Good Morning,
Our golf course is currently in pretty nice shape as we prepare to transition from winter to the start of the golf season. Our precipitation levels have been below normal but timely rainfall and snow has provided necessary moisture to our greens. I have toured the golf course multiple times the past few weeks to monitor turf conditions and make preparations for hauling water if necessary. I’m happy with conditions starting the month of March.
We experienced a lot of warm days recently and that gives everyone an itch to get out onto the golf course. Monday, February 28 I took a golf cart out to look at course conditions. The fairways and roughs were so wet the cart was sliding across the surface. Standing water was present on quite a few greens. Most of the greens were leaving wet footprints but a few had some moisture at the surface and a drier turf plant above ground. By Friday the standing water was gone throughout the golf course. The rainfall on Saturday was a big help as well.
Traffic on greens in the off season can really cause a lot of damage which can lead to turf loss. Even though it looks like you can play golf, it’s not generally the best idea to go play golf. One person is not going to cause much damage, but when 100 people see one person golfing then they all want to golf. I’ve chased a few people off the golf course this winter and I hope everyone understands why?
Off season equipment repairs have been completed at the golf course. At the point of the off season when reel sharpening and repairs are finished, a thorough cleaning of the shop is conducted. I use a shop vacuum to go over all the shelves, benches, and corners of the building. It’s basically a shop makeover to clean it up and make it look nice before we start painting our amenity items such as tee markers etc. It’s nice to have this dirty job completed.
The City of Spencer completed the new phone system transition late this past week. The old phone system had become obsolete. I was also unable to have a phone in the shop and run the irrigation software at the same time. With the new system this has changed and allowed us to have a phone back in the maintenance department. We also have two hardwired lines in the clubhouse along with two new cordless phones. Our customers will notice no difference but operations will go much smoother answering phone calls. Phones were up and running with voicemail activated early afternoon on Friday.
I am in the process of working with Human Resources to start bringing back the part time staff for 2022. Everyone on the grounds will be returning and the majority of the clubhouse staff will be back. I am still looking for a couple of part time employees in the clubhouse. One employee started this week and I will bring a couple more back the following week. This will allow us to complete outdoor course preparation and operate the clubhouse for people to pay fees.
Some of our outside work to be completed in the next couple of weeks includes:
- Picking up small branches, sticks, and debris off the course
- Cleaning off the greens with a blower to remove debris
- Grading the parking lots, clubhouse cart path, and path to the maintenance shed
- Start hauling additional sand to the traps
Please reach out to me through email, text, or phone call if you have any questions or topics you would like to discuss.
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 