9-27-2020

Good Morning,
This past week we completed the aerification process of the greens.  We used needle tines (about 1/4″) that penetrated the soil to a depth of around 6-7 inches.  The aerification will help with root development, soil compaction, and water movement through the soil profile.  It will help control localized dry spots when wetting agents are applied regularly.  We double mowed the greens after aerification and they were in great shape ready for play.  It was a two day process to complete.
I have continued to work through difficulties in the irrigation pumphouse.  The screen on the line in the pond that runs to the wetline has failed.  There are a lot of weeds in this area of the pond due to silting and lower pond levels this season.  The pumps run and pull parts of the weeds and other debris into the wet well and it plugs the screen.  This eliminates the ability of the pumps to pull enough water from the wet well and the system shuts down due to low pressure.  
Here are a couple photos of the line running into the wet well during construction back in 1999:​ Pumphouse 2000​
I spent Thursday night cleaning the wet well screens, with a long broom, during the night to make sure the system ran through the night.  With the higher temperatures and windy conditions it was necessary to soak the golf course.  I need to drop the pond level several more feet so we can access the intake line, remove the weeds, and apply a new screen.   It will take some time but the cooler temperatures will allow less watering time and we will also be able to irrigate some fairways during the day.
The other option would be to pump the water out of the pond and expose the intake.  The problem with this option is our water permit has a maximum water allotment from April through October.  We are down to less than ten days to pump water from our well and we really need the water in the pond to irrigate.  It will be a hassle for a while but we will work through it and eventually find resolve. 
Last night we hosted the Kiwanis After Five glow ball event.  There were 38 teams of two participating in a lit up night time golfing wonderland.  Everyone had a good time. It just turned into a very long night or some would call it morning.  But, it was a great fundraiser for their service club and we appreciate them choosing The Muni as their host.  
We hosted the Spencer High School cross country meet on Monday evening.  The golf course closed early due to safety concerns to protect the runners and fans.  The clubhouse also closed to follow our COVID 19 provisions.  I was on site to assist the school however needed and also provide access to the clubhouse in case of an emergency.  The event went very well.  We will be hosting the District meet on October 21.  
Lastly, we are now into our fall golf rates.  Players can come to the course and play golf all day long, with a cart, for $25.  They can also pay their 2021 season passes now and play the remainder of this season as well.  There have been quite a few people taking advantage of the season pass special.
Please contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner.  Next Sunday we will be hosting the annual Chili Open golf event.  Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.  I think a nap sounds pretty good.

—
Brian C MohrDirector of Golf Operations
City of Spencer

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com

9-21-2020

Good Evening,
We are currently experiencing issues with our wet well portion of the irrigation system.  There is a 24″ line that goes from the bottom of the wet well into the irrigation pond.  This is where the water is drawn into the system and the screen is missing after 20 years of use.  
There are two large screens protecting our 6″ intake lines to keep debris out of the system.  The missing screen is causing a lot of debris to build up on the intake screens and reduce the availability of water causing low pressure failure.  Aquatic vegetation and tadpoles seem to be the main culprits right now.
This morning I started irrigating greens and tees at 4:00 AM.  I had to continuously brush the sides of the intake screens to remove the debris and keep them from clogging.  I found the lower the amount of gallons per minute flow, the less issues I had with debris build up.  
Tonight I will run the system at 675 gallons per minute instead of our normal 805 gallons per minute.  I’m very hopeful that once I can get the screens cleaned initially and get the system up to pressure it will work through the night.  Hopeful, not optimistic.
The solution will be to add a 90 degree elbow on the line out in the pond with a new screen attached.  This will hopefully eliminate the problem in the future.  The current issue is that the line is about six feet below the surface of the water 20 feet out in the pond.  Sounds like a lot of fun.
I am going to try and draw the pond level down further in order to access this line at some point.  I will also spray the aquatic vegetation in this area later in the fall to try and eliminate the problem.  It’s been another adventure in the wonderful year of RONA 2020.  
Staff and I are doing our best to work through this situation and continue with our irrigation practices.  Please help spread the word as we move forward with this situation.   
—
Brian C Mohr

Director of Golf Operations

City of Spencer

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa

51301712-260-5370www.spencermunigolf.com

9-20-2020

Good Morning,
This past week we hosted the People 4 Pets fundraiser on Friday afternoon with a golf event followed by “Yappy Hour.”  This included live music by Ryan Sather, silent auction items, and raffle drawings.  They served a wonderful meal along with socializing in an outdoor setting.  It was a wonderful day weatherwise and everyone seemed to have a great time.  The good news was they raised some money for a great cause in our community.
We are currently on the final day of our 1 Person Best Shot event for the week.  This tournament is set up by tee times only and the golfers can participate as many times as they prefer.  There have been 36 participants as of 8:00 this morning.  It’s a fun event and allows golfers to participate as their schedule allows.  It also has no disruption to open golf.
Our greens were sprayed with a wetting agent, foliar fertilizer, and fungicide on Thursday morning.  This was a scheduled application that falls right in line with our fertility program.  
The insecticide sprayed in fairways for the grubs has finally eliminated the majority of the problems.  It took a little time for the chemical to take effect but we have had no skunk issues for a handful of days.  The fairways were also sprayed back in late July where we had previously experienced grub issues.  Next season we will spray all the fairways and tees to eliminate the problem altogether.  
I am still working on a solution or even a temporary remedy for our pumphouse wet well.  We continue to get weeds into the well and the screens become plugged reducing water flow and causing the system to shut down to low pressure.  Staff and I will continue to work on this issue and keep you updated.
This coming week we will start aerifying our greens.  They will be needle tined at a depth of about 6″ and very tight spacing.  There will be minimal disruption to play.  The aerification will help open up the soil profile, allow better water penetration and root growth.  
We will also be fertilizing our tees, greens, and fairways.  These will be granular applications and fall in line with our application schedule this time of the season.  It will take a few days for the fairway and tee fertilizer to work into the soil, but the greens fertilizer breaks down after about ten minutes of irrigation and enters the soil rather quickly.
Monday evening we will be hosting the Spencer Tiger cross country meet.  This event is a postponement date from August.  The number of teams will be slightly down and the event will start at 5:00 PM.  The clubhouse and golf course will be closed at 4:00 PM.  I will be at the course to assist in any manner necessary.  
Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.  Please contact me with any questions so they can be addressed.  Good luck to our tournament participants playing today!

—
Brian C MohrDirector of Golf Operations
City of SpencerSpencer Municipal Golf CourseSpencer, Iowa 51301712-260-5370www.spencermunigolf.com

9-13-2020

Good Morning,
The past week was a little slower golf traffic wise due to the rainy days.  We closed early on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the cold and rain.  Thursday was the last men’s league night.  Friday was another cold and wet afternoon.  Saturday and today we are holding the Carl Spacklar event.  
The majority of the week was spent working on equipment in the shop as well as cleaning and organizing.  The light sound of rain made it enjoyable to be spending time inside.
Our irrigation was the other main point of emphasis this past week.  Last weekend the system shut down, overnight, due to low pressure.  After quite a bit of troubleshooting I realized the intake screen on the lead line was clogged.  There was aquatic vegetation and other debris keeping the water from entering the intake.
We removed the intake and screen from the wet well.  They were transported to the shop and power washed thoroughly.  The screens are very fine mesh and quite a few of these holes were plugged.  Lots of scrubbing and power washing removed the debris.  
The Street Division brought their Jet Vacuum out to the pumphouse to try and remove the debris from the wet well.  They were only able to get the line a few inches under the water, but I think it did the trick.  They were able to remove the majority of the vegetation present.  
The screen and intake were then moved back into the wet well and connected to the system.  I ran the system a couple of mornings to monitor the pressure and gallons per minute.  Everything seems to be working properly at this time.  
Almost an entire week of cooler weather along with the rainfall has definitely helped the golf course.  This season has been very stressful to the turf conditions as well as staff trying to maintain the golf course at a high level.  I have already started seeing improvement in dry areas.  We will be doing some overseeding in some of these areas when we aerify.  
Skunk damage continues to be an issue on holes #2 and #17 in the fairways.  Next season I will be spraying all the fairways and tees with an insecticide to eliminate the presence of grubs during this time of year.  Without the grubs present the skunks will stay away from the golf course.  It’s been very frustrating to say the least. 
Enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather today.  I will see the golf board members at our monthly meeting tomorrow evening.

—
Brian C MohrDirector of Golf Operations
City of SpencerSpencer Municipal Golf CourseSpencer, Iowa 51301712-260-5370www.spencermunigolf.com

9-7-2020

Good Morning,
It’s been a very busy weekend at the golf course.  We had a lot of green fees on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  There was also the Merten family golf outing held Saturday afternoon.  Tee times were booked solid all weekend until we got to the hot part of Sunday.  Today it looks like we have a lighter sign up for tee times.  Overall, a great weekend with a lot of golfers visiting the facility.
Year to date irrigation totals are 89.72 acre feet of water (29,750,000 gallons) has been applied to the golf course from the pond.  The well has pumped 55.66 acre feet of water (18,144,000 gallons) into the pond.  The Iowa DNR permit allows 121.5 acre feet of water to irrigate the golf course and 81 acre feet of water to be pumped from the well.  The upcoming cool weather will help tremendously on reducing irrigation totals this month.
We have continued to go around the course and repair or replace sprinkler heads that are not working properly.  Sometimes they get debris in the bottom and the head will not rotate.  We have also dealt with muskrat debris in the pumphouse wet well.  This is causing the holes in the intake screen to plug and the pump cannot pull enough water.  This causes low pressure and the system shuts down.  I cleaned the screen with an extension brush this morning.  If this does not work then we will need to remove the intake and screen to power wash the debris off the sides.  Another challenge from the muskrats.
Thursday evening I sprayed several fairways to control the grubs present in the soil.  These grubs become a fancy meal for the skunk population during the night time hours.  These skunks can tear the fairway up in a very short period of time.  The insecticide application will help with this issue.  
The cooler weather will really help make a difference in the golf course conditions.  It will allow us to irrigate adequately but less frequently.  The cooler temperatures will also allow some of the drier areas to recover.  We will hit these spots with hand watering and wetting agents to help the process.
We sent our tractor to the Country Club so they can aerify their greens this coming week.  Once they finish aerifying greens we will go over our greens at The Muni.  It will cause minimal disruption to the green and help with water penetration in the soil profile.  
That is a wrap on the past week at The Muni.  Enjoy the remainder of your holiday weekend.  

—
Brian C Mohr

Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com

9-2-2020

Good Morning,

It’s been a very busy week and it’s only Wednesday.  The irrigation system had a main line break on Tuesday morning at the very end of the irrigation cycles.  Thank goodness it didn’t happen in the middle of the night.  We repaired the pipe in the morning and let the glue set until 4:00 AM and the system was filled.  Greens, tees, and approaches were irrigated this morning.

With the continuous dry weather I have been trying to limit the amount of irrigation water used each night.  Some nights fairways have been skipped to try and conserve water.  The well ran for 21 days in August for a total of 9,072,000 gallons of water (27.83 acre feet).  This is the same amount from July.  The two month total has used 2/3 of the water we are allowed to pump from the well in accordance with our Iowa DNR permit.

The golf course received 9,500,000 gallons of water (22.67 acre feet) through irrigation cycles.  That amount is slightly below July and is close to 1/4 of our water permit totals.  The cooler temperatures will definitely help with water control but it is a very serious situation to try and control our water usage.  Non irrigated areas are 100% dormant and similar to pavement.

We hosted the ladies Triple Treat on Tuesday.  This was a makeup date from the original scheduled June date.  We had 60 ladies participate which is the highest total in quite a few years.  I am considering leaving this event scheduled for early September moving forward.

There was a complaint, from a family member, in regards to the John Hart Memorial Driving Range sign this past weekend.  It is starting to see a little bit of wear with paint chipping in areas.  Today I decided we are going to remove the old sign and replace it with a more weather resistant material.  I will be going through SS Graphics and Design for the new sign.  I hope to have the new sign erected next week.

The trail project has started on 4th avenue SW.  The contractor will be storing some equipment in our parking lot and also on the south end of the golf course in the out of play area.  They are also unloading the material removed at the south end of the golf course.  I told them they could just level this area upon completion and we will dormant seed it before the end of the season.

We have several upcoming events this month and should provide some great fundraising opportunities for our community.  Check the website or Facebook for events.

Enjoy the remainder of the week!  Let me know if there are any questions 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