10-30-22

Good Morning,

What a beautiful week it was to get a lot of stuff done at the golf course.  And wrapping up the weekend with some gorgeous golf weather.  We had a pretty busy Saturday at the golf course and we expect the same today.  

 10-29-22 sunrise.jpg

Here is a run down of the past week:

Early in the week we continued to haul asphalt millings to the cart path area behind #12 green and the new additions on #13 and #15.  Layers of millings were slowly added to these areas, they were graded, and compacted with the tractor tires.  Overall I am very pleased with the end result.  They will provide a great cart path surface and help golfers travel smoothly through areas that were previously a little bumpy.

 12 cart path 10-29-22.jpg

The well has been running 24 hours a day since it was installed ten days ago.  I have irrigated fairways multiple times this past week.  Greens, tees, and approaches have been irrigated on a regular basis as well.  Saturday morning our pond was about 75% filled.  It will continue to drop in level as irrigation continues.  The end goal will be to have the pond as close to full as possible when we reach November.

 10-29-21 pond.jpg

 #5 pond 10-29-22.jpg

I applied for an irrigation extension with the Iowa DNR for the remainder of 2022.  It was approved on Friday.  This extension will allow us to irrigate the golf course through the month of December if necessary.  The annual permit is for April 1 to October 31 and the water amount is limited.  We are nowhere near our irrigation limit but definitely need to irrigate the dry golf course as much as possible until the end of the season.

The pond on #10 was filled on Tuesday over a nine hour time frame.  I have continued to monitor the water level and so far it appears to be holding the water.  There is no water running through the tile behind #9 green and that is a great sign.  I’m not going to start the parade quite yet but it looks like the repaired tile is having a positive effect on the pond level.  Very good news for the golf course and the neighbors along #10 that enjoy the beautiful view.

 #10 pond 10-28-22.jpg

I have continued to work on irrigation repairs each week.  The past week the focus was replacing heads on several of the greens and working on valves.  Several stations have been “sticking” overnight and creating a lot of standing water.  The plungers have been replaced inside these ICM units.  This is the part that is moved up and down when the electrical current opens or closes the valve.  They are all working properly at this time.  We will continue to work on our list moving forward.  Pictured below is a valve box following the repair process:

 #12 irrig. repair.jpg

Campbell’s Tree Service was on site to remove trees infested with the Emerald Ash Borer.  Trees were removed on holes #16, #17, and #18.  These were all large trees showing obvious signs of the pest.  During the removal process we noticed quite a few additional ash trees that have been heavily infested with the EAB.  The smaller trees will be removed in house and the larger trees will be removed by the contractor in the future.  It’s very surreal to see the damage the EAB has created and the reality of losing trees moving forward.

 #16 tree removal 10-28-22.jpg

 #2 EAB.jpg

We dropped a large cottonwood located south of the red tees on #11.  This tree has been dead for a few years and needed to be removed for safety reasons.  It’s a massive tree and will take some time for us to remove all the debris.  We will work on the removal this weekend and hopefully finish up early next week.  

 #11 cottonwood.jpg

There are quite a few tree stumps we will be removing in the next couple of weeks.  These stumps are from trees we removed in the past couple of years.  We will need the assistance of the street division skid loader and stump grinder to complete this process.  We hope to have all stumps removed by the end of the season.  

The upcoming week looks like some more great weather.  Some of the “to do” agenda items include:

• aerify greens
• remove EAB ash trees
• prune trees
• irrigation repairs
• visually inspect every irrigation station for effectiveness

Please contact me if you have questions or would like additional information about anything at the golf course.  Enjoy the remainder of the weekend golf fans!

 #2 10-29-22.jpg

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

10-23-2022

Good Morning,

We have continued to stay busy working on quite a few large projects the past few weeks.  The most important has been the installation of our new well pump, 3″ piping, and materials.  This process was completed on Thursday by Milford Well Service.  At 1:00 PM we had water flowing from the well into the pond.  It was a great sound of water splashing from the well into the pond since we had less than one foot of water above the intake.

 Pump goes in.jpg

 The cap on 220 feet.jpg

 12″ to intake.jpg

 Pond is rising 10-22-22.jpg

Our Iowa DNR Water Permit allows the golf course to irrigate from April 1 through the month of October.  The well can run during the same time frame.  Both water amounts are limited according to permit limits.  We can file for an irrigation extension into the month of November but we cannot get an extension for the well.  We are nowhere near our total allowed water amounts.
I hope to get the irrigation pond near full by the end of the month.  Fairway irrigation will begin next week.  The greens and tees will still be the irrigation priority.  It’s been a difficult season with irrigation and well problems but we’re starting to move in the right direction.
The pond on #10 has been a pretty high priority as well.  The street division was on site to help us dig down a little deeper and expose the tile on the pond side as well as moving to the north.  There was a lot of water coming out of the pond side tile which needed to be pumped out in order to complete the repairs.  

 Water from tile.jpg
We filled both parts of the tile with brick and mortar.  This will seal off the tile as it exits the pond and allow it to still function moving to the north.  This process will hopefully eliminate the pond draining into the tile causing our problem.  The pond will be filled next week at some point and we will evaluate moving forward.

 Pond side tile sealed.jpg

 Pond north side tile sealed.jpg

 #10 pond 10-21-22.jpgThe cart path removal has been completed behind #12 green.  This area was heavily damaged by salix tree roots pushing through the asphalt.  We also removed turf to extend our cart paths on holes #13 and #15.  These areas were heavily trafficked and a lot of tire rutting was present.
After the removal process, asphalt millings were added to the areas.  We used our trap rake and loader bucket to level these areas.  There is still some leveling and need for additional millings but we are very close to being finished.  These areas will be addressed again in the spring after some settling occurs.

 #12 cart path millings.jpg

 #13 cart path millings.jpg

Campbell’s Tree Service was on site Friday and we discussed the Emerald Ash Borer trees that need to be removed on the golf course.  Locates were called in and Rocky plans to remove these trees the coming week.

This upcoming week staff will finish the work on the cart paths, aerify greens, prune trees, and work on irrigation.  We also plan on removing a large dead cottonwood tree behind the tees on #6.  This tree removal will take some time to cut down, mulch the limbs, and haul away.

We’re still very busy trying to get as much stuff completed before the year winds down on us at The Muni.  Please reach out if you have questions or concerns.  Enjoy the remainder of this beautiful 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

www.spencermunigolf.com

10-16-2022

Good Morning,

This time of year Mother Nature can change on a daily basis.  If the weather is not cooperating the clubhouse and golf course might be closed early that day.  This happened on Wednesday and Thursday this week.  Please call the clubhouse to make tee times and hopefully be understanding of the weather conditions.

 10-13-22 sunrise.jpg

The past week started off with our first annual 55+ four person best shot.  We had a great response from several of the traveling senior golf leagues and some of our players at The Muni.  Overall, the day started off a little chilly but quickly turned into beautiful golf weather.  We look forward to making this an annual event and thank you to the golf board for adding this to our event calendar.

55+ Four Person Best Shot Results

Rollie Hanson has developed a better scoring system for the golf course.  It is created through Google Drive and allows anyone with the link or QR Code to view the scoring results.  Above is the link from the last golf event.  Thank you Rollie for your help!

Speaking of events, I have been working on our 2023 course schedule.  Most of the events from 2022 have committed to the 2023 golf season.  These events will be given first choice to reserve their date.  I have commits from both the senior men traveling groups and the senior women reserved a date.  Some events are listed on the website and others will be added very soon.

Staff finished edging the remainder of the sand traps that are greenside on every hole.  We still need to complete the fairway sand traps.  This process consists of cutting a clean edge across the face of the sand trap, pushing sand from the bottom to the face, and hand finishing raking the area.  This process keeps the sand traps clean looking and provides better playability to the golfers.

 #5 trap edging 10-12-22.jpg

Street Division staff was on site Friday morning to assist us with the removal of the damaged cart path behind #12 green.  They also removed soil on holes #13 and #15 so we can extend these cart paths closer to the fairways.  They delivered some material which we will haul to these areas next week to create a new cart path surface.  

 #12 cart path 10-14-22.JPEG

Milford Well plans to be on site early next week to start the installation of the new well pump and casing.  We decided to use the 140 feet of 3″ casing that was above the water level in the well.  This piping has no damage and all the threads are intact.  The piping below water level was damaged and will be replaced.  The installation should take a couple of days, then I will begin filling the irrigation pond.  

Once the installation is complete, I will start irrigating the entire golf course heavily for the remainder of the month.  For the past two months I have focused on irrigating our greens as a priority.  The tee boxes have been irrigated approximately once a week.  The remainder of the golf course has not been irrigated for a couple of months in order to save water.  Our pond level is a few feet from no longer being able to irrigate right now.

 Irrigation Pond 10-13-22.jpg

 Irrigation Pond 10-12-22.jpg

The tile underneath the pond on #10 was exposed a little over a week ago.  There were issues with the tile collapsing from the heavy clay soil and it was very difficult to evaluate everything.  We were able to locate the top of the tile and plan to excavate the area around it, cap it off, and backfill the area with better material.  Then sod will be laid to complete the clean up.  If we have enough irrigation water I will fill the pond with water before the end of the month.

 #10 tile exposed.jpg

Campbell’s Tree Service is currently planning to be on site Tuesday morning to start removing the ash trees infected with Emerald Ash Borer.  There are also two trees that will be removed because they are safety concerns.  A classic sign of the presence of EAB is thinning tops of the ash canopy and a strong undergrowth at the bottom.  We have five trees that present this sign.  

The columns at the clubhouse have been painted and look great.  The white trim was primed and painted and the actual columns received a couple coats of quiver tan.  There is a small amount of touch up that needs to be completed but for the most part it’s finished.  We will start painting tee signs this coming week.  The clubhouse interior will be painted during the off season.

Please reach out if you have any questions or have additional topics you would like to discuss.  Enjoy the remainder of the weekend.  If you’re playing golf today in the tournament simply remember, “swing easy when it’s breezy!”

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

10-11-22

Good Afternoon,

Jim Bockman, from Milford Well Service was on site late last week to remove the old well and casing.  The well pump is history.  There is a hole in the side of it.  The casing goes down 220 feet with the last 80 feet being under water.  All casing underwater is in bad shape.  New parts, materials, and a pump were ordered yesterday.  Everything should arrive late this week and Jim plans to start the installation early next week.  After two or three days we will have water again.

 well pump (2).JPG

At that time, I will take a few days to fill the irrigation pond and start running irrigation cycles for the fairways.  The plan is to put quite a bit of water on the golf course prior to the end of our water permit with the Iowa DNR.

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

10-9-2022

Good Morning,

The past week golf course staff got started on several of our fall projects.  Our first priority has been the issues with the well and the limited amount of irrigation supply in the pond for the remainder of the season.  The well pump has been functioning at about 10% of the 300 gallon per minute normal output.  This has left us with a limited irrigation source with the focus only on supplying irrigation to our greens.Milford Well Service was on site Thursday afternoon and started the removal process.  It took a long time to gain access to the well.  The steel casing was not cooperative and a torch was used to remove the top.  The next step was to start removing the pipe and the well pump.  By the end of the evening they finished this process.
After assessing the situation everything below water level needs to be replaced.  

It is approximately 140 feet to water and the well is roughly 220 feet deep.  Our well and everything in it are 23 years old.  The pump and piping have exceeded life expectancy.  Jim Bachman, from Milford Well Service, will meet with me this coming week to get some figures to get our well back to functioning. 
Here are a few photos showing the well pump damages as well as the piping:

 well pipe.jpg

 well pump.JPG

 well pump (2).JPG

Another high priority project is the leaking pond on #10.  Kevin Robinson and cemetery staff were on site to use their mini excavator to locate the tile underneath the pond on #10.  The tile has been exposed and we will move forward with this project to eliminate the leak in the pond.  

 #10 tile 10-6-22.jpg

 #10 pond tile 10-6-22.jpg

 #10 tile clean up 10-6-22.jpg

This tile line is part of the county tile located next to the bridge on #12.  It previously ran underground from #12 all the way to the area behind #9 green.  The tile was supposed to be capped and sealed during construction in 1999.  We will cap and seal the tile and it will not affect its usability moving forward.    
This coming week we will start the removal of the damaged cart path behind #12 green.  The cart paths will also be extended from the tee boxes to fairway on holes #13 and #15.  The street division will be assisting us with the removal of material and crushed concrete or asphalt millings will be added to create the cart path surface.
Tomorrow morning we will be hosting our first ever 55+ four person best shot golf tournament.  It looks like the weather will be nice and we have a lot of golfers signed up.  It should be a fun event!
Please get in touch if you have any questions.  Enjoy the remainder of 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

www.spencermunigolf.com

10-2-2022

Good Morning,

This morning I have prepared a report covering the past month’s activity at the golf course.  It also details some of the projects we have planned for the month of October.  

1. Golf Events

• We have hosted the Police Outing, Carl Spackler, and Glow Ball event since our last golf board meeting.  The Chili Open is October 2, Senior 4 Person Best Shot is October 10, and the Rocktoberfest 4 Person Best Shot is October 16.  The 2023 golf schedule of events is currently in the process of securing dates.  

 Glow Ball 9-24-22.jpg

2. Animal Control

• Over the past month we have relocated an iguana, fox, and badger from the golf course.  We used All Seasons Animal Rescue to relocate the fox and badger.  The iguana was sent to SR Exotics.
• Skunks are starting to tear up several areas on the golf course.  In July the tees, fairways, and green surrounds were sprayed with an insecticide to control the grub development in September.  The skunks are digging up the grubs in areas of the rough that were not treated.  We are in the process of trying to trap the skunks and remove them from the golf course.

 Iguana 9-4-22.JPG

 Skunk Damage #12 9-27-22.jpg

3. Trees

• We have several ash trees on holes #16 and #17 that show the presence of Emerald Ash Borer.  Campbell’s Tree Service has met with me and will be removing these trees in the next week or two.  They will also remove a tree on #11 that is behind the green and another on #18 that is split down the middle of the trunk.  These two trees are safety concerns.  All trees are marked with a pink ribbon.
• Staff has been pruning trees around the golf course.  We still have a couple dead trees to cut down and remove from the golf course.  These will be done later in the fall.
• The tree debris pile by the maintenance facility is being addressed.  We have been mulching the large pieces and hauling everything to the tree site.  There are a couple of loads left to haul away.  We have been working on this early in the mornings when it’s been too cold to mow.

 #16 EAB.jpg

 #17 EAB.jpg

 #18 Tree Safety Issue.jpg

4. Fertilizer

• The tees and fairways were fertilized with a granular 22-5-12 mix during the middle of September.  This fertilizer application will help provide nutrients to the turfgrass into the early part of June 2023.  Due to the irrigation issues we have not been able to irrigate fairways.  There has also been no rainfall.  So, the fertilizer has not moved to the crown of the plant and into the soil profile.  It will eventually get to where it needs to be when we have some precipitation.
• Greens were fertilized with a foliar fertilizer on two different occasions in September.  There was also a fungicide and wetting agent applied to the greens.  The fertilizer is readily absorbed through the plant tissue and lasts for 10-14 days.  The fungicide helps limit the disease pressure.  The wetting agent helps with water movement through the soil profile.

5. Ponds/Well

• There is an issue with the well pump and most likely the well casing.  The pump has been operating at about 10% capacity for some time now.  Milford Well Service has been on site and we have discussed some possible issues.  They should be on site the first week of October to pull the well pump and remove the well casing.  After these two steps we will evaluate the damages and how to proceed forward.  The well is out of service for the remainder of the season.
• The amount of water in the irrigation pond is how much water we have to irrigate for the remainder of the 2022 season.  I have been focusing on the greens as our primary irrigation focus.  The tees have been our secondary focus.  The approaches to the greens have been the third priority.  Irrigation of the fairways has been eliminated for the season.  I am trying to conserve as much water as possible so our greens make it through the season.
• The pond on #10 is completely empty at this time.  There are some issues with the pond liner where water is leaking out and finding its way into the old 18” county tile running through the property.  We are trying to locate this tile so it can be plugged at the pond.  The pond liner will then be repaired in this area.  As we move forward the plan might alter a bit but capping the tile will eliminate the majority of the water loss in the pond.

 Irrigation Pond 9-30-22.jpg

 #10 pond (2) 9-30-22.jpg

6. Irrigation Repairs

• The intake for the lead pump was repaired earlier in the month of September.  This pipe broke on a Sunday night at the start of the irritation programs.  It took us a few days to complete the repair process.  I was able to run the second pump in hand mode so the greens could still be irrigated.  Running the pump in hand mode requires me to be in the pumphouse in case there is an issue because the safety switches will not shut the pump down if there is an issue.
• We are currently repairing broken valve boxes and cracked lateral irrigation lines.  The lateral lines are only under pressure when that station is running.  We have completed close to ten of these problems.  
• I have been replacing damaged irrigation heads as well around the golf course.  We will continue to update these new heads on some of the greens and tees stations as a priority.

 broken intake 9-13-22.jpg

7. Clubhouse

• Repairs were completed to the stall doors and frames in both of the bathrooms.  These brackets require a special safety screw that had to be ordered.  All of these issues have been addressed.
• The first week of October we will be painting outside areas at the clubhouse.  Most of these areas will be on the columns and entry ways.
• All of the doors were repaired or adjusted by NW Glass.  A couple of the doors would not lock properly so the doors were not operating correctly.  Each one of the doors now opens and closes properly and very quietly.
• The amount of golfers is diminishing each day.  We are in the process of reducing inventory as far as candy, pop, and other snacks are concerned.  
• The new TPAR computer software will be updated during the winter months.  We have decided to wait until the clubhouse is closed for the season so we can ensure everything is operating properly before the start of the 2023 season.  
• The golf simulator will be available for appointment only during the off season.  I will try to accommodate everyone if I am available at times requested.
• I have been exploring beer cart options for the 2023 golf season.  I will continue working on this and hopefully have more information at the November meeting.  Expensive is what I have realized so far.

8. Fall Projects

• Aerification of the greens will be done mid October.  For the 2023 golf season I plan on aerifying the greens with needle tines on a monthly basis during the summer months.  Using needle tines creates a hole a little bigger than a pencil to a depth of 8-10 inches.  This process will not disrupt play and also help us control isolated dry areas.
• Cart path removal will be done on the south side of #12 green.  We will also use a skid loader to extend the cart paths on holes #13 and #15.  Crushed concrete will be added to these areas to provide a new cart path surface.  The exact time frame has not been established.
• The east cart shed will be used for our rental cart storage.  We still have a few private carts that need to be relocated in order to free up the last half of this cart shed for our rental carts only.  I also plan on moving forward with controlling the barn swallows.   
• Painting tee signs will begin the first week of October and continue until weather no longer permits.  The paint is chipped on quite a few of our signs and they need to be addressed.
• We will continue edging sand traps on the remainder of the golf course.  I also hope to explore different sand options for our traps.  A sand that is fine enough for our traps but not so find that it is easily moved by the wind.   

We are hosting the annual Chili Open today with 132 golfers registered.  Open golf will start around 4:00 PM today.  Enjoy the remainder of 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

www.spencermunigolf.com