Good Morning,
It’s been another busy April golf week at The Muni. We held our Virtual Membership Drive raffle drawing last Sunday and announced the winners live on Facebook. Visit our Facebook Page to watch the live drawing and see a list of the winners. Currently our membership is at 20 family passes, 39 couples, 132 individuals, 20 young adults, 12 juniors, 15 green fee punch cards, and 14 cart rental punch cards.
The City of Spencer continues to wait for Tyler Technologies to finish the patch for the new TPAR software to be used in the clubhouse. It’s been a long wait and we are hopeful to have this up and running in a couple weeks. Another hope is to eventually add online tee times at the golf course. This addition would better help us accommodate our golfers on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, I continue to enter the individual’s information onto the software platform as they pay their annual fees in the clubhouse. We are currently asking for the golfer’s name, email address, home address, and phone number. Entering all of this information ahead of time will make the implementation of the software happen more smoothly. It’s time consuming now but we will all be happier when we move to TPAR. Customers will eventually receive a card with a barcode to scan in up registering.
The golf course is in very nice condition for so early in the season. This past week we were able to mow the majority of the golf course. Fairways and rough were mowed for the first time of the season as well as greens, tees, and collars.
The fairway on #11 was widened, on the south side, from the 100 yard grass to the green. This is a little brown right now but will bounce back once the grass starts growing quicker. The dogleg is so tight tee shots have always rolled through the fairway into the rough. Hopefully widening the fairway will keep more balls in the short grass.
Everything is ready to go for the first golf event of the season held this morning with 100 golfers participating. This tournament was last held in 2017. It’s always hit or miss with the weather and thankfully we are hosting it this year. We sold out of rental carts pretty quick and look forward to the additional ten carts arriving next month.
Staff and I have continued to explore the tile issues around the small pond behind #12 green. The tile was probed mid week and actually penetrated the tile causing water to shoot several feet into the air. This is a sign there is a lot of pressure built up in the tile. We traced the issue to the outlet on the south side of the pond and possibly on the exit side on the south side of the pond. We don’t know if the muskrats blocked these tiles with debris or if tree roots are causing the problem? The street division will help us expose the tile to determine the problem. It will be resolved as soon as possible.
The Iowa Golf Association was on site, Wednesday, to rate The Muni. We joined the IGA for the first time in quite a few years in order to bring the course into compliance with the USGA. Members will now be able to purchase their handicap recording through the clubhouse and it will allow them to play any IGA course with an official handicap. I have more online training scheduled for Monday to get comfortable with recording handicaps for our golfers. We will also receive tournament software to manage scoring in a more efficient manner.
Lastly, the golf board approved the contract with Tyler Vaudt to hold multiple junior golf clinics throughout the season. This contract was approved by Don Hemphill and releases us from all liability. It’s a great opportunity for our local youth to learn more about the game of golf from a very good area high school golf coach.
We are enjoying some nice weekend weather before the force of Mother Nature reminds us how early in the spring season we actually are. Please contact me with any comments, issues, or concerns so they can be addressed and further information can be provided to you.
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Brian C Mohr
Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
101 W 5th Street
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 