The Muni Update
The Muni Update
Apr 13, 2025
Good Morning,
This past week we continued to go through the irrigation stations to check nozzle throw and make any necessary repairs. Greens, tees, and surrounds were irrigated multiple times to provide moisture to these areas with the high winds we experienced on multiple days.
Staff repaired multiple heads that were not performing properly or had small issues. On Thursday afternoon we discovered a main line leaking on #13 fairway. This resulted in a lot of standing water in this area. The fairway was isolated by closing a couple of valves and the repairs were completed by the evening. This line was opened back up on Friday morning and everything was performing as expected.
The cold temperatures have really slowed the progress in the golf greens growth and color as the season is underway. Providence Bentgrass is the variety of grass on our greens and one of the downfalls is it doesn't perform very well in cold temperatures. Soil temperatures need to warm quite a bit before the grass on the greens starts cooperting. We are about six weeks behind schedule in comparison to 2024.
The fairways and tees are a low mow bluegrass variety that can be mowed closer to bentgrass height of cut in comparison to the older varieties of bluegrass. The fairways and tees have come a long way in the past few weeks. These areas have been mowed a couple of times and are starting to look better with the warmer temperatures.
Staff finished going through the sand taps cleaning debris and small rocks out of each sand trap. It is very common for these small rocks to push up through the clay soil underneath the sand in the traps. We will continue to remove any small rocks that continue to enter the sand each time we rake the traps during our scheduled maintenance practices.
A large ash tree was removed from our nursery area between #10 green and #11 tees. This tree was a victim of the Emerald Ash Borer and died last season. A large cottonwood tree was also removed near the old cart path area on #11. This tree had become a safety concern and needed to be cut down. This past week these trees were finally removed from the property and the debris was hauled to the tree site.
The 2025 Virtual Membership Drive continues through April 19. Anyone purchasing a season pass or green fee punch card for the 2025 season will automatically be entered into a drawing for gift certificates to The Muni. This has been an annual event for the past five golf seasons with a lot of support from our golfing community.
Please reach out with questions or the need for further information at the golf course. Enjoy the remainder of your 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