Good Morning,
This past week, the main focus was on continued herbicide applications to control the dandelions and other broadleaf weeds. I have treated all 164 acres of golf course property; only hand spraying remains. Spot spraying will occur over the next few weeks, but all existing broadleaf weeds have been treated.
Over the past couple of weeks the golf course received a pre-emergent treatment to eliminate crabgrass germination, a herbicide to control broadleaf weeds, and another herbicide to control goosegrass and sedge around the sand trap perimeters.
These applications are completed annually. The pre-emergent eliminates crabgrass seeds from germinating. These seeds are dropped in the Fall once we start to receive nighttime frosts. The dandelions start as a freshly blown bumper crop every Spring. It’s a great task to have completed this early in the golf season.
Another big project completed was adding new sod in the remaining tree stump areas. Four large rolls of sod, totalling approximately 2,000 square feet arrived early in the week. Staff spent considerable time prepping them, laying the sod, and watering the areas multiple times. We will continue to water the sod until it becomes fully established.
The City Council recently approved the 2026/27 budget and Capital Improvement Plan. I’m very excited to announce we will complete a cart path overlay this Fall. Asphalt will also be added around the clubhouse and the driving range. We will replace any areas of crushed concrete with asphalt. The parking lots will not be part of this plan.
I will meet with the engineer soon to establish a timeframe and prepare the project for bidding. The cart paths, installed in 2001, definitely need an upgrade. It’s exciting to see this project come together after years of discussion and planning.
This Spring has had very strange weather patterns. We continue to experience abnormally dry conditions, causing the irrigation system to run more often than usual for this time of year. There have continued to be some small repairs with the system but overall it is working well. We currently have one main line to repair this week.
Our daily maintenance increases each day, yet we remain behind the normal growing conditions for this time of the season. The golf course is in very nice shape but the grass is not growing very rapidly due to the cold nighttime temperatures we have experienced.
This upcoming week we will continue hauling sand to the fairway bunkers around the golf course. We will also address some additional greenside traps since we have plenty of new sand on site. Finishing this process will significantly improve sand trap conditions.
Some additional plans for the upcoming week include:
- Complete the renovation of the waterfall landscaping
- Construct the new landscaping area by #5 blue tees
- Repair the east tile in #12 wetlands
- Daily maintenance practices
The maintenance staff will prepare the landscaping areas around the course for new plant materials arriving in a few weeks. Crystal O’Clair designed these new landscaping areas. Following the planting, we are seeking volunteers to maintain these areas. Please reach out to me if you are interested in adapting a golf hole. I currently have volunteers for eleven of the 23 areas.
It looks like a beautiful day as we finish another week at The Muni. Enjoy the beautiful weather and 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