New water and ice machine on Overlook!

The Board of Directors approved the purchase of an Ice and Water machine to be placed at Overlook bathrooms on hole #6.  The ice and water machines on hole #4/#7, on Overlook at hole #6, and at the turn stand on the back of the Clubhouse will replace the coolers on the golf course.  We hope you enjoy this new addition to the golf course!

Please make sure to fix ballmarks, even when the greens are soft and sandy!

Aerification Process

These pictures below show the entire process it takes to aerify each green.  We have close to 5 acres of bentgrass across all 27 holes, and it takes a lot of work to get it done each time.  Believe me, if there was a better, easier way to give the greens what they truly need to survive and be healthy, we would do it!  The big holes and heavy sand process is really vital to the long term health of the greens.  While it is never fun to putt on the greens for a few weeks after it is done,it is very important, and we try to make them grow back as quickly as possible!


Here is a picture of #8 Green right before we start the process of Aerification.  Greens were looking pretty good before!

The first step is to apply a even topdressing of sand across the entire green. 

Next the Toro Procore 648 will come punch the 1/2 holes and remove a core.  The plugs of turf are then collected by the machine and deposited on the edges of the greens.  You can see staff in the background of the picture using shovels to pick up the piles of plugs.  This is a very labor intensive process.

After all the plugs have been removed and blown off, it is time to drag the sand evenly into the holes.  Sand will help add new pore space in the holes where the plugs were removed, and encourage new roots to grow.  This will help firm the greens and help build a strong foundation to help survive the hot summer months. 

One week later and the green grass is very visible!  This is a sign the greens are growing back quickly!  We will begin to mow the greens on our usual schedule next week, and continue to mow them each day going forward.  Much unwanted rain has really helped wash it in to the turf profile!

Greens Aerification This Week!

The Spring Greens Aerification, scheduled for Monday, February 24th, is still being carried out this week.  Rain all day on Monday postponed the start of the process, but we will carry on and do 9 holes a day to finish all the greens by the weekend.  The Overlook 9 holes were completed on Tuesday, Wednesday we will work on the Lake View 9 holes, and on Thursday we will finish the Mountain View 9 holes.  If you are playing this weekend please expect to see the greens punched with holes!

Here is a look at the aerification machine working on #6 Overlook.  The grey box behind the machine is called the core collector and is dragging the plugs to the edge of the green.  You can see the pile of plugs collected inside the walls.  This small task helps save countless man hours pushing plugs!


Here is a handful of plugs from the "core collector" box.


Here is a look at 9 Overlook Green after the entire process.  All that lacks is a new cup cut in the green and it will be ready for play! Only 3 to 4 weeks of recovery and nobody will know it ever happened!

Spring Greens Aerification is February 24th!!!!

A quick reminder that this coming Monday, February 24th, we will do our annual Spring Greens Aerfication.  This process will be the "big holes and heavy sand", and the greens should fully recover in about 4 weeks.  With all the rain we have received lately it will be a great time to get the greens opened up and filled with some new sand! 



This picture below shows the greens last spring 2 weeks after aerification! 

Wet Start to 2020

       Rivers of water in the fairways has been a common site around the golf course for the last 6 weeks.  During heavy rains, most all the fairways will have rivers running down them with water rushing to drain basins, ponds and creeks.  While this water makes the fairways wet in the low areas, it actually shows the surface drainage for our golf course works quite well.  We do have some isolated areas which need to be addressed across the golf course to help drainage, but overall the course really withstands the rain well.

   Since the start of the year, Marietta Country Club has totaled 13.6 inches of rainfall!  The total amount of rainfall in 2019 for the months of January and February was 12.1 inches.  This combined total in 2019 was the wettest January-February in the last 16 years.  So with 15 days left to go in February we already are ahead 1.5 inches!  More rain is in the forecast for next week, so we should see the record wet start to the year continue. 

During one rain event on Thursday, February 6th, we totaled 3.35" of rain in a 12 hour period, and really started to see some results of flash flooding around the property.  The pictures below show a few examples of the excessive water.

This photo is of #8 Mountain view in front of the green tee box.  The walk path leading to the fairway runs right through this section and it is always wet.  We plan to install drainage this spring to help improve this area, especially during rain events like we have seen this winter.  

#6 Overlook green was very close to becoming the bottom of the lake!  While the water level is not as high as it was in 2009 when Stephen took his infamous picture standing in water holding the flag, it was starting to crest the top of the wall.  On a typical day, the top of this wall is at least a foot above the water level.

I have had quite a few people comment over the years about why the area which separates #7 Overlook tee box from the fairway is not made into a pond.  Well, this picture shows exactly why it can not be a pond.  This low lying area is built as a retention pond to catch water during heavy rains, exactly like it is doing in this picture.  Because the railroad tracks prevent the water from freely moving through during heavy rains, all the water must flow through a drainage system under the train tracks.  If the area was always full of water, it would flood tremendously during a heavy downpour and potentially damage the train tracks.  It is amazing how much rain moves through this area during heavy rains.

This picture shows just how high the water was after the rain ended.  Almost over the bridge!!

Summer Weed Control

Over the past 3 weeks our staff has worked hard on applying the summer preemergent herbicide to all the turf on the property at MCC.  Every blade of grass, except the putting greens, has been sprayed with a weed control mixture which will kill any weed that is green and visible now, as well as prevent any weed from growing over the next 6 months!  Once the product is sprayed on the grass we let it dry, and then water it in that night so the chemical gets into the soil.  The soil is where all the weeds will try to grow, and the preemergent acts as a blanket that will not allow any weeds to grow.  Weeds will typically start to grow any time after the middle of March, so it is very important to be ahead of the game and protected before they start to grow!  

In this photo you can see our spray technician, Brad, applying the product to hole #16.  The green tinted spray is actually a non-toxic dye we add to the spray solution so Brad can see exactly where he has treated.  If you look closely you can see the difference in color of the rough where he has sprayed.