the greens looking very nice.  The foliar fertilizer provides the necessary nutrients to create a healthy green turfgrass.  The fungicide prevents diseases from becoming an issue and the insecticide controls cut worms, ants, and other pests.

Our fairways were spot sprayed with an insecticide to help control the presence of grubs.  The grubs feed off of the root system of the turfgrass and cause brown patches around the course.  When grubs are present it also becomes a feeding frenzy for skunks, opossums, and crows.  A skunk can do a tremendous amount of damage digging up grubs in just one night.  Hopefully this application will help limit the grub population.

We have dealt with a lot of equipment issues.  One greens mower had the starter go out of it on Wednesday.  One tee mower has an electrical issue and will not run.  A couple of hydraulic leaks on rough units and a leaky pump on the sprayer pretty much rounds it all out.  It’s been a busy week from being a mechanic stand point.

The remainder of the sand traps and some of the landscaping had roundup applied to control the weeds present.  Spraying the trap edges really helps to keep them clean and looking nice.  It also makes it easier to mow and string trim around.

The grounds staff has been working very hard to stay on top of the golf course condition.  These weather conditions are the most challenging we can face during a golf season.  It takes a lot of hard work and diligence to keep turf alive during these conditions.  I’m very proud of all the hard work they continue to perform week in and week out.

Our clubhouse staff has also been doing a great job making sure everything runs smoothly on a daily basis.  We have some new hired help and it also is getting to be vacation time of the year for a lot of the indoor staff.  I have continued to work shifts in the clubhouse seven days a week.  I am very thankful for the dedication and hard work they put forth each day.

I hope each of you enjoy the remainder of your weekend.  I can never stress enough, if there are questions, comments, or concerns please get in touch with me so they can be addressed much sooner than later.  Keep on smiling!

—

Brian C Mohr

Director of Golf Operations

City of Spencer

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com

 

7-19-2020

The past two weeks we have been busy with our daily maintenance practices.  The dry weather really takes a toll on the turfgrass.  I spray a wetting agent and foliar fertilizer once a week, on the greens, to help hold the moisture in the soil and provide plenty of nutrients for the bentgrass.  Once every other week fungicides and insecticides are sprayed to help control disease pressure and pests.  Right now the greens are looking very nice, especially considering the brutal weather conditions.

Our tee and fairway mowing has been reduced a little bit this past week in order to cut down on stress of the plant.  The hot, windy, dry conditions create a lot of stress along with all the cart traffic.  Cutting the turfgrass also creates stress on the plant.  So, we are reducing some mowing to help take pressure off the grass.  The tees and fairways still are in very nice shape as we close out another week at the golf course.

The rough is starting to turn dormant in the non irrigated areas.  This is kind of a blessing since we have dealt with equipment issues the past several weeks.  Cutting down on hours on the rough mowing is a big help and allows us to complete other tasks around the golf course.

The ponds have been treated with copper sulphate on a regular basis to help eliminate the algae presence.  The irrigation pond is in a lot better shape than in years past.  We still have some aquatic vegetation in the irrigation pond but that is part of a healthy aquatic ecosystem.

A couple big chores were completed this past week.  We were able to string trim along all the streams, ponds, and waterways as well as other areas of the golf course.  The other task was spraying weeds around the sand trap perimeters throughout the golf course.  Only four sand traps need to be treated.

After our last golf board meeting it was requested to add the OB stakes to the golf course.  This was an oversight on my part after we started the year out with so many COVID 19 provisions.  We had the majority of the stakes out the next day.  We had to paint a few more stakes and placed them on the course a couple days later.

It was also discussed about the problem with ball marks not being repaired on the greens.  This has been a constant problem throughout the years form simply not replacing your pitch mark or fixing it improperly.  I placed small handouts on the men’s and ladies league boards for individuals to take with them on the course.  There are also printouts tacked to each board as a visual guide.

Lastly the golf board commented about the tee boxes being filled with divots on some of the holes.  We have increased our hand topdressing practices at this time.  The tee boxes are being hand topdressed with sand a couple of times a week.  The sand fills the divot hole and allows the grass to recover more quickly as it grows into the sand mixture.

We hosted our summer couple’s event last Sunday and had 29 four person teams.  It was a beautiful day for golf.  Unfortunately we had some staffing issues with illness and a family medical situation so we were unable to provide a beer cart during the event.  The girls in the clubhouse did an excellent job keeping up with all the golfers as they completed holes nine and 18 to either grab more beverages or have some lunch.

With the short staffing I have been opening the clubhouse on the weekends then closing the clubhouse almost every Saturday and Sunday night.  We are currently training a couple new employees and trying to find a couple others to help get us through the season.  All of the staff is working hard and the majority of our golfers are understanding for the most part.

The golf course irrigation system has been going on a steady schedule.  One thing to remember is we are under an Iowa DNR water permit that only allows us to use so much water from April 1 through the month of October.   We pump water from the well into the pond but it cannot keep up with the amount of irrigation overnight, so the pond level is a little low.

The new system has been working very nicely outside of a couple valves sticking or leaking once in a while.  We continue to work on these areas.  The great news is irrigation problems are so minimal compared to years past and the performance is amazing.  I couldn’t be more thrilled with the system.

It’s been a busy time of year and lots of golfers have been out almost every day.  It’s great to see so many people having a good time in these difficult times we are living in right now.  It’s hard to imagine we are already halfway through July.  Wow.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.  Please get in touch with me if you have questions, comments, or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner.

—

Brian C Mohr

Director of Golf Operations

City of Spencer

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com

 

7-5-2020

 

Good Morning,

It’s a beautiful morning at The Muni.  The irrigation system has about 45 minutes left to finish the night watering.  We’ve been busy getting the golf course ready for golfers this morning and the air is perfectly calm.  A light fog fell over the course early this morning along with a light chill in the air.  This is the best part of the day.  The wildlife is running around the golf course and the hummm of the mowers is the only noise in the air.  The course looks beautiful and there’s a peaceful feeling in the air.  We’re all waiting for the golfers to kick us into full swing.

This past week we completed the spring start up of the waterfall on #10.  The ladies morning league had quite a few volunteers stop out and add some new plant materials to the area.  We sprayed the weeds, installed the pump and water line, and added some fresh new mulch.  By Tuesday morning it was operating nicely and the light sound of water running filled the air.  Thank you to the ladies who helped us get this project completed.

We have added water to the new flowers just about every day and they are adjusting very nicely after being transplanted.  We started adding mulch to some of the other landscaping areas by the tee boxes.  We will complete these landscaping areas this week.

The irrigation system has been working great every night.  I turned the well on July 1 for the first time this year.  The well will pump about 432,000 gallons of water in a 24 hour period.  The irrigation system will use roughly 500,000 gallons of water in a night.  The non irrigated parts of the golf course are starting to turn dormant which will cut down on some of our mowing moving forward.

Fortunately the wind has not been blowing as strong as it did last month.  We are still doing a lot of hand watering each day and applying a lot of wetting agent weekly.  I think the majority of the isolated dry spots have been eliminated.  I’m very happy with the condition of the golf course and thank my staff very much for their hard work each and every day.

Our sign placed at the Walmart intersection was removed a little over a week ago.  It was in very poor shape and was also a safety concern with the new safe route to school sidewalk installed in the area.  It is currently being stored at the maintenance shed.

We also replaced our old Spencer Municipal Golf Course sign at our parking lot entrance.  The new sign ties in with the Park signs that have been installed around the city.  It was a large improvement over the old sign that stood for about 25 years.  I would like to thank Jared Elbert, Park Director, for his assistance with this process.

The golf course clubhouse has been operating with quite a few new procedures over the past month.  Everyone has adjusted quite nicely and have worked together as a team better than ever.  The main policy changes are printing a receipt after every transaction, counting down the till during a shift change, and having two sets of eyes on all transactions.  We have had zero issues with transactions.  It has gone smoothly and the difference is night and day.

Enjoy the remainder of your holiday weekend.  Thank you to all those who have served or are currently serving our Great Country.  God Bless America!!

—

Brian C Mohr

Director of Golf Operations

City of Spencer

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com