Gooooood Morning Spencerites, 9-18-16
We have kayaked through another week at the golf course. Lots of funky work schedules have allowed us to stay on top of everything and attempt to keep the wet course in great shape. From Friday morning through this morning we have been able to cover the majority of the mowing of the entire golf course. Thank goodness for headlights on mowers. The cooler temperatures have slowed the growth of the grass which makes a huge difference.
On the topic of water, I spent some time going over my Iowa DNR water report for the 2016 golf season. The DNR grants the golf course a permit to water from April 1 through the end of October. We are allowed to use 121.5 acre feet of water out of the irrigation pond and pump 81 acre feet of water from our well into the pond. Any extensions need to be filed in advance and await a DNR decision.
An acre foot of water equals 326,000 gallons of water. A full night of irrigation, under dry conditions, requires about 450,000 gallons of water. The pumps run at 800 gallons per minute during the irrigation cycles and the well pump operates at 300 gallons per minute. So, on a full irrigation cycle 1.38 acre feet of water is applied to the golf course.
The operation of the irrigation system needs to be monitored tightly on a monthly basis to make sure the maximum water amount is kept at a safe distance. This year, to date, the golf course has been irrigated with 59.01 acre feet of water and the well has added 25.18 acre feet of water to the pond. The county tile, feeding the irrigation pond, controls the highest percentage of water supplied to the pond. We are in great shape for the remainder of the irrigation permit in 2016.
We removed a couple more pine trees from the golf course this week. Again, these trees are suffering from pine wilt disease. Pine trees are not native to Iowa which shortens the life expectancy and makes them more susceptible to disease and insect pressure. The loss of these trees is inevitable. We have removed close to 40 pine trees in the past three years. Ugh.
Trees are very important to our environment and create a lot of positives for the golf course. Along with the pros there are also cons with trees on a golf course. They compete with the turfgrass for nutrients and water. Heavy shade also creates a poor growing environment for turf. I plan to replace quite a few of these trees to keep the integrity of the golf course in tact but also give our turfgrass the best possible growing conditions.
Precision Concrete Cutting was on site, this week, to repair the trip hazards on the sidewalks at the clubhouse. This process was approved by the city council to be completed throughout the entire city sidewalks after our own sidewalks have been addressed. The process is complete at the golf course.
Starting on Monday, the golf course will be charging $25 for all day golf with a rental cart included. This has been a very popular time of the year to attract golfers from outside the community. We will also start airing our fall commercial through ICAN.
That is a wrap on another week at the ole’ golf course. Please contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns. Have a beautiful day!
Spencer Municipal Golf Course 