How to properly repair ball marks on greens

                One of the main complaints I recieve from the membership is about ball marks on the greens.  This is a problem all golf courses face, especially courses that get as many rounds as we do here at Marietta Country Club.  In order to try and alleviate this problem, I must ask a favor of all golfers, please try and repair your ball marks.  To help clear up any uncertainty, I want to take a moment and explain the proper way to fix a ball mark.

                Fixing ball marks right after the shot hits the green is very important, equally important is doing it the right way.  Because while many golfers fail to repair ball marks – and shame on you if you are one of them – there are also many well-meaning golfers who do “repair” the ball marks, only to do so incorrectly.  A study recently done at Kansas State University, my alma mater, has concluded that incorrectly “repaired” ball marks take up to twice as long to heal as those that are properly repaired.  So I have a few pointers that I hope will help to inform you of the best way to fix these unsightly depressions.

                 Start off by obtaining a Ball Mark Repair Tool, or Divot Tool, from the pro shop or any other golf supplier.  A tee also works just fine, as long as it is used properly.  My favorite tool to use is the original design with two prongs on the end of metal or hard plastic.  See the illustration below for an example.

                               

                The first step in repairing ball marks is to take your ball mark repair tool and insert the prongs into the turf at the edge of the depression.  Note: Do NOT insert the prongs into the depression itself, but at the rim of the depression.

                            

                The next step is to push the edge of the ball mark toward the center, using your ball mark repair tool in a “gentle twisting motion”, to help push the surrounding edges of grass back together.  This is the step where most golfers who incorrectly “repair” ball marks usually mess up.  Many golfers believe the way to fix a ball mark is to insert the tool as a lever to push the bottom of the ball mark back up even with the surface.  Do not do this!  Pushing the bottom of the depression upward only tears the roots, and kills the grass.  Just use your ball repair tool to work around the rim of the crater, so to speak, pushing the grass at the edge toward the center of the depression.

                         

                So remember:

Wrong:  Using the prongs as levers to push up the bottom of the depression.

Right:  Using the prongs to push grass at the edge of the depression toward the center.

                Once you’ve worked around the rim of the ball mark with your repair tool, pushing the grass toward the center, there’s only one thing left to do:  Gently tamp down the repaired ball mark with your putter or foot to smooth the putting surface.

                       

                So there you have it, a quick and easy way to “properly” repair ball marks.  If everyone who plays golf on any our beautiful golf courses could take a few seconds to repair their own ball marks we can help cut down on the unsightly spots and depressions that affect the golfing experience.  I want to assure you that the grounds staff will try and help out in any way possible to keep up with this problem and help keep our greens as good as possible.  We hope to see you on the links!

Mysterious Lines in the Rough

If you have been one of the lucky people who have played golf the last few days,  then you may have seen some interesting looking lines in the rough.  No doubt they are hard to miss, and really are an eye sore compared to how well the course has looked over the last several weeks.  These lines were not caused by the typical hydraulic leak, but by a hot exhaust pipe from a tractor.  This past Monday after our staff mowed the rough there were extreme amount of grass clippings that needed blown off and cleaned.  While doing so, we decided to attach an extra blower to a tractor to help the clean-up process.  This tractor, as later discovered, had an exhaust leak causing the hot air leaving the machine to blow straight down on the ground.  This hot air burned the tips of the grass, causing the look of burnt lines in the turf.  Unfortunately the tractor blew off holes #7 through #18 on the original Marietta side.  Some holes look worse than others, and should not take long to recover.  The damage looks bad, but is not nearly as harmful as a hydraulic leak.  I hope this helps to better answer the question, "What caused the lines in the rough"?  Please take a look at the pictures for some examples of the damage.......

These lines look bad, but should only last a week or two at most.  We are sorry for the problem and have fixed the machine that caused it!

Big Old Oak Tree on #12

       This Monday was a very busy day on the golf course for maintenance, but was different because we were forced to cut down one of the largest trees on the property.  The large Oak tree on the right side of the path near #12 green was removed because of safety concerns.  The tree has had many dead branches over the last few years, but recently the roots on the cart path side of the stump started raising up off the ground.  This is a telling sign that the tree is unstable and could fall down at any time.  With over 100 golfers each day driving right under this potential hazard, we decided to remove the tree before any harm was done.  The tree company did a great job of removing the entire tree in just one day, and now there is a very big open space that has been covered up for years by the large tree.  The plan moving forward is to remove a few more of the small sweet gum trees throughout the area and seed fescue grass in the next 6 weeks.  This will hopefully add a little green grass to a now barren area and also provide a good surface to hit a chip if your tee shot goes errant left!  Take a look at the pictures to see the chronological order of removing the tree......

The big Oak is right behind the Fan

It is hard to see in the pictures, but the two long roots protruding out have started to come off the ground about 3 inches!

Max was chasing a rodent into the hollow center of the large tree.  This picture gives a very good feel for the size of the massive trunk and stump of the over 100 year old tree.

Here it is after all the limbs are cut off and only the main trunk remaining

This is what remains of the large area where the tree once was.  You can see all the little trees that were growing under the Oak tree.  Our staff will work over the next few weeks to remove the smaller trees and seed fescue grass this Fall.

Max still not sure where those critters went hiding!  This stump is one of the biggest I have ever seen.  Also notice the hollow center where the tree was on the way to a slow death. 

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

On Tuesday, July 15th the Club held a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to officially open the Driving Range and to present the new Verdin clock.  It was a very nice little event, and the Club even provided free beer to those in attendance!  President Tom Roberts was kind enough to say a few words about the project and the new range, and then everyone got into the picture as Stephen and myself cut the ribbon!  Please take a look at the link posted below and see some great pictures that Mr. Jeff Whittingham snapped of everyone on hand......

http://s1173.photobucket.com/user/IFBikephoto/slideshow/Ribbon%20Cutting

Max even got a chance to get in on the action!  See you on the Driving Range!

GALAKTOBUREKO

Installing the Clock

Thursday or new Verdin Clock was successfully installed, officially completing the Driving Range project!  This new clock is 17 feet in height, and is a 4 sided clock.  I must say that it is the perfect piece to complete the new Driving Range.  No one should be late for their tee time from now on!  Take a look below at a few pictures showing how the clock was installed.............

The clock faces even light up at night!!!!!

Tree on #1 set to be taken down

This coming week we will remove the lone Pine Tree on hole #1.  Over the last 6 months, the grounds committee has discussed removing the tree in order to improve the grass in front of the green. This large Pine Tree is 50 yards or so in front of the green, so short errant left shots commonly fall around this bad area. As you can see in the pictures below, there is a large area of dirt around the tree caused by too much shade and lack of water from the turf competing with the trees roots.  Over the years this problem area has been re-sodded continuously but the tree always wins the battle for life.  Much discussion was had by the committee on whether the removal of the tree makes the hole play "easier".  The determination was that while the tree may be a slight nuisance for a shot on the far left side of the hole, it does not come into play on a majority of the par 4, and grass would be a much nicer surface to hit from than the dirt.  The schedule is to remove the tree on Tuesday when the Club is closed, then prepare the area on Wednesday for the sod truck coming Thursday morning.  This project should have minimal disruption to play this week while finished by the weekend and in time for Member-Guest next week.         

Fountains for Lake #3 & #13

The new fountains have been installed in the Lake on #3 and #13 and they look really nice.  These fountains were selected not only for their aesthetic value, but also to help aerate the water and prevent moss and algae growth.  Because the fountains continuously keep the water surface in motion and provide oxygen, it makes it much harder for algae to survive and grow.  The lake is a little over 3 acres in size, so 2 fountains were needed to provide the proper aeration for such a large body of water.  This also works perfect to showcase the fountains to be seen from multiple holes on the golf course.  We hope you enjoy the fountains and are very glad to finally have them installed and operating!!!!

Driving Range Divots

With the new Driving Range tee opening, please try and keep your divots close together in order for the grass to be as good as possible.  Thank You!

Entire course is fertilized and ready to grow!

Yesterday we applied our annual fertilizer application to the golf course.  This fertilizer was applied the using a large spreader truck.  This truck is the most efficient way for us to apply granular fertilizer, as it can do all 27 hole in about 4 hours.  This is incredibly fast compared to if our crew was to spread it in-house.  By using the spreader truck, we can spread the fertilizer on a Monday and not disrupt golf at all.  Any chance we can do maintenance practices without affecting play we try our best to do so.  Take a look at the picture of the Spreader truck giving the entire driving range some fertilizer!

#6 Master Plan Bunker Project

Over the last year, the grounds committee has been discussing how hole #6 could be improved.  A short par 3, hole #6 was very straight with not a lot of difficulty.  The decision was made to try and work with the master plan to improve this hole and make a more enjoyable golf experience.  At the start of green-up this year we started mowing the fairway with a bend to the left.  This is much like it was when the hole was originally designed and also brings the fairway bunkers into play a little bit more.  The master plan for the golf course states that the design was to eliminate the bunker to the left of the green and build a "fore" bunker in the front middle of the green.  A "fore" bunker is one that is far in front of the green, but deceptively looks like it is built into the front edge.  This will hopefully intimidate a golfer who is trying to go for the green in two.  As the hole plays now after the project, they farther left you follow the fairway up, the less trouble the green presents your 3rd shot.  It took us 8 days total to do this transformation, and with the help of course architect Bob Cupp, we were able to make it fit in just as the master plan called for.  Take a look a few pictures of how the process worked.......

  Here they are elimintaing the old bunker and preparing to dig out the new front bunker......

Here is Bob Cupp helping us to get the final grade perfect.  I can not Thank Bob enough for all his help over the last year with planning the project and every day knowledge of golf course construction.  The man is truly an artist!

The finished product.  Not bad for 8 days worth of work.  I hope this little project helps to add some enjoyment to your next round of golf!

Creek Project a success

The reinforcing of #13 creek bank with boulders was a huge success.  In order to address an issue of eroding creek banks, a decision was made to line the stream with boulders that would help to retain the dirt and support the banks.  The new forebay is functioning very well, and will actually need cleaned out rather often as silt accumulates.  Take a look at what the creek bank looked like before and after the boulders started to be installed...........

As you can see, the boulders make for a much cleaner look, and also stabilize the stream bank from further erosion.  It is hard to remember how bad the old stream bank looked until seeing them side by side.

The finished product is quite the addition to hole #13.  It creates a great view from the second shot, and also adds a little intimidation to warn the golfer that the water hazard is in play.

Light at the end of the tunnel!

Greetings MCC Members,

 

               It is with great joy I can announce the final week of the Driving Range project is upon us.  Everything has finally worked out in our favor, and the push is on to sod the remaining 6 acres of the Driving Range.  The last month of the project has been a challenging one and I would like to share with you a few of the things which have factored in to prolonging the Driving Range opening.

               When planning the Dredging and Driving Range project last summer, it was an optimistic goal that all the work would be completed by May 1^st.  This date was chosen as a best case scenario, but also to give us a goal in which to strive to achieve.  Like most construction projects, we have endured many challenges over the last 6 months.  Weather events, slow drying silt from the bottom of the pond, a shortage of sod trucks, equipment failures and permitting have all played roles in delaying the project.  There is still a half an acre area in the back corner of the range that has yet to dry out and solidify completely.  Two weeks ago a bulldozer could not even navigate through this soft area without getting stuck.  Weekly rains are also no help to this drying process.  It seems like every time we have been blessed with a week of good weather to work the dirt, it rains just in time to wet the soil and set us back a few days.  At times the rains have even negated all the progress made and forced us to spend valuable time re-doing things which were already completed. 

               While the silt removed from the lake took longer than expected to dry, it also delayed the process of installing the irrigation and drainage in the range.  Once the drainage was finally installed a few weeks ago we were able to withstand the rains much better and not lose all the progress we made during dry days.  Last Friday we finally completed the irrigation system for the Driving Range and connected to the main line water supply.  A total of 85 irrigation heads were installed and have the ability to water all the new sod that is being layed this week.  An industry wide shortage of tractor trailer trucks used to haul sod has made it difficult for the sod farm to deliver our grass in a timely manner, and also forced our project to come to a standstill.  One or two sod trucks do not pose a problem in most cases, but when you need 30-35 trucks to deliver 6+ acres of grass in a week’s time, scheduling becomes an issue.  Combine this large order of sod with a shortage of available trucks, and it creates a very challenging, and no doubt frustrating situation.  When I was informed a week ago that the sod farm had 35 trucks lined up for delivery over the next 5 days I emphatically said “Bring it on”!  The sod installation crews have been doing a great job of laying 6 to 7 sod trucks a day, or the equivalent of an acre and a half of surface area.   After a week of sodding we are now about 90% finished and await 3 more trucks Monday morning that will finish the job. 

               Once the Driving Range is completely sodded, all the grass will need rolled, fertilized, and some minor patch work in places that did not survive.  This work will be done by our staff over the next month to finish up the project, but will in no way prolong the opening of the driving range.  We will now focus all of our efforts on hole 14 and restoring it back better than before.  Sod has been ordered for the end of next week and I feel that you will start to see progress every day.  I apologize that restoring this hole has been moved down the priority list as other problems and projects have arose. 

               All in all I feel this was a very successful project, and that the club has improved in many different areas because of it.  Our Driving Range is now one of the biggest and best in Georgia, the new wall on #3 adds beauty to the golf course, the fore bays on both ends of the lake #3/#13 are already doing a great job of retaining silt, and the lake itself looks as good as ever now that it has been completely dredged.   In closing I would like to thank the membership of Marietta Country Club for your patience, understanding and support through this long and tedious project.  It has no doubt been an inconvenience at times over the last 6 months, but the light is getting very bright at the end of the tunnel.  With just a few more days of hard work ahead, everything will be back to normal and the new club amenities can be enjoyed by all.

 

Thank you,

 

Mark Hayes

Grounds Superintendent

Rock Wall on #3 is Finished!

The rock wall in front of #3 Green has been completed, which means all 27 holes are now open!  The construction of the wall was a very long process through planning and permitting, but once the permits became official we wasted no time in finishing the project.  The company we hired to build the wall did a great job, and reinforced the wall multiple ways to ensure long lasting strength.  From start to finish it took exactly 3 weeks to build from the ground up, back fill and sod.  Our staff was in charge of the finishing work of back filling the wall, installing drainage and sodding.  This took us 4 days alone to finish the process, but the work turned out great.  I would like to say THANK YOU to one of our members, Mr. John Davis.  Mr. Davis was kind enough to help send a Semi-Truck to Alabama to pick up the Zoysia grass sod used to finish the area between #3 green and the wall.  Due to a trucking shortage, without his help we could not have finished #3 or been able to play all 27 holes last weekend.  Please tell Mr. Davis Thank You next time you see him for his generous act!  Take a look at the pictures of the wall from start to finish.........

May 1st!

Today is May 1st, and I am very sad to say that the project is not yet complete.  This day has long been our goal to for opening 27 holes and the Driving Range, but many different factors have made our goal unobtainable.  Recent weekly rains have slowed the drying process on the last 50% of the range, and even the Bulldozers doing the work continually get stuck while trying to finish up.  Please know that we are still diligently working to put everything back together, and still hope to have all 27 holes open some time in the next week to 10 days.  I do believe that everyone will start to see a lot more progress over the next 2 weeks.  Saturday, we will start to sod the remaining damage from the haul road on #3, as well as finish #8 fairway.  After this area is sodded, TDI will then start laying sod in front of the new range tee.  The plan is to sod as much of the range as possible next week.  We should have over half of the range complete by the end of next week, and the rest will be soon to follow.  Once project we have been busy with is stabilizing the banks of the creek on #13 fairway.  We have chosen to repair the stream bank with big boulders, weighing 2,000 to 3,000 pounds each.  This should help to keep the bank from continually eroding over time, and also add a clean and aesthetically pleasing look to the stream.  Take a look at the pictures below and see what you think.  I plan on showing a complete chronological timeline of photos once the project is completed.  We still have one more side to go!

Even though the project is a little behind schedule, we are still seeing improvements every day.  We are all anxious for the project to be over and for the club to be running at its normal capacity once again!  We are going to put our nose to the grindstone for the next few weeks and deliver the best product possible!

Dredging is finally over, now the race to repair the damage!

Even though the weather outside today is terrible, there is still something to celebrate.  We are officially done with the dredging portion of the project!  All of the dredgers equipment was removed over the weekend and we are now focusing all our efforts to repair everything destroyed during the project.  As our staff works diligently every day on what seems like endless projects, the list of things for us to fix is getting smaller and smaller.  Some of the things we have worked on over the last few weeks include installing a drain on the left side of hole #3, repairing the new silt retention dams on both ends of the lake on #3, sodding and landscaping around the bridges and haul roads of #3 pond, and also working on #14 and #16.  This has left our crew with a balancing act of both maintaining the golf course, as well as working on restoring the course from the project.  We have done this by simply splitting up our staff into two different crews.  The construction crew, headed by our Senior Assistant Lyle Curry, will focus on the dredging repair and see that everything gets fixed properly.  The daily maintenance crew will be lead by Chase Newman, our Second Assistant.  The maintenance crew is vital to keep up with the growing demands of the golf course which increase more and more as temperatures rise.  As we move on more into prime golf season, we want the golf course to not be forgotten.  This temporary division of our staff will help us to be more efficient, as well as ensure we do not lose sight of any piece of the MCC property that needs our attention.  Take a look at a few pictures of our crew in action over the last few weeks.......

I think Max is the only one relaxing after sodding a whole truckload in one day!

Dredging moves across the street to lake #15!

Now that we have completed the big lake on #3, we have relocated the large equipment to the lake on #15 and begun the last part of our dredging project!  The plan is to dredge out the silt in the coves of #15 lake on each side of #14 green.  Take a look at the picture below and it will help you get a good idea of the 2 areas being cleaned out.

This picture was taken from between the tee box and green on hole #15.  The yellow piece of equipment closest to the camera is the pump lowering the water level.  We currently have the water 2.5 feet low, and it looks like this is all we will have to lower the pond to be able to complete the work.  By keeping the water in the pond we can ensure the safety of the fish and wildlife.  Notice on the left side of the picture is a large excavator used to dig a hole in the rough to the right of #14 green.  This hole will be filled with the silt from the pond, and then covered back over and sodded.  All of the dirt removed from the hole was transported along the cart path on #14 to help level out the abrupt drop off from cart path to playing surface.  If you look on the right side of the picture you will see the large 60 foot reach machine we used to dig out lake #3.  This machine is currently located in the cove between #14 green and #16 tee box.  We have begun the project on this portion of the lake, and will finish it before moving to the other side of #14 green.  This process should only take a few days, and we are hoping to be finished by the weekend and the predicted thunderstorms!  With some favorable weather we should be able to complete the entire dredging of lake #15 in a few days!

Here are some closer up picture of the process we will use to dredge the smaller cove on lake #15.  I will post pictures of the work in action to further illustrate the process in the days to come.

Here is John in the large excavator working dredging the left cove of #14 green.  It is a tight fit for such a big machine, but they got about 30% of the material removed in just one day!

  

Large Forebay is nearing completion

Over the last 2 days our staff has been busy trying to put back the dirt around our new dams.  This was a very tough process, but we had some help from some big pieces of equipment.  At the end of the day today we were able to get to a point where we felt the banks could withstand the forecast rain.  Fingers crossed that we don't have to re-do what has already been done after the rain storm!

This is how where we had to leave the Forebay before the rain set in.  Let's hope that we do not have too much to repair before we get a chance to put the sod down and finish our project!

Grassing has begun!

Finally I am proud to say that the grassing has started on the driving range tee and mounds.  This is definitely a good sign that the project is on the way to completion!  The grass being installed is 419 Bermudagrass, along with some Zorro Zoysiagrass being installed around the chipping green.  To date we have completely sodded our larger 2 tiered teeing surface, the mounds behind the tee, teaching building tee, all around the chipping green and new driving range bunkers, and about 75% of the haul road on #8 fairway.  All in all we have installed 15 tractor trailer loads of sod, which when all laid out covers a little over 3 acres!  Not too bad for 4 days of work!  Once TDI starts to get the remainder of the driving range shaped out, the sod installation crew will return and finish the work.  Take a look at the big rolls of sod and how they are installed........

I agree the grass does not look very green and lush, but this is because it is starting to come out of winter dormancy.  After a few weeks of drinking lots of water and soaking up the sun, this 419 Bermudagrass will be green and growing once it wakes from its winter slumber!