News

The golf course maintenance staff has been working on quite a few projects as we near the close of the 2024 golf season. Here is a list of some of those items:

1. Pumphouse - the flood caused quite a bit of damage in the irrigation pumphouse. The three pumps have multiple issues but we were able to limp through the golf season. We are currently down to one operational pump to control the irrigation system at night. The damage was submitted to FEMA and a mitigation plan was approved by the city council to eliminate the issue from happening again if we experience the same type of flooding in the future. Dakota Pump will be on site in December to begin the installation of a 75 HP turbine motor as well as a 5 HP submersible jockey pump in the wet well. Pixler Electric will be on site to install the new wiring and circuit breakers. Two new VFD control panels will also be installed to run the new motors. Once the installation is complete, in December, they will disassemble everything and take it back to their shop to weld and paint the new piping. In late March they will be back on site to finish the final install and get the system operational for the 2025 golf season. We will coordinate the process with Pixler Electric, Bob Connelly (irrigation consultant), and Dakota Pump. In the end we will have a higher efficiency irrigation operation and eliminate the future possibility of flood damage to the pumphouse.

2. Irrigation Repairs - staff has been very busy repairing lots of irrigation valves and lateral lines. These lines control a single irrigation station which controls two to three heads on the lateral line. We have also been cleaning and/or replacing diaphragms located inside the valves. We went through the entire golf course irrigation system multiple times to locate all the areas in need of attention. The worst areas were easily identified by large amounts of water in the valve boxes. The majority of the repairs were as simple as tightening nuts on top of the valve or tightening the IC control located on top of the valve. We have addressed over 100 stations in the past few weeks. We will finish the remaining stations this week and then start to level some of the new irrigation heads around the greens. These heads settled more than expected after the irrigation renovation was completed in June. The irrigation system will be winterized on Monday, November 18.

3. Irrigation Renovation - The irrigation renovation was completed around the greens and green surrounds in June. This renovation has allowed us to better manage our irrigation controls and water usage on the greens with individual head control. Adjusting irrigation head rotation patterns and time frames was a continual process through the season. Every individual head was set to a spray pattern that controlled that area of the green as well as the green surround. Time frames were adjusted over and over to find the right amount of irrigation time necessary for each section. It was definitely a feeling out process but we feel everything is set up for the appropriate spray pattern and run time. I have been very happy with the end results of this renovation. 

4. Tee Signs - we started cleaning and painting all of the tee signs this fall. There are 26 granite signs on the golf course. At this time we have completed the painting of approximately half of the signs. We will try to get a few more signs done before the season comes to a close. This process is totally weather permitting at this time of the year. 

5. Trees - we planted over 40 new trees on the golf course this season. These trees were all donated to the golf course. Farmers Bank, Mark Lawson, Amy and Russ Essick, and the family of LaVonne Peterson were contributors to this project. Due to drought conditions we spent a lot of time watering these trees each week. We added mulch to these new trees as well as trees planted in 2023 to help keep as much moisture as possible around the root system. These trees have helped replace quite a few ash trees we lost due to the Emerald Ash Borer.

6. Landscaping Areas - I met with Bob Fullhart, Park and Rec Director, to work together developing a more attractive landscaping plan in 2025. We are going to develop a plant material inventory and replacement plan according to soil type and condition at each landscaping area. This plan will help add more annual and perennial plant materials to provide color to each area. We will also be repairing some of the damaged landscaping areas this fall if time permits. Otherwise it will be on the schedule for early 2025. This will be a lengthy process and will take more than a year to complete everything. Fall is the optimal time to add plant materials but we will add part of the new materials in the Spring. We are headed in the right direction and will eventually have everything addressed.

7. Sod and Repair to Greens - staff spent a lot of time this season working on repairing damaged areas on multiple greens. We removed hundreds of plugs from the practice green to add to damaged areas on greens #2, #5, #8, #9, #10, #11, #15, #16, #17, and #18. We also cut sod and repaired larger areas on greens #2, #10, #11, #16, and #18. Some greens were worse than others. It was very time consuming but the majority of these areas are completely recovered. Moving forward we plan to purchase a new greens aerifier we can use on a monthly basis to help provide better water penetration to these difficult areas on the greens. Hopefully we can minimize this issue in the future.

8. Spraying - herbicide applications were very difficult through the month of June due to high precipitation levels and windy conditions. Eventually I was able to cover all 164 acres to control broadleaf weeds including lots of clover. I was also able to apply the pre-emergent for crabgrass control early in the year. This helped eliminate the presence of crabgrass in our tees, fairways, and green surrounds. Grub control was sprayed in early July which helps control the presence of grubs in the fall. We can always tell how successful this application is each year based on the amount of damage we see from skunks digging up grubs around the golf course once September arrives. This year we saw very minimal activity. Spraying applications to our greens with foliar fertilizers, fungicides, and insecticides were also completed on a scheduled basis to ensure our putting surfaces were healthy and aesthetically pleasing to the golfers. The end of season snow mold fungicide will be applied to the greens in the very near future.

9. Shelters - The street division stopped out to discuss the upgrades to the two shelters we have on the golf course. We poured concrete around the shelter on #14 in the past week. This process will involved excavating part of the inside of the shelter followed by concrete. We will have some clean up and also add soil and sod around the entrances. The shelter behind #2 green is currently under discussion. The building is sagging in several areas which has created an uneven frame. We are still trying how to repair the framework, pour the concrete pad, and add the new tin roof and siding. 

10. Closing Date - The golf course will be closing at some point this coming week. Once the course is closed we ask the golfers to please refrain from being on the golf course. Foot traffic will have an adverse effect on the winter spray application completed on the greens.
    

This should cover the majority of the main topics at the golf course. It has been a very busy golf season even though our community experienced so much devastation on June 22. I’m sure we will see some of the long term effects on our community when our golfers begin the 2025 golf season. The golf board has decided there will be no increase in any fees for the 2025 golf season. Hopefully everyone is on the right track to return to as normal as possible from these trying times. Please let me know if you have any questions.