Good Morning,
Mother Nature continues to go back and forth on whether our golf season is here to stay. It looks like a beautiful couple of days to get out on the course before we return to colder weather. Any time we can play golf in March is definitely a bonus. We need to enjoy the warm days and patiently wait through the cold ones.
Our 2026 Membership Drive is still underway and will close on April 12. Purchase your 2026 season pass or green fee punch card to be entered into the random drawing for $50 gift certificates at The Muni. Any golfer who purchases before the close of business on April 12 will be automatically entered. Payments can be made in the clubhouse or online via the website.
Staff has been very busy working on our sand traps. We use a straight spade to cut a new edge around the sand trap’s perimeter, push the sand up to the face of the trap, and finish rake the sand for an attractive finish. It’s a time consuming process but it makes the traps more playable for our golfers. We had planned to complete this project in the Fall but we ran out of time.
#18 Sand Trap Edging 3-23-26.jpeg
During the process, staff can also monitor the depth of sand in each sand trap. Over time the sand drifts down to the low areas in each trap leaving minimal sand toward the top. The top trap on hole #8 had minimal sand at the north end of the trap. We removed a lot of soil from the bottom of the sand trap, creating better playing conditions.
#8 Finished Sand Trap 3-26-26.jpeg
There are 32 sand traps on the golf course and three on our practice area. Staff has completed all 22 greenside sand traps and only has the fairway bunkers remaining on the course. All three practice traps also remain unfinished. Below are before and after photos of the right sand trap on hole #9.
#9 Unfinished Sand Trap 3-23-26.jpeg
#9 Sand Trap Finish Edging 3-23-26.jpeg
It is still a little early in the golf season to begin our regular mowing maintenance programs. The greens were mowed at 3/16 of an inch which is a much higher cut than our normal 1/8 of an inch. This mowing was done to simply clean the debris off the greens and slightly smooth the putting surface. A lot of green grass is showing near the plant’s crown on the greens. They look really good considering the conditions we dealt with this past Winter.
The fairways were mowed late last week. Again, this process cleaned up debris on the fairways and created a better playing surface. The fairways look great, with plenty of green grass showing as temperatures improve. We will not mow any more turfgrass until growing conditions improve.
This upcoming week our main focus will be completing the sand trap edging and clean up process. Temperatures will fluctuate again this week. The golf course will be available each day unless poor weather conditions require us to close.
Enjoy the remainder of the weekend. The forecast looks like a beautiful day. Enjoy the sunshine and warm weather. Please reach out with any questions.
Brian C Mohr
Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
101 W 5th Street
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370