Good Morning,
Saturday morning we noticed a lot of active mycelium showing up on several of the greens. This fungus is known as “dollar spot” due to the light tan lesions left behind in the shape of a silver dollar. This fungus develops rapidly in wet conditions with high humidity and higher nighttime temperatures.
Early Saturday morning, I sprayed the greens with a fungicide, insecticide, foliar fertilizers, and a wetting agent. The fungicide will control the fungus and the insecticide will help prevent cutworms, which are common at this time of the season. The fertilizer will help the plant take up nutrients immediately to address the fungus situation.
#15 Green Dollar Spot 7-4-26 .jpeg
This past week was a battle with Mother Nature, delivering 3.75 inches of rain over the last seven days. This left the golf course saturated with a lot of standing water as we entered the 4th of July weekend. The golf course remained playable with golf carts and I appreciate the players being respectful of the conditions while using them.
The week started off with us a little bit behind on some of our normal maintenance because a couple pieces of equipment required repairs completed last weekend. On Monday, staff was busy mowing around the sand traps, landscaping areas, bushes, and other course areas that require our six-foot out-front mower.
We focused on mowing as much of the golf course as possible on Monday so the scheduled fertilizer application could be completed Tuesday morning. This slow-release 30-0-12 fertilizer will provide nutrients to the turfgrass until mid September.
The tees, fairways, green surrounds, and some of the roughs were all treated. Mid to late June is our scheduled time to apply this product. The exact time is generally determined by the turfgrass condition. There was a slight discoloration, and “dollar spot” fungus was becoming visible on the tees and fairways. The precipitation and warm temperatures will help the fertilizer become available to the plant and everything will develop a nice green hue again.
#15 Fairway Dollar Spot 7-4-26.jpeg
On Wednesday we started hauling new sand to the fairway bunkers on holes number two and 15. Our small one ton dump truck drops the sand in various areas of the sand trap and we distribute it evenly with the blade of our trap rake. The sand will be very fluffy until it settles. The additional rainfall later in the week stopped this project. We will continue next week.
#2 Fairway Bunkers 7-1-26.jpeg
#15 Fairway Bunkers 7-1-26.jpeg
Thursday morning was dedicated to landscaping. We added new mulch to all landscaping areas on the golf course. Crystal O’Clair also designed a new plan for the waterfall landscaping. These additional plant materials have been ordered and will arrive in the next couple of weeks.
Staff has slowly started removing cattails that affect the line of sight on hole number 12. Previously it was not possible to see the majority of the green from the tee boxes. A stretch of cattails was removed on Thursday that helped improve the view of this hole for the golfer. We will continue to work on several other areas of the pond in the coming days.
Late Thursday morning, we decided to focus on the majority of the mowing we had planned for Friday. The weather forecast was definitely concerning, so it was the right call. Friday morning the course had nothing but surface water draining in every direction. Staff completed our normal mowing practices since the fairways were mowed on Thursday.
Friday was one of the busiest days we have experienced this golf season. I would rank it slightly behind the opening weekend in March. The majority of our patrons paid green fees and rented carts. Tee times started at 6:32 and continued straight through until 4:00 PM. We were hustling to get enough rental carts ready until late in the morning. It was a beautiful day to play golf. We appreciate seeing our regular players daily and enjoy welcoming new faces as well.
There are quite a few location flags along hole number 12. These flags identify all the underground utilities in the area. An upcoming FEMA project will address the damaged culverts that run under the road and deliver surface drainage into the irrigation pond.
Enjoy the remainder of the holiday weekend. Please contact me with any questions or if you need additional information.
Brian C Mohr
Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
101 W 5th Street
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370