The Muni Update
The Muni Update
Apr 27, 2025
Good Morning,
This past week we had a couple of nighttime temperatures that were at least 50 degrees and only three for the month of April. There have been seven nights where the temperature was below freezing and a couple of those were below 20 degrees. Our bentgrass greens do not react very well to these temperatures coupled with a wide open winter equals a very slow start to the spring "Green Up."
The greens have been under a lot of stress due to these weather conditions and it's very concerning to see some of the thin areas across quite a few greens. Irrigation has been applied to the greens regularly plus the precipitation we have received is helpful but the temperatures are hindering any progress.
Last weekend soil temperatures were 44.3 degrees on the greens and this morning they are at 49.2 degrees. This coming week the forecast calls for a lot warmer nights and we should see a lot of progress in the greens. We will be applying a granular fertilizer on the greens to try and jump start the growing process. I will continue to monitor these conditions as we move forward.
The rest of the golf course is looking to be in good condition. Our low mow bentgrass fairways have transitioned into Spring very nicely. They all have a great color and started growing a little bit more this past week. Mowing frequencies are not nearly as often as normally at this time of year and hopefully when the temperatures get better this will change. It's been a slow start to turf progressing into the growing season.
The irrigation programs for greens, approaches, tees, and green surrounds have been running periodically during the week. We have had a couple of stations stick on overnight causing a lot of standing water in some areas. There was a lot of debris in the system from the flood last year and we are still seeing a few areas where diaphragms are remaining slightly open after the station runs. We are continuing to clean these out and monitor the run times on these stations.
I met with three security companies this past week for on site visits. They are putting together quotes and security plans for the buildings on the golf course property. Once this information has been submitted they will all be reviewed and the next steps in the process will occur. I have been monitoring the locks on all buildings at the close of the golf course each day and also during the night. We continue to conduct inventories of each cart shed every couple of days to make sure we are not seeing any more thefts. I will continue to update on this process as we move forward.
Today we are hosting our second golf tournament of 2025. This will be the first time we have ever had the weather cooperate to complete both of our April golf tournaments. It looks like it's going to be pretty breezy today but we currently have twenty teams registered. Hopefully it gets a little warmer and the rain stays away today.
This concludes another week at The Muni. Please reach out to me if you have questions or would like additional information on a topic. 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