Frost Delays!?!?! Again!?!?!

Frost Delays!  This time of year I feel that is a golfers worst nightmare!  Believe me, nobody likes frost delays, including the Grounds staff!  Why do we have frost delays?  That is a good question, and one that I will try to answer as clearly as possible. 

These two pictures above were taken Saturday morning at 10:10 am within 2 minutes apart.  The top picture is of #11 green, while the bottom picture is of #12 green.  As you can see the picture of #11 has no frost, while the picture of #12 has a lot of frost.   This is a great example of what shade does on cold mornings to allow the frost to "linger" on even longer.  The putting surface on #11 green is free of frost and ready for play, but the following hole #12 still has a heavy frost.  When the greens are under a heavy frost, walking on the grass can damage the frozen leaf tissue.  The damage caused from walking on the frosted greens can range from unsightly footprints to complete turf loss.  This is why we try to limit any foot traffic as much as possible when frost conditions occur. 

These two pictures of #7 green were taken 22 minutes apart.  The top picture shows a great example of the frost line in relation to the sunshine.  The quicker the sun shines on the green, the faster the frost burns off.  The second picture shows some frost still lingering in the shade, even at 10:30 am!  I hope this helps to show why sometimes the frost delays take so long.  Even though it may be late in the morning, the greens with heavy shade still are susceptible to damage because the frost is still present.

#2 Overlook Bridge

If you have played golf on Overlook over the past few months, you might have noticed something a little different about the bridge behind #2 Overlook green.  Over the years the small creek which runs under this bridge has twisted and turned its way to find the weakest soil.  While the creek has increased its bends, one of the turns of the water is starting to erode the dirt out from under the bridge and the concrete cart path.  Take a look at the pictures to get a better idea:


This picture shows how much of the dirt has eroded under the bridge.  The two large wooden posts you see in the picture supporting the bridge had dirt surrounding them when it was built.  The water is flowing downstream in this picture.


Here is a view looking upstream, facing opposite of the previous picture.  You can see the hole between the concrete and the wooden support.  This has all washed out over time with the heavy rains.  Looking upstream of the creek in this picture, you can see how it has started to wash out the creek bank near the cart path as well.  This will be a problem moving forward that we will need to address as well to protect the cart path. 

This picture shows the other side, or downstream side, of the bridge.  You can see the water has washed all the dirt out from under both sides of the bridge.  It just keeps working its way farther under the concrete, creating quite a big problem.

Here is a view of directly under the bridge.  There is a cave underneath big enough for a bear to live in! 

Here is picture showing the main line of our irrigation system for the Overlook 9 holes.  It has been exposed from all the erosion, and that can become a problem as well.  We will make sure this pipe is well protected while we fix the problem!

This picture does a good job showing how much dirt has been eroded over time.  To fix this problem we will have to remove the panel of concrete in the picture.  Once that panel is removed, we will build wooden walls along the posts of the bridge.  The walls will help to hold the dirt we use to fill up this void which has been created under the bridge.  Once all the dirt is compacted and restored, we will pour a new panel of concrete to replace the cart path.  All of this work is planned to be completed Monday, January 27th.  I will post about the progress this coming week and show how it all turns out!

#7 Overlook trees are now gone!

The trees on #7 Overlook have been fully removed!  Now we will work on grinding the stumps and grassing this area.  This will help us to "scatter" the carts more when they are returning to the cart path.  In the past the trees caused the golf carts to funnel to one area, leading to dead grass and dirt.  Now with a large area we will be able to prevent damaging cart traffic.



This is looking back towards #7 Overlook green from the cart path.  All of this area that was a pine straw bed under the trees will be sodded this Spring.  We hope this helps us to improve this area!!

Removing trees to help with cart traffic on #7 Overlook

This week we started to remove some trees on #7 Overlook to help with our cart traffic problem.  When playing #7 Overlook, after finishing the hole, carts returning to the path are funneled into two different areas by trees.  We are in the process of removing some of these trees so that we can help spread out the traffic.  After the trees are removed and the stumps eliminated, we will sod the entire area with grass.  With more sunlight and less concentrated traffic, we should see a much improved area!  Here is a picture of what the area looked like before we started yesterday.

Painting the Driving Range

Each year after the grass goes brown and dormant for the season, our staff paints the target greens and fairway on the driving range.  The paint helps to give some definition to the driving range and allow the golfer to see where the ball lands.  Though it does not last forever, the paint looks good after it is all completed.  We hope this helps you improve as you are using the Range!

Drying Out

Though it has been a week since the last rain drop fell at MCC ,(I know, shocking) we are still experiencing some very we areas around the course.  So wet actually, that even pull carts are leaving marks in the turf!

This is the end of #3 fairway.  The majority of the golf hole is drying out well, but some low areas continue to be very soft.  We have been forced to remain Cart Path Only for the entire week, because of areas like this.  If we are seeing damage from pull carts, we can not handle the potential damage from a golf cart.

The good thing is we will be able to fix this easily once the conditions allow by rolling and mowing the area!

Pressure Washing around the Course

The wet weather over the last few weeks has our crew resorting to different daily tasks than normal to keep from damaging any turf.  One beneficial thing we have started is to pressure wash all the bridges and walkways around the golf course.  Over time moss, algae, dirt, and grime all build up on the surface of the wooden bridge, causing the bridge to not only be unsightly, but slick!  We will work to clean off all the bridges over the next few weeks to improve not only the looks, but the safety to our membership!  Below are a few pictures to show how much improvement we have seen from the cleaning!

Pretty easy to see the difference!  

Left side has been cleaned, right side in the works!!

Record Rainfall

Rain, Rain, Go Away!  While 2018 turned out to be the second wettest year since 1948 in Atlanta with 70.03 inches falling at Hartsfield Jackson Airport,  Marietta Country Club totaled 61.3 inches for the year!  This marks the wettest year since 2009, when 69.3 inches were recorded. The year ended with a total of 8 inches in November and 9.25 inches in December, which has really slowed down the golf and tennis activity around the Club.  However, the rain is moving out and a week of sunshine is forecast for the foreseeable future! 

Tough to hit a shot in the middle of #9 Fairway with these conditions

                                                            Water Standing in 10 Fairway

The waterfall behind 12 green always looks great after a heavy rain!!