History
Marietta Country Club has a rich history in the northwest region of Georgia. Our history began ten years before Fort Sumter was fired upon in 1861, when the Georgia Military Institute opened its doors at the old site of Marietta Country Club, near the Marietta Square. This beautiful location, with its 360-degree view of most of Cobb County, became known as College Hill. From its modest beginning in July 1851, the Military School, G.M.I., succeeded beyond the hopes of its founders and became known as the “West Pointe of the South.” Cadets from all the southeastern states were registered there.
All that remains today of the G.M.I. Complex is the white columned home built in 1851 by Colonel Arnoldus V. Brumby, then superintendent of the Institute. Naturally, the entire battalion of G.M.I., coming from seceding states, expected to go into the military services of the Confederate States of America. When orders were received in May 1864, they were well prepared, but ill equipped for their baptism by fire. They later saw service guarding bridges along the Chattahoochee, fighting in the trenches around Atlanta and resisting Sherman’s march to the sea from Milledgeville, then the state capital, to Savannah. Their last service was on provost guard duty at the Augusta Arsenal where, on May 20, 1865 some six weeks after the surrender, they disbanded and returned to what was left of their homes.
Probably the birthplace of golf in Marietta was known as Trammell’s pasture. This area immediately north of the old number 8 fairway was the scene of much athletic activity during the first two decades of the century. Here, about 1904 or 1905, a redheaded “southpaw,” Nap Rucker, pitched his first “pro” game and later became a superstar for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Marietta High School varsity football team was coached by Prof. Malcomb Sylvester here as well.
In the meantime, Prof. and Mrs. J.H. Smith of Boy’s High, Atlanta had acquired and built a beautiful home on the rest of the adjoining College Hill property. He, with the famous sports writer, O. B. Keller and a few of their friends, laid out a three-hole course. They explained to those novices that three clubs were enough to start with; to wit: midiron, mashie, and noblick. For the enlightenment of our modern golfers, they are numbers 2, 5 and 8 in the vast assortment of 14 clubs required by today’s experts.
The first hole was a long downhill drive over well grazed Bermuda. This was our par 4. Then the second was a short par 3 mashie shot over some trees that almost blotted out the green. On this hole, the late Jim Daniell was unable to find his drive until a bystander said, “I saw your ball roll into that little hole.” So the first hole-in-one was awarded to the Judge.
This ancient and honorable game, new to the sporting fraternity of Marietta, caught on like “wild fire.” An organization meeting was held on the Tuesday of September 28, 1915. A nine-hole golf course was planned with a limit of 100 male members.
In the meantime, Prof. and Mrs. J. H. Smith, having lost their beautiful home by fire on adjoining College Hill, announced they had decided not to rebuild. He agreed with Mr. Morgan McNeel and others that this property would be an ideal location for a golf course with a clubhouse built right on the foundation of the burned residence.
In 1987 Marietta Country Club was offered the opportunity to move to a piece of property near historic Kennesaw Mountain located in Kennesaw, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta where the new facility was opened in 1990, featuring an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Cupp. In 2005, the Club added an additional 9 holes of golf and completed a fantastic renovation on the Clubhouse. Today, Marietta Country Club is a superior, private Club offering an outstanding golf course, tennis complex, a fitness center, aquatic center and clubhouse facilities making it the Club to join in Cobb County!
Probably the birthplace of golf in Marietta was known as Trammell’s pasture. This area immediately north of the old number 8 fairway was the scene of much athletic activity during the first two decades of the century. Here, about 1904 or 1905, a redheaded “southpaw,” Nap Rucker, pitched his first “pro” game and later became a superstar for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Marietta High School varsity football team was coached by Prof. Malcomb Sylvester here as well.
In the meantime, Prof. and Mrs. J.H. Smith of Boy’s High, Atlanta had acquired and built a beautiful home on the rest of the adjoining College Hill property. He, with the famous sports writer, O. B. Keller and a few of their friends, laid out a three-hole course. They explained to those novices that three clubs were enough to start with; to wit: midiron, mashie, and noblick. For the enlightenment of our modern golfers, they are numbers 2, 5 and 8 in the vast assortment of 14 clubs required by today’s experts.
The first hole was a long downhill drive over well grazed Bermuda. This was our par 4. Then the second was a short par 3 mashie shot over some trees that almost blotted out the green. On this hole, the late Jim Daniell was unable to find his drive until a bystander said, “I saw your ball roll into that little hole.” So the first hole-in-one was awarded to the Judge.
In the meantime, Prof. and Mrs. J. H. Smith, having lost their beautiful home by fire on adjoining College Hill, announced they had decided not to rebuild. He agreed with Mr. Morgan McNeel and others that this property would be an ideal location for a golf course with a clubhouse built right on the foundation of the burned residence.
The enlarged project called for a lot more financing than had been originally planned for the Trammell pasture property. An application for the charter was filed on December 7, 1915.
The 1974 Board of Directors President, George Dozier, Jr., attempted some research on the original ownership of the G.M.I. property but, of course, ran into a blank among the ashes of the old courthouse. Very few property titles in Cobb County can be traced before 1865. It appears that the Legislature in 1970 passed an act in which lands formerly used by the Georgia Military Institute were given to the Trustees of the Marietta Male Academy. Efforts to revive and refinance the G.M.I. were unsuccessful. The property was eventually sold for $1,346 and the money was used to erect a new Male Academy building near the center of town.
Although the chapter application was filed in 1915, we were not incorporated as “The Marietta Country Club” until January 17, 1916.