The Muni Update
Good Morning,
Monday morning started off with a bang at the golf course. Literally, there was a loud bang and a hydraulic valve blew on one of the Toro green mowers. Hydraulic leaks are usually a rarity but when they happen it is not good for the turf. We used oil dry to try and soak up as much of the oil as possible but will eventually need to clean the area up on #6 green and sod.
This past week our new rental carts arrived at the golf course. This will be a great addition to our rental fleet bringing us up to 45 rental carts available at this time. Our older rental carts will be kept in our inventory for the bust golf events and tournaments. This will eliminate the need of leasing carts for one day events at a high rate. It will definitely be easier to manage the events that demand a lot of carts and provide us additional revenue.
Fairways and tees were fertilized on Tuesday morning. The golf course was irrigated overnight at a heavy rate to move the fertilizer prill down into the canopy of the turfgrass. We ran irrigation several nights this week along with a couple of rain showers that helped with this process. This application will provide nutrients to the turfgrass until mid September. We will complete our fall application at that time.
I sprayed the greens with a foliar fertilizer and wetting agent this past week. The wetting agent will help hold the moisture in the top of the soil profile and prevent isolated dry areas. The foliar fertilizer will provide some plant nutrients through the leaf intake of the plant only a few hours after the application. Greens are sprayed with a foliar fertilizer and wetting agent every 14 days during the playing season. Fungicides and insecticides are applied as necessary.
Staff started to work on our landscaping to clean up around the golf course. We added new petunias to the tee box landscaping, cleaned up landscaping areas, and started the #10 waterfall for the season. We still have more work to do but we have begun the process.
Wednesday morning we had one of the 6″ intakes break in the pumphouse. This is an issue each year and thankfully we have a couple of backup lines this season. I am continuously researching on the internet to try and find a remedy for this problem. It is 100% an irrigation design issue and I hope to figure out a cost effective solution. This is an old picture but it gives you an idea of the pressure in the lines to snap such a large piece of PVC.
This coming week we will be applying herbicide applications to control clover, dandelions, and other broadleaf weeds around the golf course. We also have the Ladies Triple Treat event on Tuesday with almost 100 golfers participating. The week will come to a close with the JP Memorial golf event on Saturday. It will be a very busy week inside the clubhouse and on the grounds.
Please reach out if you have any questions or would like additional information on a topic. Happy Father’s Day to each one of you today. It’s been really neat to see so many golfers of all ages out this morning to play some golf with their dad.
Brian C Mohr
Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
101 W 5th Street
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370