Good Morning,
The temperatures continue to go up and back down with extreme changes. The wind continues to be a constant almost on a daily basis. We had a solid frost last Sunday morning, followed by a light frost Monday morning, a couple days of rain, and finishing the week in the 90’s. The temperature changes have been a little stressful on the bentgrass greens but they are starting to come around and look healthier. Mother Nature delivering some rainfall would be the best medicine.
Irrigation problems continued late Sunday night. I started the system and had a main line break by #16 green. This caused a lot of standing water and the majority of the soil was washed away. I was able to get the repairs completed early in the week and had the system up and running later in the week. I will continue to run the irrigation through the weekend unless we get a lot of rain. Below is a photo of the blown line:
There were several more issues last night during the scheduled programs. The front right green irrigation head was filled with debris and would not rotate so the sand trap is filled with water. Another head on #5 fairway was filled with debris and not rotating. Lastly, a main line near #4 green is cracked and leaking water into #5 fairway. The first two issues were repaired and I’m currently working on the main line repair.
The open winter was problematic for the irrigation system. We have a 23 year old block type system where all of our control valves are in valve boxes between the main line and the lateral line for each station. This year we had a lot of moisture in the valve boxes causing a lot of problems for bleeder valves and pvc pipe. When we have snow present during the winter it helps insulate the valve boxes and we don’t see as many issues in the spring. Hopefully everything is quickly repaired and the system will be dependable.
The Clay County Federated Garden Club spent quite a bit of time bringing some of our landscaping areas back to life. Golf Board member Deb Jostand helped make this possible. A very special thank you to each of the individuals who took time out of their schedule to help us out at the golf course.
Clay County Federated Garden Club.jpg
Staff has been very busy trying to keep up with all the maintenance practices. The golf course is in pretty decent shape right now outside of the dandelion population. I’m hoping the weather cooperates and I am able to spend quite a bit of time on the sprayer this coming week.
We have several new clubhouse staff members starting or have started very recently. I have been spending quite a bit of time working shifts in the clubhouse as well as helping new staff. Add on irrigation issues and windy weather conditions and there has not been time to spray for weeds. The herbicide applications will hopefully start this coming week and we can get rid of the dandelions.
I want to wish a very happy Memorial Day to everyone. Taking some time to remember and reflect will be a big part of my weekend. Thank you to all those who have served or are currently serving our country. I tip my hat to each one of you and thank you for my freedom. Enjoy the 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
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 