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Upcoming Events

December

December/January 2017/2018

BRENT JESSUP PGA HEAD GOLF PROFESSIONAL

Annual Golf Shop Christmas Sale It’s time again for our annual balloon fest! Our annual Christmas Golf Shop Sale will take place Friday-Sunday, December 8-10. This is the perfect time to use those tournament winning credits before they expire! There is plenty of remaining inventory that will make some really nice Christmas gifts for your or others. Also, we will continue the tradition of “Elf Putting” for additional discounts if your balloon discount is less than 20%. Come join the fun and save some dollars.

Annual WCMA Meeting On Saturday, December 9th at 9:00am in the Madren Center, the annual WCMA meeting will be held. President David Finch will preside over the meeting to review the year and plans for 2018. Please plan to attend this important meeting to hear what you may have missed or ask questions you may have. New committee chairs will be introduced as well.

WCMA Meeting Golf Challenge For those that attend the WCMA annual meeting, afterwards, you are invited to play in the annual tough day challenge. We have a special surprise format for you that will be announced at the meeting. Sign up for this event at the meeting. You MUST attend the WCMA annual meeting to play in this fun event. See you there!

Ladies Golf Association Christmas Party The annual Ladies Golf Association Christmas Party will take place on Thursday evening, December 14th at the Keowee Key Country Club clubhouse. If you are a member of the association, please contact Yvonne Birchmore for details and reservations. This event is always a great gathering and way to celebrate the holidays together.

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1 Offseason Rates Begin 4 Course Closed 8-10 Golf Shop Christmas Sale 9 WCMA Annual Meeting 9 WCMA Tough Day 11 Course Closed 18 Course Closed 20 Course Closed 24-26 Course Closed Christmas 27 Course Open

January 1 Course Closed 2 Course Open 8 Course Closed 15 Course Closed 22 Course Closed 29 Course Closed

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Golf Pro News Continued:

Sole Charge Tickets Members are reminded to please print legibly when signing your meal charges at Sole’ and clubhouse grill. We have had quite a few tickets recently that are not readable. Please PRINT your name and your membership number before signing your ticket. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Member Bench Placed The memorial bench and plaque for Billy Hill has arrived and has been placed at hole # 8 near the white tees. Thank you to everyone who contributed toward the purchase of the bench. Thanks also to Don Garrett for ordering and placing the bench. Right now, the bench is setting just off the cart path in the grass. Don plans to add some landscaping around the bench. Next time you approach hole #8 and the group ahead of you has not yet cleared the green, take a seat on the bench…you may hear a man’s voice whisper “if you see a slight break on the putt, don’t play the break, just hit it firmly into the hole.”

17-18 Holiday Bowl Pool It’s time for our annual “pick the winners” Holiday Bowl Pool Contest. When the schedule of college football bowl games is determined, drop by the golf shop and pick up an entry sheet. Make your winner picks and return your entry form with $5 to the golf shop before the first game is played. Then, sit back and watch 40+ games and see how well you do. Our winner last year was Ben Crosland. He collected the $325 jackpot for picking 30 winners from 41 games. It’s lots of fun and keeps your interest in every game. Join in the fun!

Holiday Closings The Walker Course will be closed December 24-25-26 for the Chr istmas holidays and will also be closed on Monday, January 1st (New Year’s Day). Please be sure to make those last minute purchases on Saturday, December 23rd, the last day we are open before Christmas. Thanks for allowing our staff time off to spend with family and friends.

Range Club Renewal January 1st is the beginning of the New Year and also the first day for the 2018 Range Club Membership renewals. There will be no rate increase this year. Rates will remain the same: $250 for the first person on each membership and $125 for each additional person on a family membership. Renewals are NOT automatic. Please be sure to sign up for your renewal in the golf shop.

2018 Handicap Service Renewal January is annual handicap service renewal month. This IS an “automatic renewal” service fee that will be master billed to your account unless you notify the golf shop staff before December 22nd you wish to discontinue your handicap service. After that date, we cannot reverse handicap service fees for 2018. Please note an “official” SCGA handicap is re-quired to play in most Walker Course events. The 2018 fees remain only $30 per member and $40 for public golfers.

Winter Hours Now that December has arrived, we have shortened our daily operations through the end of February. Golf Shop Hours 8:30am until 5:00pm Practice Range 8:45am until 4:30pm (barring Frost Delays) First Tee Time 9:00am (barring Frost Delays) Golf Course and Practice Range is CLOSED ON MONDAYS.

Staff Greeting As we reach the end of another great year of golf, we would like to take time to thank each of you for your continued support of our facility and staff. We have been blessed with another successful year that would not have been possible without each member’s support. From our staff to you and your family, thanks for the opportunity to serve you in 2017 and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

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DON GARRETT, CGCS SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT December 2017/January 2018

Don Garrett, CGCS November Status November has been on the dry side again this year. We finally had a couple of heavy frosts the last week of the month, so the bermudagrass has turned off color and is heading into dormancy. We topped off the rough with the mowers one last time and were able to get our first application of winter weed control applied. We put a nice edge on all of the bunkers at the beginning of the month. We also replaced some sand in the green-side bunkers on 9 and the 4 small fairway bunkers on 18. We have also started some underbrusing and cleanup work and a fertilizer application was made to all of the overseeded tees. Blowing leaves has also kept us busy this month. We also added some sprinkler heads in 4 areas where we had a gap in coverage. We have been talking about doing this for some time, so it was nice to finally get out and get it done. Greens In early December, we will begin placing the covers near the greens to be ready in case the weather gets very cold. As a reminder, while several factors are considered when determining when to cover the greens, we will typically cover when the nighttime temperatures fall into the lower 20’s or below. Hopefully that won’t happen very often this winter, but if it does, we will be prepared. The greens will be painted sometime in early December once they lose most of their color. Normally, it takes two applications of paint to get us through the winter. As you may recall, last winter we did not paint even once due to weather conditions that kept some color in the greens most of the winter. December Goals During December, we will be continuing with winter project work such as under brushing, raising sprinklers and replenishing sand in bunkers. The first week of the month Environmental Landscapes will have a crew in to rebuild the 2 large fairway bunkers on the left of 18 and the practice bunker. Both bunkers are in rough shape and this is some work that was carried over from the renovation two summers ago that we are now able to complete. In addition, the leaves are still falling and there are plenty to blow and cleanup. 2018 Maintenance Schedule

Brent and I have begun working on the 2018 schedule. With the anticipated release of the football schedule in Jan-uary, we hope to have the major maintenance schedule ready to publish in the February newsletter. Look for it then.

There is one thing that we can share with you now though. We have decided that we will close the course during the last week of June to perform greens aerification and fairway aerification. We feel this will allow us to be more efficient in completing the work. Normally, the work is spread over 3 weeks in June, so we feel that doing it all in one week will be less of an overall disruption. I will be sharing some more details at the WCMA annual meeting on December 9 th. Passing of Brook Paul Full-time Equipment Operator Brook Paul lost his 2 ½ year battle with cancer on November 29th. Brook had been a key member of the Walker Course golf maintenance team for over ten years, joining the staff in April 2007. While Brook was capable of any task, he primarily operated the large rough mower during the growing season, making every effort to stay out of the way of play. He will be missed. The maintenance staff and I would like to thank you for your support in 2017. We wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a great 2018!

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FOR YOUR INFORMATION Pro-Shop

Operating Hours: Tuesday—Sunday

8:30 a.m—5:00 p.m. Practice Range Hours:

Tuesday—Sunday 8:45 a.m.—4:30 p.m. (Weather Permitting)

Brent Jessup Head Golf Professional

656-7516 Don Garrett

Course Superintendent 656-1814

Azenda Thompson Accounting

656-0595 Golf Pro-Shop

656-0236 Club House Grill

656-7518 Sole On The Green

656-7444 The Martin Inn

654-9020 The Madren Center

656-7155

December 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Off-Season Rates Begin

2

3

4 Course Closed

5

6

7 8 Golf Shop

Christmas Sale

9 Golf Shop Christmas Sale WCMA Annual Meeting/ Tough

Day

10 Golf Shop

Christmas Sale

11 Course Closed

12

13

14

15

16

17

18 Course Closed

19

20 21

22

23

24 Course Closed

Christmas Holidays

25 Course Closed

Christmas Holidays

26 Course Closed

Christmas Holidays

27

28 29 30

31 1 Course Closed

2 3 4 5 6

Combined Newsletter Continuing our tradition, this month’s newsletter combines December and January 2018. With a bit lighter activity schedule, there is not much to report. Our next newsletter will be published February 2018.

Resigned Members Jodie and Phil Shirley

Membership by the Numbers Individuals: 131 Family: 101

Non-Resident: 33 Young Alumni: 12

Inactive: 9 Legacy Life: 10 Life: 26

Total Membership: 322

Welcome New Members John and Bonnie Bachman