The Muni
The Muni Update
Mar 30, 2025
Good Morning,
The Muni was open for the 2025 golf season on Wednesday at 11:00 AM. The weather was a little brisk in the morning but the afternoon turned out to be pretty nice with minimal wind. Very few tee times were left unavailable from noon until 5:00 PM. The golf course was very busy on Thursday and fairly steady on Friday. The weekend weather has not been golfer friendly but it's been a very nice start to the season.
On Monday, we started working on sand trap maintenance preparing the bunkers for the start of the golf season. This process consists of pushing sand from the bottom to the top of each trap. We document the amount of sand, machine rake, then hand rake the face on each bunker. The finished product looks pretty nice.
Staff has started hauling additional sand to some of the bunkers and the remainder will be completed in the near future. We still have a few fairway sand traps that need additional sand. Staff will also be removing small rocks and other debris in the bunkers this coming week.
Sand traps are all tiled to help eliminate standing water but they don't always function the way they are designed. High water table and minimal topography change lessen the success of the tile. In 2025, we are going to pump standing water out of the bunkers on a regular basis after rainfall events. I am hopeful this process will help return these areas to a playable condition in a timely manner.
On Tuesday the greens were mowed with our collar mower. This machine was used to clean the debris off the greens without clipping too much turfgrass. There will be no scheduled mowing practices done until the weather turns around for more than a couple of days. Warmer nighttime temperatures only lasted a couple of days but you can see a huge difference in the turfgrass in this photo collage posted below:
Wednesday evening Dakota Pump arrived on site to install the motor for our 75 HP turbine pump and complete some electrical work. This motor weighs 700 pounds which required a small crane hoist, on a traction unit, to place it on the pump. Finally the motor was connected to the control panel and we tested the pump for proper rotation.
Thursday, late morning, the pumphouse was ready to test and we started filling the main lines of the irrigation system until we established the operational pressure. The system was tested for a short period of time and the remainder of the day was spent completing pumphouse setup.
Friday morning, I went through putting green programs to make sure they were operating properly. Rainbird helped identify some technical issues in our irrigation software and those were updated. Staff will continue opening the irrigation system over the next couple of days. Our irrigation consultant will be on site Thursday to complete the remainder of the programming with the new irrigation control panels. Hopefully, by the end of the week, we can address any additional issues and the system will be ready to go for the season.
The majority of clubhouse staff will be returning for the season with the addition of several new faces. The City is currently working with our employees to get them setup and ready for clubhouse hours. We all look forward to seeing the familiar as well as new faces at the golf course. A heartfelt 'thank you" goes out to our staff and the golfers that choose to visit our golf course.
Please reach out if there are any questions on a golf course topic or you would like additional information. The weather outside is not favorable for golf but the precipitation will be beneficial to everyone. Enjoy the remainder of the weekend!
Brian C Mohr
Director of Golf Operations
City of Spencer
101 W 5th Street
Spencer Municipal Golf Course
Spencer, Iowa 51301
712-260-5370