Overlook Bunkers almost finished!

The bunker sand has finally arrived!  The Overlook 9 holes is now only a few days away from completion.  The crew has already finished installing sand in the bunkers on holes #9 and #8. 

Here is a look at what the finished product will look like!  We will still need to tamp the sand firm, and make sure all the sand depth is 4 to 5 inches throughout.  The new bunker style looks really nice, and we think it will play much better as well!

Tree Limbs Everywhere!

While the snow storm last weekend was beautiful, it left quite the mess behind!  It seems like almost every pine tree across the golf course lost at least one branch, and we have a lot a pine trees one some golf holes!  With the golf course still thawing from the snow, our crew has spent the last 2 days cutting up and chipping the downed branches.  Take a look at the pictures to see some of the mess!

Winter Wonderland!

December 8th , 2017 will be a day people remember for a long time.  The Club recorded a snowfall of 8 inches!  So much snow we had to cancel the Santa Claus Open!  This snow storm came out of nowhere, and was much worse than many meteorologists could even predict!  While this snow will no doubt make a lot of work for us to clean up, it is very pretty!

Driving Range

#8

A view between 1/18.  A lot of pine tree limbs have fallen across the course as you can see in this picture!

#12

Buddy no doubt has enjoyed it!

Grassing around the Bunkers

This week the bunker crew installed 2 trucks of TifTuf Bermuda sod around the bunkers to help complete the process!  The bunkers on holes #9, #8, and #7 Overlook have been re-shaped, had drainage installed, the Capillary Concrete Bunker liner has been installed, and now they have be re-sodded.  The only thing left to complete the process in to install the new bunker sand!  The sand is scheduled to arrive next week, but the historical snowfall we just received this last weekend might make conditions a little too wet to work over the next few days.  Lets hope for some sun over the next few days so the guys can get back to work!

Here was a picture of the bunker right after it was re-shaped

Here is a similar view of the new sod that was installed around the bunker.  The sand line will be about 4 inches above the grey colored bottom, which is the liner.

Bunker Drainage

Over the last week, the construction crew has been working on installing the drainage in the new bunkers.  Typically the drainage is made up of digging a small trench in the low areas of the bunker, and then filling the trench with a perforated pipe and gravel surrounding the pipe.  The pipes are all connected and attached to the "trunk line", or the main drain pipe that takes the water all the way to the lake.  Here is a look at a few photos of the drainage being installed:

The crew uses a skinny bucket on the excavator to dig the drainage trenches.

In the bottom of this picture you can see a pipe sticking straight up.  That is the "trunk line" or the main pipe that takes all the water out of the bunker.  All the other pipes they install will ultimately run into this pipe.

Here you can see the crew installing the pipe and the gravel in each of the trenches they dug.  The entire floor of the bunker gradually slopes towards where the men are working.  This will help all the water drain into the pipe and leave the bunker the quickest way possible.

White Hawk at MCC!!!

Over the past few weeks I have had a few different members stop me and ask if I have seen the White Hawk?  My answer has been no, I have not seen anything that looks like that, ever.  That all changed today, as we were getting the golf course set up this morning, the White Hawk was sitting in a tree on hole #16. 

It is no doubt a very pretty, rare animal!  Next time you are at the Club, keep your eye out for our resident White Hawk, it is really beautiful!

Capillary Concrete!

Today we did our first pour of Capillary Concrete Bunker liner.  This product is basically a small "pea gravel" type stone, covered in a concrete mixture that allows it to dry hard like concrete.  Once dry, the material has porous holes for the water to flow through and drain quickly.  Take a look at the pictures to see the steps as to how it is installed.

The Capillary Concrete comes mixed in a concrete truck.  The crew will load the mixture into a trailer and haul to the edge of the bunkers.

In the middle of the photo is a large pile of Capillary Concrete.  These guys are working to spread it evenly across the bottom of the bunker at a depth of 3 inches thick.  They use a gauge to tell them where to add or remove to ensure an even distribution.  The darker color gravel in the picture is the drain line for the bunker.

Here you can see the trailer dumping another load of Capillary Concrete.  

A standard concrete trowel is used to smooth out the surface to make a nice bottom for the bunkers

Last but not least, a wet paint roller is used to seal the gravel together and to compact the Capillary Concrete.  This helps all the gravel particles stay together and helps it become homogeneous and consistent once dry.

Bunker Project Moving Fast!

After a successful day of removing all the sand and bunker liner from hole #9 Overlook on Monday, the crew moved on to hole #8 on Tuesday morning to continue removing all the old sand and cloth bunker liner.  Now the Lead Shaper, which is the guy who runs to the equipment to re-shape the surrounds of the bunkers, will start to move dirt and give the bunkers a new look.  He will finish the bunkers behind the demolition guys and get them all ready for sod.  The crew has made quite a lot of progress in two days, as now we have 4 bunkers completely bare of sand and liner, ready to be shaped.  They also have the fairway bunker on #9 shaped and close to being ready for sod, and it is already starting to take on a new look!

You can see the rolled edges on the front side, but it is hard to tell the "entry" into the bunkers from the tee side if you are playing the hole.  Currently a golfer almost has to step down into most of our bunkers, but in the new bunkers the sand will meet the grass almost level from the tee side.  The green side of the bunkers will have a steeper more aggressive grass face which should help the balls find the bottom of the bunker more often.  So not only are we improving the look, we are trying to improve the play-ability as well!

Bunker Project Starts Monday!!!!

Marietta Country Club Bunker Renovation 2017-2018

Body of Work – Renovation of all 65 bunkers across all 27 golf holes.  .  This renovation will consist of removing the current sand and cloth bunker liner, and re-shaping the bunkers to have a “grass face” appearance.  The “grass face” and flat sand bottom bunker design will be similar to the original design Bob Cupp made for the course in 1989.  Once the bunkers are properly shaped and new sod is installed, we will install a new Capillary Concrete bunker liner.  This revolutionary new liner is a porous type of concrete that drains remarkably well, reducing washouts and sand displacement during heavy rain events.  To complete the process we will fill the bunkers with 4 inches of new sand and tamp it firm.  The sand chosen for the project is G Angle bunker sand, which is the sand currently in our “Test Bunker” on #4 Mountain View. Bob Cupp Jr., the son of the late Bob Cupp, will be the golf course architect who oversees the renovation and restoration of the bunkers.

Time Frame – The bunker renovation project is scheduled to start on Monday, November 20^th.  No work will be done on Thanksgiving, or on Friday, November 24^th.  Work will be done primarily Monday through Friday, weather permitting.  Currently the projected completion date is February 9^th, but this will be very dependent on weather conditions during the project.

How will Golf be affected? – We will start the project on Overlook #9, and work backwards towards Overlook #1.  During working hours, the golf hole the construction crew is working on each day will be CLOSED.  Our staff will place signs on each tee box notifying the golfers of the holes that are closed each day.  We will also post signs in the Golf Shop reminding everyone of the closed holes.  We should not have more than 2 to 3 holes closed per day at any time.  Once we are finished with Overlook, we will start on the Mountain View 9 holes.  We will work to complete all 9 holes on Mountain View before starting on Lake View.  This will allow us to always have 18 contiguous holes for golf, while the other 9 holes which are under construction at the time can be used for practice.

What to expect during the project -    During the construction there will be a few things to take note of which will be different than our everyday playing conditions.  We will be using a lot of Ground Under Repair signs and white painted areas determining the Ground Under Repair.  It will not be uncommon to see some bunkers without any sand, some bunkers may have the sod removed and be surrounded by dirt, machinery in the way, etc.  Also, we will have some “stock piles” of old sand distributed across the property during the construction.  The stock piles will be out of play for golfers and primarily out of site.  Please expect to see disturbed areas, but know that they will be repaired as soon as possible.   Please do you best to play around these areas and take your free drop when needed! 

Communication of Progress – Each week during the Project we will be giving updates highlighting the work that has been completed, as well as inform the membership what to expect the week ahead.  We will try to give as much notice as possible of any condition that would cause us to have more holes out of play than previously noted.  Weather will play a large role in the weekly progress of this project, so it may manipulate our plans occasionally.  Every part of the renovation will be discussed more in depth as the project evolves to help explain what we are doing and why.

                                          Our Finished Bunkers will look similar to this!!!

Going Dormant

Now that we have seen our first good frost, the Bermuda grass is starting to go brown and turn off color for the winter.  One interesting thing that happens during this time is the grass gets a "Tiger Stripe" effect, which is where some parts turn brown, while other parts remain green.  This is common, and happens because the soil temperature is still relatively warm compared to the air temperature of 32 degrees we received last Monday morning.  The first frost effects the higher cut grass, in our case the Rough, first.  If you look closely you can see the walk path is still fully green.  This is because it is typically mowed at 1/2 an inch, and the rough is mowed close to 2 inches.  The air can get into the canopy of the taller grass much easier than the shorter, tighter grass.  This helps give us a neat look this time of year, with the fairways staying greener and having more definition.  Unfortunately this green will not last long as we get cooler temperatures, so get out and enjoy a round of golf if you can!

 

First Frost 2017

The first frost of the Fall occurred on Thursday, October 29th.  While this is not what I would call a "Heavy Frost", we did see some frosted areas in the rough.  Our low temperature was 37.  If you look closely at the picture, the grass in the foreground has no frost, but the grass in the distance has a pretty good frost on top.  This frost signals the start of the winter season for the turf, and the grass will start to show the signs by turning brown.  This brown color is not a bad thing at all, just the grass going dormant for the winter.

Bunker Renovation Approved!

Greetings Members,

                I wanted to take a minute to pass along an update that the MCC Board of Directors approved the Bunker Renovation Project for this coming fiscal year!  We plan to renovate all the bunkers on all 27 holes to improve the playability as well as the aesthetics.  This project will be upon us soon, with our contractor planning to start mid-November!

 The plan is to remove the old sand and cloth liner that is currently installed but starting to fail.  Next we will re-shaped the bunkers slightly so that they have more of a grass “face”, and less of a flash of sand.  The end result will give us much flatter, more maintainable bunkers, as well as providing less chance of an uphill or difficult lie in the sand.  We will replace the old cloth liner with a new leading edge technology of bunker liner.  This liner will reduce the amount of man hours involved fixing the bunkers when we receive a heavy rainfall.  We are still trying to determine which new type of sand to select, the choice is down to the sand in the bunker on hole #4, or the sand in the bunker on hole #9.  If you could please give some feedback in the next month on which one is your favorite it would be much appreciated!

We have still not determined what the process is going to be for working around the project, but will give a much more in depth report on how the logistics will work in the coming weeks.  I just wanted to let everyone know that we will be renovating the bunkers soon, and that next summer we will have all new and improved bunkers!

Thank you,

Mark Hayes

Grounds Superintendent  

Here is an example of what the finished product will look like.  You can see how there is more of a grass "face" and less of the sand going up to the top edge, as our bunkers currently do now.

Hurricane Irma was kind to MCC

This morning after making our rounds we discovered that Irma was much more kind to the property at Marietta Country Club than many other people in Georgia and Florida!  We did receive a little over 2.5 inches of rain, but the winds did not bring down any trees or limbs!  All of the debris was small leaves and twigs for the most part, and no damage was found that would be out of the ordinary!  We are so lucky !!!!

Greens Aerification Finished Smoothly!

Yesterday our staff was able to successfully aerify and topdress all the greens on Mountain View and Lake View.  This process went very smoothly and we were able to finish before mother nature sent a strong thunderstorm and rained more than a half an inch in an hour!  This rain is actually beneficial to the greens after they are topdressed with sand and will help to work the sand into the grass profile.  We will close Overlook this morning, September 6th, so we can finish the aerification process on those greens as well.   

All this material is great to remove from the greens!  We add the sand back to try and fill all the holes, as well as level out the putting surface.  This new sand provides a lot of air space for the grass roots to grow into and thrive.  The Creeping Bentgrass we have on the greens grows its roots in the Fall and in the Spring, so this is a great time punch holes for optimal root growth.  More Roots = Firmer Greens!  and less ball marks!!!!!

Greens Aerification on Tuesday, September 5th!!!!

This coming Tuesday, September 5th, our staff will conduct or Fall Greens Aerification.  This is the BIG HOLES and SAND.  We will not use as much sand this Fall to prevent any possible damage like we suffered last year!  The greens will be fully recovered in 3 to 4 Weeks!!!   Thank you very much for your patience during this process!

Rough Growing like Crazy!!!

One of the most common suggestions I get is to "Cut the Rough!"  This summer with all the rain and warm temperatures the Bermuda Rough has grown very thick and lush.  I promise, we do cut the rough every week!  To mow all the rough on all 27 holes and the driving range it takes us 2 full days.  We generally try to get the mowing done on Mondays and Tuesdays.  This helps us to avoid the most play and stay out of the way of the golfers.  The only problem with this system is that by the weekend, the grass has been growing for 5 or 6 days and is getting pretty long and tough to play a shot.  Take a look below at some pictures that show what it looks like when we mow the rough:

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These pictures show the difference between the rough when it is just mowed, versus what it looks like after a week since the last mowing.  The ball is resting in the MOWED part of the rough, and the dark green left side is the rough that has yet to be mowed.  It is hard to show in pictures how much we cut off each time, but it is at least a half inch to an inch of grass each week.  We currently are mowing our rough at 1.75 inches, so during the weekend it is probably upwards of 3 inches in some places!  So yes, the rough is very tough right now as it grows so rapidly with the ideal weather conditions.  We try our best to cut as often as possible.  With the amount of golf rounds we see between Thursday and Sunday, it would be very difficult for us to change our mowing schedule while not interfering with daily play.  Once the temperatures cool off in a few weeks we should see a little less growth!

If you look closely at the picture you will see all the large piles of grass clippings left behind after we mow the rough.  This is also a time consuming task to blow all the unsightly piles of clippings.  Mowing and blowing 120 acres of rough each week can be a lot of work!   Believe me, we are as ready to be done mowing it for the year as you are playing out of the thick stuff!

Why are these tees yellow?!

If you have hit on the driving range or played golf over the last week you have probably wondered why the grass looks so yellow and brown.  Is it too dry?  Is it going to die?  Those are some of the questions I have been asked this week regarding the Driving Range and the tee boxes on #9 and #10.

The answer is the grass is just fine, and the yellowing of the turf was caused by our Grounds staff spraying an herbicide to help control weeds.  The main focus of the herbicide was to help control the goosegrass and crabgrass weeds that had become established on both driving range tees, as well as taken over the teaching tee on the opposite end of the range.  These weeds have gradually become a larger problem throughout the summer, and after we got past the Member/Guest and Club Championship tournaments, it was time to kill the weeds.  The yellowing of the Bermuda is caused by the herbicide burning the tips of the leaf blades, but will not kill the Bermuda grass.  The tees that were sprayed have already started to green back  up, and should be all the way back to full green by next weekend.

The Crabgrass and Goosegrass however are not doing so good after the spray, and are on their way out.  Take a look at the pictures below to see the weeds dying a slow death.

In these pictures you can see the brown weeds dying, while the bermuda grass is all greening back up!

If you look closely at this picture you can see the green bermuda on the left, and the yellowed bermuda on the right.  This shows the area where the booms on the sprayer were turned on and off.  The green grass was untreated, but yellow grass was sprayed with the herbicide.  This yellow grass is not going to die, but is just slightly burned and will grow out of the damage in a week or two.  The weeds are not so lucky, and appear to be dying more every day!

(For Turf Dorks!)

If you look at the very first picture with Buddy standing on the tee, you will notice some patches of the grass are green and unharmed by the herbicide.  These green patches are bermuda grass that has done what they call "segregated" over time.  When the grass segregates, it reverts back the parent strain of grass that it was developed from.  This is basically like adapting to the environment that it is being grown in to best succeed.  Those green patches are barely harmed by the herbicide, much different than their cousin grass they started like that are yellow.  These green patches are what a turf breeder, yes that is an actual occupation, would love to see and use to develop a much stronger and more sustainable grass in the future!