Good Morning,
Every day continues to remind us of the winter wonderland of NW Iowa. Thermostats across the community have dropped extremely low this morning. Please use caution if you need to venture outside today. On a positive note, we are only a few months away from the start of the 2026 golf season.
This past week the main focus was on continued off season maintenance schedules. Oil and filter changes along with other scheduled services were completed on our rental cart inventory. Rental cart revenue makes up 16% of the fiscal period budget for the golf course. It’s very important to have a preventative maintenance program to keep all of these carts functioning properly on a daily basis.
The Muni has 45 rental carts in our inventory. Ten of these rental carts are 2022 Club Cars, 17 are 2023 EZ GO models, and 18 of the carts are 2012 Yamaha models. During busy open golf periods we might have 32 of these rental carts on the course at one time. There are many golf events where we rent more than 40 of our rental carts. In the next couple of years we will look at updating some of our 2012 models.
Maintenance and servicing of our utility vehicles, greens mowers, and the collar mower have also been completed. There were minor repairs that were completed on each piece of equipment followed by a thorough cleaning. These items are now ready for the start of the 2026 golf season. Our two greens mowers are near the top of our equipment replacement program. When the time comes to purchase new greens mowers these two units will be used for mowing collars and times when we double or triple mow greens following brushing. The current collar mower will be sold and no longer in our operations.
There are two trap rakes in our maintenance inventory that are used on a regular basis. The 2016 John Deere model is our daily unit and a 2004 Toro model is used during times of repair to help move sand. Both of these units will need quite a bit of repairs to hopefully get them through one more season before replacement. I will be working on these units this coming week.
The remainder of our equipment fleet will also be serviced and any necessary repairs will be completed in the off season. Each piece of equipment will also be thoroughly cleaned and greased. We practice daily and weekly preventative maintenance on all of our equipment during the golf season to ensure longer life expectancy and reduced repairs. The off season program is much more thorough.
2021 Toro 6′ Out Front Mower.jpeg
In the upcoming weeks I will be removing all of the dormant cattail shoots from the irrigation pond. The starchy root systems remain alive underground and will start to sprout shoots once again in the Spring. I will be treating some of these areas to get the cattails under better control for the upcoming season. They have become very thick in certain areas which reduces the line of flight for golfers on holes #5 and #12.
Tree removal is also high on the work list as the winter months move forward. There are still approximately six trees on the ground that need to be cleaned up and hauled away. We also have three or four additional trees we need to drop and remove from the golf course.
Cattails and Tree Debris 12-13-25.jpeg
Currently I am reviewing rules and policies for the clubhouse and the grounds with the Golf Board. We will be updating these at the golf board meeting in January. We will also be looking at approving an approximate 3% increase in our season passes as well as small increases in our punch cards. You can currently purchase your 2026 season passes, driving range passes, cart storage fees, trail fees, or punch cards on the website at the 2025 rates.
Please reach out with any questions or the need for further 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