It's not much to look at, but Marietta Golf Center has almost everything you need to work on all facets of your golf game. This strictly practice-only facility is situated just inside the North Loop (North Marietta Parkway, 120 loop) in a secluded location. You have to drive to where Gresham Road dead-ends to find this place.
What I like about Marietta Golf Center is you can come hit balls here, rain or shine, day or night. They have about a dozen mats in a covered and lighted section of the range. They also have a spacious grass hitting area, so you can take your pick. Sometime within the last couple years or so, they added new Power Tee hitting mats.
Power Tee is an automatic teeing system. It's pretty cool and this is the first range where I've seen it. You load your range balls into a compartment underneath the mat and the machine (it's electronic) automatically tees up balls for you to hit. The system is simple. Power Tee keeps track of how many balls you've hit. You can press a button to adjust your tee height. There are four tee height options.
One thing I appreciate about Power Tee is the tallest tee setting accommodates today's drivers. Oftentimes, driving range mats will have no tees or short tees that are too short to fit today's drivers. Power Tee is a great way to practice hitting your driver over and over without having to bend over and re-tee the ball yourself (definitely a first-world convenience). The mats I used looked new and in great shape. In addition to the automatic teeing system, the Power Tee mats have two hitting surfaces to choose from. Both simulate fairway.
Range balls can be purchased inside the clubhouse or at the dual Range Servant machines outside. At the time of writing this review, prices are as follows:
25 balls for $4.50 card ($4.00 cash) - "The Varmint"
50 balls for $7.50 card ($7.00 cash) - "The Lacy Underalls"
80 balls for $11.50 card ($11.00 cash) - "The Carl Spackler"
110 balls for $15.50 ($15.00 cash) - "The Judge Smails"
Cash is only accepted inside at the register. Card is accepted inside or out. The various size names are references to the 1980 golf comedy movie Caddyshack. During my last visit, the range balls were Wilson Staff Premium Range balls and they were decent quality. There was the occasional old, strange, or off-brand ball mixed in, but overall, the range ball quality seemed OK and fairly consistent.
There are a several greens, flags, and targets to aim at which is nice. According to the distances posted, the longest flags/green (red flags) are 243 yards away and the shortest flags/green (green flags) are only 41-65 yards away; great for pitch shots.
There is a practice short game area with a practice chipping green and two practice bunkers. However, unlike most other golf practice facilities (at least the ones I've been to), this one costs a separate fee to use. They have a practice putting green too, free to use, but it's artificial -- perhaps this facility's biggest weakness. I prefer to practice putting on a real putting green. This one has five holes and is located in front of the clubhouse.
The clubhouse is no-frills. Along with the counter/register, they have shelves and refrigerators stocked with basic refreshments, used clubs and headcovers, and a small lounge area with a TV. There are restrooms, a water fountain, and they offer free coffee too.
There's a separate building between the range and the short game area reserved for private golf instruction. Marietta Golf Center has a staff of PGA and LPGA members and teaching professionals that you can book lessons with. They also conduct clinics.
Overall, the property is definitely showing its age, but she's got it where it counts. This place has been here for as long as I can remember. In the early days (for me, early 2000s), my coworkers and I used to come here to hit balls during our lunch break. I then realized scarfing down fast food and getting all sweaty before returning to the office wasn't very pleasant.
Service I've experienced has been good. read more