3-28-21

Good Morning,

The golf course has been busy even considering the colder temperatures.  Our virtual membership drive has been quite successful this month.  We have recorded 10 family passes, 27 couples, 69 singles, 9 young adults, and eight juniors through Saturday.  I am very pleased with the number of passes and cart storage fees paid this early in the season.

We mowed greens and collars for the first time of the season on Friday.  The golf course looks great for this early in the season.  The rainfall soaked into the ground quickly and has helped the grass green up sooner than normal.  Overall the golf course is in great shape and we will start mowing more areas this coming week.

I installed a new software update for the irrigation software and also ran a voltage check on each station throughout the golf course.  Every station passed and has satisfactory voltage to every station.  The pumphouse will be placed back into operation tomorrow and I will start the system for the season.  I will go through each station individually to check for leaks or operating concerns.  We will most likely still have valves that need to be cleaned out due to the intake issues last fall.  We were able to get through a lot of stations last fall and hopefully the problems will be minimal.

Staff has repaired the hand rakes and placed them around the sand traps on the course.  Yardage markers have been painted and set back in the ground on each tee box.  The rest of the amenity items have been cleaned or painted and returned to the golf course.  Spot o pots have been serviced and are ready for the season.  Water coolers will not be returned to the golf course due to COVID 19 precautions.  Water is available in the clubhouse for purchase or free from the water cooler.

The 2021 schedule continues to be updated on our website as new events are scheduled.  This past week I secured the August 8 date for the Special Olympics United Golf tournament.  This event was cancelled last season due to precautions.  Hosting this event each season is one of my favorite reservations of the season.  It is my pleasure to host the tournament as well as participate in it with my golfing partner Patrick.  This is a day filled with smiles and laughter.

Part time staff is starting back up in the clubhouse and on the grounds.  We have two new employees in the clubhouse joining our team for 2021.  The grounds crew remains the same as last season.  I’m very excited with golf starting so early in March.  It’s great to see golfers back on the course.

I would encourage golf board members or others to contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner.  Enjoy the remainder of your weekend!
—
Brian C MohrDirector of Golf Operations

City of Spencer

101 W 5th Street

Spencer Municipal Golf Course

Spencer, Iowa 51301

712-260-5370

www.spencermunigolf.com

3-14-2021

Good Morning,

The golf course opened for play Friday morning.  I was very pleased with the condition of the golf course following the rain showers on Wednesday.  The majority of the frost is out of the ground and very minimal standing water remained on the golf course.  The opening day conditions were the best I have ever experienced at The Muni in my 27 seasons here.  The golf course was more than ready for players!

I was not expecting to be so busy with the temperatures topping out at 50 for the day, but there were a lot of golfers Friday.  We had another busy day on Saturday.  It was great to see the people out enjoying the beautiful weather and playing some golf.  We also added a lot of names to our virtual membership drive which continues through April 10.
Several part time staff members started this past week. 

We were busy trying to get everything ready on the grounds as well as having the clubhouse staffed every day.  It is great to have staff that take a lot of pride in their work and enjoy working at the golf course.  Everyone did a great job making the course opening go so smoothly on short notice to work.  I cannot thank the staff enough.

The outdoor preparation consisted of repairing all of our sand traps.  Sand was pushed from the bottom of each trap all the way to the top edge.  The sand washes down to the bottom over time and compromises the condition of the trap.  By moving the sand up to the face it provides a consistent amount of sand throughout.  

Currently no mowing has been done on the golf course.  It is still too early in the season to start that practice.  The temperatures can still get very cold and we need the top layer of dormant turfgrass to provide some insulation for the new green grass down by the crown of the plant.  We might need a snowblower before we need a mower.

Equipment maintenance and repairs continued to be on the agenda in the shop.  I also finished sharpening the fairway reels that had some welding repair work completed.  This coming week the fairway reels will be adjusted to the proper height of cut and attached to the fairway units.  

The new Parks and Recreation software will be installed at the golf course by the end of the month.  This new software will allow us to monitor our customers easier and provide all their information on the computer screen upon registering.  Right now I am hand entering their information into the software at the end of each day and keeping paper copies in the clubhouse.  Eventually everyone will have a card to scan upon check in for each visit.  Green fees will still receive a daily bracelet to attach to their cart for proof of purchase.

It’s been a very busy week trying to get prepared for the opening date and it was very rewarding to see all the friendly faces coming out to hit some balls.  This coming week will slow us down but hopefully the beautiful golf weather returns for good very soon.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

—
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

3-7-2021

Good Morning,

The golf course driving range officially opens today!  The clubhouse opened yesterday for the 2021 golf season.  We had a decent amount of golfers stopping in to pay their fees with receipts totalling over $4400.  We anticipate a very busy day with golfers stopping out to hit a few golf balls and pay their fees.

This past week I have toured the golf course on a daily basis to monitor the conditions and frost levels.  At the start of the week I was very concerned with the puddling on greens and other low areas of the golf course.  As the week progressed the greens are clear of snow and no standing water is present.  The golf course is still very wet and snow is standing in quite a few areas.
Starting the 2021 golf season is not quite time yet for actual golf.  As of Saturday afternoon, I probed the greens and hit frost between depths of one to three inches.  The frost level needs to drop below 12 inches before I can even cut a cup in the greens.  I will continue to monitor the course conditions and we will be open for play as soon as the course is ready for traffic.

The Golf Board has decided to conduct our membership drive from a virtual aspect.  We encourage everyone to go to www.spencermunigolf.com to pay their fees online.  Once you reach the webpage, go to the course schedule tab, the online payment option will be on the right side of the screen.  You can pay any fees with a credit or debit card.  We will also accept payments in the clubhouse.  Any payment of a season pass of green fee punch card will enter you into the drawings on April 11th.  The top prize will be a $100 gift certificate to SMGC.

Enjoy the beautiful weather and try to find some time to stop out and see us at The Muni.  The driving range is always a great place to knock the rust off to start the season!
—
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

3-6-2021

“Virtual Season Pass Drive”
SPENCER MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE
Deadline: Saturday, April 10, 2021
Paying your 2021 adult season pass or punch card
makes you eligible for raffle prize drawings to be held
at the conclusion of the Virtual Season Pass Drive.
Paying your season pass options include: our automatic withdrawal option
for multiple payments each month, paying online with a credit card, or
contacting the clubhouse to pay in person. We also ask you to pay any
other 2021 fees which include cart storage, trail fees, etc. Season pass or
punch card payments, through April 10, will enter you in the drawings
with the top prize a SMGC $100 Gift Certificate. There will also be a golf
bag and other gift certificates awarded during the drawing.
Please make checks payable to SMGC. Please include what type of pass
you are purchasing. We also accept credit/debit cards at the clubhouse or
online. To be eligible we need your contact information upon payment.
This year you will be required to have a season pass card or a daily
green fee tag when you play golf. Every golfer will be required to
check in at the clubhouse prior to play.
League Sign Up Information
If you are interested in joining a league please email
bmohr@spenceriowacity.com with your information and it will be forwarded
to the appropriate league.
The Spencer Municipal Golf Board and staff look forward to seeing
you during the 2021 golf season. Think Spring!!
Remember it is illegal to bring your own alcohol onto the course!
Director of Golf, Brian C Mohr (712-260-5370)

3-3-2021

Good Afternoon,
I toured the golf course late this morning to check on the turfgrass, standing water, and overall condition of the golf course.  I’m very happy with the condition of the turfgrass throughout the golf course.  The greens still have a lot of snow on most of them but some are completely clear.  Some greens have a lot of standing water with the snow.  

Snow is melting fast and surface drainage is happening everywhere with a lot of it ending up in the irrigation pond.  There are quite a few areas that drain very poorly and the water is gathering in large puddles.  I’ve had quite a few inquiries about golf with the warm temperatures.  I don’t see that happening in the next week or so.  

The frost depth is unknown at this time but starts at less than 1/4″ from the surface.  The warmer days will slowly drop the frost level down but the golf course will not be safe to play until surface water will drain into the soil.  

My biggest concern at this time of the year is the temperatures dropping and all of the standing water freezes on the greens and fairways.  Or the wind picks up to high speeds and blows off the exposed turf for an extended period of time.  Both conditions could severely damage the grass in these areas. 

I would encourage people to be patient and the golf season will arrive once the course can handle the cart traffic.  I’ve always opened the golf course as soon as conditions dictate and plan to do so again this year.  Below are some pictures:

 #17Green 3-3-21.jpeg
 #3Fairway 3-3-21.jpeg
 #12 Green 3-3-21.jpeg
 #3Green 3-3-21.jpeg
 #5Fairway 3-3-21.jpeg
 Irrigation Pond3-3-21.jpeg

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you might have at this time.  I’m sharing this information with you to help educate people with questions.

—
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