Good Morning,
The past week staff was busy working on the grounds in preparation for the start of the 2022 golf season Saturday morning. We have picked up a lot of small branches from all over the golf course, removed trash and debris, and continued to work on sand traps. Cleaning up the course has been a focus for the past couple of weeks. The high winter winds and minimal snow cover created a lot of mess.
The cups were cut on Thursday afternoon because temperatures were forecasted for 20 degrees that night and I was worried it would develop a frost layer on top of the soil. Garbage cans and yardage stakes were also placed on the course. Hand rakes were set around each trap even though we have not finished our work with the new sand.
Friday late morning we mowed the tees at a higher cut than normal to clean them up a little bit. The greens were mowed at a very high cut only to remove debris and not cut any grass. The temperatures are still too cold to comfortably start mowing grass. The dormant part of the grass acts like an insulation source and helps protect the crown of the plant from possible winter damage.
In the next week or so we will start mowing greens to remove the dormant grass. At this time we will start expanding some of the greens. Over time several greens have become smaller in size from changed mowing practices. These areas will be a little discolored for a while but eventually will be unnoticed.
Opening day was a big success. The temperature did not reach the 60 degree mark but it was definitely golfing weather. We originally had a four person best shot scheduled for today but I cancelled the event since this was opening weekend for golfers. Our next event, a four person best shot, is scheduled for April 24.
The overall condition of the golf course is pretty good right now. The rainfall Friday night was not a lot but it definitely helped. Once our nighttime temperatures get into the 50’s the grass will start greening up and growing. Until then we will not be mowing a lot of turf.
The irrigation system was up and running last year at this time. We are quite a bit behind last year in a weather sense. The golf course opened on March 12 last year. This coming week the pumphouse will get put back together and I will start the system late in the week. We need to have the irrigation source to help with the dry conditions on the greens.
The street division has been out twice in the past few weeks to grade our parking lots and help remove some of the ruts from the winter. Now we are starting to see the moisture go out of the ground and lots of small frost boils are popping up throughout the main parking lot. We have set up cones by the west cart shed to keep vehicles out of the worst area.
Please contact me with any questions or for any additional information. Enjoy the remainder of the weekend. I will see the council members and golf board tomorrow evening at the respective meetings.–
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 