Good Morning,
Course maintenance continues to be one of our top priorities each week. The non-irrigated areas of the golf course were starting to turn dormant due to the lack of rainfall, but now they are back to rapid growing conditions. Staff is spending the majority of our days mowing frequently. The overall condition of the golf course is great right now and I’m extremely proud of the hard work and commitment shown by the maintenance staff. They are very proud team members, and it definitely shows in their work.
This past week, we treated the greens and collars with a fungicide to control the dollar spot that was starting to appear on several greens. Disease pressure is very high right now due to warm nighttime temperatures and very high humidity. Normally, fungicide applications occur 14 to 18 days apart. We reduced the interval between applications to 12 days due to the weather conditions.
Greens were also sprayed with a foliar fertilizer consisting of micronutrients, a wetting agent, and a molasses product. The micronutrients are beneficial to plant health. The wetting agents help move water through the soil profile and lessen isolated dry areas. The molasses product helps reduce organic matter in the upper soil profile.
I also sprayed a herbicide along all cart paths to eliminate crabgrass and other broadleaf weeds growing through the asphalt. I did not spray near any of the landscaping areas. These areas will be hand treated in the very near future. This application is part of the asphalt overlay project scheduled for mid-October. Plant growth must be eliminated in these areas prior to the new overlay project.
Irrigation totals for the month of July were close to six million gallons of water. The well pumped 6,500,000 gallons of water into the irrigation pond. Due to the high temperatures, the evapotranspiration rate was pretty high in the month of July. Our totals for the month of August are very similar to July’s. Yearly irrigation and well totals are in line with the limits established with the Iowa DNR through our irrigation permit.
This past week, we addressed several irrigation repairs around the golf course. There were no major issues; repairs mainly involved leaking valves or electrical problems with several stations. I also adjusted some rotation patterns on green and surround irrigation heads. We still have some leaking valves and several lateral lines with pinhole leaks around the greens that we will address this coming week.
Several pieces of our turf equipment required repair this past week. We also had a rough mower break down yesterday morning. Several machines had repairs completed, but we are still waiting for parts on a couple of others.
August has been a very busy month for golf events at The Muni. This past week, we hosted the SGOWA on Monday and the ServPro First Responder event on Friday. The men’s league tournament was on Saturday. Next week we will host the Spencer Peace Officers golf event on Friday the 28th. These events brought many new golfers to enjoy our golf course.
It’s been a beautiful weekend so far. I hope each of you enjoy the sunshine today as we approach the start of the school season. Please reach out with any questions regarding the golf course.
Brian C Mohr
Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
101 W 5th Street
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370