Good Morning,
The past week was definitely a change in the weather and shut down the opportunity for any golf to be played. There was a golf tournament scheduled for today that was cancelled for the season due to icicles. It would have been nice to host one final event at The Muni for the season but Mother Nature decided differently. It appears we will have one last nice week of golf weather approaching then it might be time to shut the course down for 2020. The end of one crazy year throughout the world will end early at the golf course.
It has definitely been a crazy year. I never imagined we would make it through the entire golf season with extremely minimal effects of COVID 19. We chose to stick to the provisions set in place early in the year and never wavered from those guidelines. It is a testament to the employees and the golfers that chose to spend their recreational time at the golf course. Everyone adapted well and the employees created a sanitary environment for people to try and escape for a few hours and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Thank you to all our golfers and the employees that made it all happen. You all made the SMGC a place for one and all to enjoy.
Monday we finished blowing out the irrigation system. The main lines were blown out over the previous weekend and the plan was to start before bright and early working on the lateral lines. Things didn’t go as planned right off the bat. There was no internet to the maintenance facility. After contacting Solutions, I was informed the connection was lost shortly after midnight. A little bit of trouble shooting found the line connected to the antenna had been cut. An extra special thanks to the kind soul responsible. By 9:00 AM we had the internet repaired and water and air blowing in the wind.
The entire process went very smoothly. The late season irrigation cycles along with the compressed air helped remove the majority of the debris in the lines from the intake issues. Once we had finished the blowout process there were only four problematic valves on the repair list. Those will be addressed this coming week.
On Wednesday we finished the winterization of the pumphouse. The intakes were removed from the wet well for the final time of 2020. Those things are so heavy and a huge undertaking to get out of the wet well. The staff and I removed them at least a dozen times this year as we dealt with irrigation issues. It was a good feeling to know it was the last time of the year. The rest of the pumphouse was broken down and winterized step by step until the door closed one last time in the 2020 season.
The last task has been the continuous removal of the dead pine trees around the golf course. I believe we removed ten trees total from the golf course. The stumps still remain and will be removed at a later date. We will continue to add nursery stock to replace the lost trees each season. It’s sad to see them come down after we spent so much time and energy transplanting a lot of these trees in 1999 during the construction. The trees lived a lot longer than all of the “experts” predicted.
We’re half way through November, the golf days are numbered and the nice weather will become a thing of the past. With that being said you don’t know the time or what Mother Nature will bring you or even what will happen in the world but you do know that all good things will eventually come to an end. We just never know when.
I hope each of you enjoy the remainder of your weekend. Hopefully you spend time with your family, you’re warm, and healthy. Cheers to all of you golf fans!
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Brian C MohrDirector of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 