Good Morning,
Another warm and dry week is in the books and we prepare for higher heat and no precipitation this coming week. The hot weather brings us the benefit of less golf course to mow on a regular basis and a reduced amount of mowing on the irrigated areas. This saves us labor expense and accumulating hours on equipment. Overall, the golf course is in pretty nice shape during these extreme maintenance conditions.
Golf Course conditions are so challenging during these weather conditions. The focus is trying to reduce stress on turfgrass and lessen the disease pressure that can arise at any given time throughout the golf course. I have continued to spray greens on a weekly basis with wetting agent and every two weeks with fertilizer and fungicide applications. The staff and I are working hard to prepare a nice golf course on a daily basis as we battle the weather conditions.
The irrigation system continues to run over and over and over again. We are on about the same pace for irrigation totals in August as used in July. I have continued to monitor stations and replace or repair irrigation heads that are not working properly. I still have a few more to work on this morning. No amount of irrigation will ever duplicate a nice rainfall from Mother Nature. We sure could use one of those right now.
Equipment repairs continue to be high on the “to do” list each week. The majority of our equipment is very old and has accumulated a lot of hours over the years. I have been gathering equipment quotes to replace our inventory within the CIP process. These figures will increase by about 6% at the end of the year. It’s mind blowing what the cost of turf equipment has risen to over the years. I have created a chart that shows the age of our equipment, hours on the machine, and cost to replace that mower in 2020.
We hosted the Jaycees yesterday and it was a successful day for the event. This morning we are holding the second couples event of the season. Next week we have the ServPro First Responder event on Friday and several other events in the following weeks. The events have been very well attended in 2020.
This coming Thursday we will be hosting the Spencer High School cross country meet. The clubhouse will be closed during this event because of COVID 19 concerns within the clubhouse. I will still be working to assist the high school in whatever manner is necessary during the event. It’s an amazing competition that is definitely worth stopping out to watch if you have some time.
I’m going to call it a wrap on another week at The Muni. Please contact me with questions, comments, or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner. Enjoy the remainder of your weekend. Sunscreen and shade would be pretty good items on the list for the next seven days!
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Brian C Mohr
Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370