On a beautiful Saturday in July, Taylor DiFiore celebrated her 1st Birthday here at Marine Park Golf Course. Her family went with a Disney-themed affair and our Party Tent looked beautiful. Cinderella’s Inflatable Castle was set up for the kids to play in alongside the tent. Balloon figures of Minnie Mouse greeted the guests at the entrance of the party and everyone enjoyed visits from Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Captain America and Rapunzel. From all of us here at Marine Park Golf Course, Happy Birthday Taylor!

 This year, 80 percent of the U.S. is abnormally dry, and the drought expanded last month with the 14th-warmest and 10th-driest June, according to records going back to 1895.

The southwest might be hit hardest by the current drought, but Brooklyn is not let off the hook. The above quote from The Daily tells a story that is becoming all too familiar to those of us who depend on a moderate climate.

Maintaining a healthy golf course is, to a large extent, farming. Extreme temperatures and drought make for poor growing conditions. Continued heat stress invites diseases that are expensive to control. It’s especially difficult when the course lacks adequate water for irrigation. Our pond is nearly empty, with little rain in the forecast.

We are working hard on pursuing alternative water sources that can keep up with the demand without breaking the bank. Unfortunately our proximity to the salt water has made it difficult to find fresh groundwater. We are looking at the latest desalination technology and planning a stormwater recapture project that will at least allow us to stockpile some natural water when it’s available during the spring season. The future of our renovation plan depends on it.

Even those who didn’t purchase a club, had a great time learning about their swing stats, compliments of the new TrackMan Launch Monitor and Ball Flight analysis.  The good news is that TrackMan will be an everyday occurrence here at Marine Park Golf Course starting soon! 

In 2011, Heroes to Heroes Foundation hosted a fundraising outing here at Marine Park Golf Course. It was a great event for a great cause, and we’re proud to announce that Heroes to Heroes outing is back in 2012. Please join Heroes to Heroes Foundation on June 20th as we celebrate our veterans and help those who are most vulnerable. Enjoy a beautiful day on the course, gifts, prizes, and the chance to win a car and bid on a foursome to Trump National. Heroes to Heroes Foundation provides a lifeline to our veterans who are most vulnerable – those with severe post traumatic stress disorder. For information contact Nick Deliso at 718.633.7281 or nick@heroestoheroes.org. You can also register online at http://heroestoheroes.org

For the under ten set, only one thing beats hitting golf balls on the range, and that’s picking up golf balls on the range. Marine Park Golf Course is a becoming a popular spot for Communion parties. Kids of all ages get to go out and take their hacks on the driving range with clubs that are often as tall as they are. But collecting the balls is even more rewarding, perhaps because of an innate thrill we all find in running on the same lawns we are told to keep off of. As always we put safety first, and pause all range activity while the kids scramble to retrieve as many golf balls as they can carry back.

Thank you Tara Cavendish for the great photos, and also for hosting Aiden’s First Communion party at Marine Park Golf Course. We had a good time too.

Here’s to a warmer week ahead, and by all means a healthier golf course.

Continuing our renovations and upgrades to the course, we have built our starter a brand-new home.  It’s a very cool gazeebo, or hut, located just in front of the first tee box.  Our golfers will pay for their round in the Pro Shop then take their receipts to the starter in his new digs.

To be honest, we’re not really sure what the history behind a Starter’s Hut is.  Where did it orginate?  Who first thought of it?  Is it a novelty or a necessity?  After doing some basic on-line research, I couldn’t find any real answers as to the originations of the Starter’s Hut.  Here’s what I DO know:  it looks pretty cool.

Now that we have this new structure, we’re open to suggestions about what to call it.  The Hut… The Shack… The House… I realize that none of these names are very catchy, that’s why I’m reaching out.

I will go into detail about the 5th hole in another blog, but for now what do you think about this?  Move the white and blue tee boxes forward 35-45 yards and the red tee box forward 5-15 yards.  We’ll also be adding some brand new “Championship Tees” throughout the course, which will be the longest.  There will probably be a Championship tee box on hole 5.

Are there any thoughts/ideas about the current tee box construction on the 5th hole?  Just leave a comment.  Thanks!

I’m going to update you on all the upgrades that are currently taking shape, starting with the hole that runs along Flatbush, number 14.

Let’s start from Green to Tee (you know, the same way the pros tell us we’re SUPPOSED TO play the hole in our minds). There are large mounds of dirt behind the green that will act as a natural “back board” of rough grass. The dirt mounds have been shaped and grass will be growing soon. As a golfer, if you over-shoot the green you may find yourself in an uphill or downhill stance in thick rough.

We are re-building one of the green-side bunkers. Your approach shot will land here if you leave it short and to the right. What about the other two bunkers, you may ask? Gone. Disappeared. The bunker behind the green is now a grass berm, and the bunker to the left has been removed and replaced with more fairway grass.

There is also a new cart path that will bring you to the left of the green and continue behind it and out toward the 15th tee box.

Working our way backward down the fairway, there are two dramatic changes.  Running alongside the right fairway will be long, grass berms.  Right now the dirt mounds have been shaped and the grass will be sprouting up soon.  Again, an uphill or downhill stance in the rough will await any errant shots.  On the left side of the fairway, about 75 yards from the green is something I like to call “The Pyramid Bunker.”  The bunker itself is crescent-shaped.  However, standing tall in middle of the “half-moon of sand” is a pyramid shaped grass hill.  It’ll be a very tough shot if you land in this bunker.

Your tee shot will have to be a little more precise because we are shifting the other fairway bunker (located on the right, just in front of the grass berms) closer to the fairway.  Watch out for it.

Speaking of your tee shot, we are building a new tee box and improving the existing ones.

Overall this will be a very impressive, and demanding, par 5.  It could end up being one of our signature holes when it’s all said and done.

One final note on the upgrades to Hole#14… as you’re driving down Flatbush Avenue, won’t these improvements make our course more appealing to the eye?  Hole #14 will make our course stick out to the public passing by.  That’s not an accident