1-17-2021

Good Morning,

The week has closed with a wonderful winter wonderland.  We had such warm temperatures the majority of the snow melted off the greens and tee areas of the golf course.  Rainfall of .25″ arrived early Thursday morning and provided the golf course with plenty of moisture.  It soaked into the greens then developed a very this layer of ice on top of the turfgrass.  It looked beautiful leading into the blizzard conditions.  Overall the golf course is in very nice shape at this time of the off season.

The Street Division was on site to remove the pond material near the pumphouse surrounds.  This is the material that was removed during the pumphouse intake repair process.  It doesn’t look like a lot of material until you start hauling it away.  We were able to complete about 2/3 of the process before the ground condition became too soft.  The material is being hauled to the south end of the golf course where it will be leveled and seeded in the Spring.  The project will be completed at a later date.

I visited Public Works and asked to remove our dumpsters until the Spring golf season arrives.  It is a constant issue of people coming over from the storage units and dumping their trash in our dumpsters and giving no regard to contaminating our recycling.  On Wednesday I caught an individual dumping his garbage and approached him for a conversation.  He agreed to discontinue dumping his trash and also paid a small fee which I invoiced at the transfer station.  

I was unable to work on the welding project due to my time frame and the Street Division using this room for repairs.  The snowfall also caused a conflict at the end of the week.  I hope the guys have some time to finish this for me in the next couple of weeks and I will then complete the reel sharpening process.

Golfers, please visit our website to make payments for your season passes, cart storage spaces, and punch cards.  The golf course will only be allowing single payment options once the clubhouse is open.  If you need to make multiple payments your only option is to sign up for the automatic bank withdrawal.  This can be completed on our website.  All other fees can be made in a one time credit card payment on the website.  Please help share this information to the public.

A couple of changes this season are the elimination of corporate season passes and punch cards are raised to a price of $250.  Both of these golf options have been abused in the past.  The original intent of the corporate pass is no longer working.  A single season pass will be your option now.  The punch cards are also abused by not checking in to the clubhouse.  This is going to be the last season for punch cards if this problem persists.

There had been discussion of exploring a full time clubhouse manager/parks department programmer.  After analyzing public feedback, conversations among city staff, and reviewing the success of changes in clubhouse operations I felt like it was in our best interest to put this on hold and gather more information.  I would like to go through an entire golf season to see what the total effect of the clubhouse operational changes have on our budget.  So far they have made a significant difference.

Lastly, I attended more online education this past week.  I have attended over 50 hours of online training this off season.  It’s wonderful to have access to so much online education through my Golf Course Superintendents Association of America membership.  With the elimination of live conferences and training opportunities it’s allowed me to still gain continued education training and gain a lot of valuable information.  
I will be going on vacation shortly after you receive this email.  I will be gone for three weeks but still available by email and sometimes phone.  Otherwise I hope to get some rest and relaxation and recharge for the start of the 2021 golf season.  Please contact me with any comments or questions.  Enjoy your weekend.

—
Brian C Mohr

Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer

101 W 5th Street

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com

1-10-21

Good Morning,

The past week I continued to work on equipment in the maintenance facility.  Our five year Capital Improvement Plan will eventually replace the majority of our equipment over the next five years.  If the plan is approved we will be adding ten new rental carts to our fleet this season.  This addition will help us accommodate more golfers during events and busy times of the season.  This past season our 20 rental carts were rented out by noon on the weekends and golfers were waiting for carts to come in off the course.  This will definitely be a helpful addition.

Our rental cart revenue, from July through December 2020 was the highest it has ever been.  Twenty plus years ago we leased our cart rentals on an annual basis.  After a lot of research the decision was made to purchase our rental carts and discontinue the lease option.  This decision has proved to be an outstanding financial investment for the golf course.  Our rental carts get a lot of use during the season. 

The golf course budget is close to being finished for 2021/22.  There will not be much change in the bottom line of the budget.  One change will be the wage of our part time employees.  Part time wages have been adjusted to show consistency throughout all the departments.  This will be a nice adjustment for the staff that puts in the hard work on the grounds and in the clubhouse.  The budget will be shared with the golf board then presented to the council in early March.

In the upcoming week I will complete the reel sharpening process and continue to work on equipment.  I will be leaving for vacation on January 17.  I’m looking forward to time away and I’m also excited for the great things 2021 is going to bring to our golfers. 

Brian C Mohr

1-3-2021

Good Morning and Happy New Year!

This past week I spent time finishing the 2021/22 budget.  There are still a few line items left that need some work from the finance office but otherwise it is ready for presentation.  The overall budget is fairly similar to the current budget.  Some changes were made to part time salary pay scales along with updated insurance premiums.  The overall bottom line should end up being very close to 20/21.

It’s difficult to foresee what 2021 will bring to the golf industry.  We had a successful 2020 even though we spent the entire season under COVID 19 provisions.  There were changes made in the clubhouse mid season that really had a positive impact on the golf course operations.  We finished the last half of the year with the highest revenue totals in a long time.  It was extremely promising.  Thank you to the golfers and our staff!

As we move forward into 2021 the golf course Capital Improvement Plan and 2021/22 budget will be presented to the City Council.  The CIP has already been shared with the Committee of the Whole but needs final authorization by the council to accept the five year plan.  The budget approval will follow shortly after this process.  Both of these presentations will set the framework for the golf course as we move forward.  

The past week I spent time at the Street Division learning how to use the acetylene torch.  The torch comes in very handy with the removal of damaged bearings and races in turf equipment rollers.  It was a very educational process and I felt like I really grasped the concept quickly and was able to get through a dozen damaged rollers.  It’s a great skill to develop and I will definitely be able to utilize this on future equipment repairs.

I also had Justin show me some of the beginning techniques with the welder.  There are some repairs that need to be completed on seven of our fairway reels and it’s been hard for the Street Division to fit it into their schedule.  So, I decided I should learn how to weld.  It was actually a fun experience but I need to continue practicing a little more before I start on the fairway reel repairs.  Both of these learning moments will help complete repairs in a timely manner.  Kind of exciting!

The rest of the week was spent working a little bit on equipment and I also watched a couple more webinars on welding basics.  The upcoming week will allow me some more practice time on the welder and hopefully I can graduate to the level of making repairs.  I will also finish rebuilding rollers that had damaged bearings removed.  

I hope each of you had a nice and relaxing time bringing in the New Year.  I will see the golf board members and city council at the respective meetings Monday night.  Have a great day everyone! 
—
Brian C Mohr

Director of Golf Operations

City of Spencer

101 W 5th Street

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com—