August 2021 Newsletter
NEWSLETTER by Bart Wolfe, PGA General Manager on August 1, 2021
Dear Wildewood Members,
SOCIAL REPORT
July was a busy month at The WildeWood Club with Junior Golf & Tennis Camps, Swim Team Meets, Movie Night, Breakfast at Wimbledon Event in the newly redesigned Tennis Center, and our first Friday Night dinner of the year with 80 members in attendance.
August will be another busy month with Junior Golf & Tennis Camps, our Murder Mystery Dinner on Friday the 13th of August, our Par 3 Challenge tournament on 8/19, Kids Laser Tag in the Tennis Center on 8/21, and our Friday Night Dinner on 8/27.
Murder Mystery Dinner-August 13th
Since this event is full and we have a long waiting list, please let us know 4 days prior to the event if you need to cancel. Guest arrival time is 6:00 pm so that everyone will be seated with dinner when the event starts at 6:30 pm. The event will end at 8:30 pm. The Show Theme is Best Laid Plans. Suggested dress is 20’s to 40’s Hollywood like you would see in Dick Tracy, The Great Gatsby and other films of that era.
Friday Night Dinner-August 27th
Reservations will be required for this event. We will send out details two weeks prior to the event with the menu, pricing, and time for the event.
GOLF REPORT
THE WILDEWOOD CLUB GOLF HOURS OF OPERATION FOR AUGUST 2021:
Golf Hours of Operation for Mondays in AUGUST 2021:
- Pro Shop: 10:30 am to 6:00 pm
- Tee Times: 11:00 am to 6:00 pm (Carts must be in by 8:00 pm)
- Range: 10:30 am to 8:30 pm
*THE WILDEWOOD GRILL WILL NOT BE OPEN ON MONDAYS DURING AUGUST.
Golf Hours of Operation for Tuesday to Friday in AUGUST 2021:
- Pro Shop: 6:30 am to 6:00 pm
- Tee Times: 7:30 am to 6:00 pm (Carts must be in by 8:00 pm)
- Range: 7:00 am to 8:30 pm
Golf Hours of Operation for Saturday and Sunday in AUGUST 2021:
- Pro Shop: 6:30 am to 6:00 pm
- Tee Times: 7:00 am to 6:00 pm (Carts must be in by 8:00 pm)
- *This tee time will change to 7:20 am on August 14.
- Range: 6:45 am to 8:30 pm
These are the DAILY GROUP PLAY TIMES for the month of AUGUST. You can sign up online or by calling the golf shop. DAILY GROUP PLAY is a SHOTGUN START at the times listed below:
Tuesday: Seniors Play Day – 8:30 am/ Ladies Play Day – 8:30 am
Wednesday: Wednesday Morning Group – 8:30 am
*All players need to sign up before 7:30 am on Wednesdays for the GROUP PLAY.
Thursday: Seniors Play Day – 8:30 am/ Ladies Play Day – 8:30 am
Friday: Friday Morning Group – 8:30 am
*All players need to sign up before 7:30 am on Fridays for the GROUP PLAY.
Saturday: Catfight – 8:10 am/ Dogfight – 8:20 am
*All players need to sign up before 7:20 am on Saturdays for the GROUP PLAY.
Sunday: Blitz – 8:20 am
TOURNAMENT NEWS
JULY 4TH FLAG DAY RESULTS:
- 1st Place: Ron Hopson
- 2nd Place: Jared Jillson
- 3rd Place: Dave Baptiste
- 4th Place: Dave York (TIE)
Slif Ulrich (TIE)
Billy Grimes (TIE)
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Buster Golf Tournament August 7th & 8th
The Buster Golf Tournament will be held on August 7th and 8th. This event is open to all Full Members of The WildeWood Club.
The Buster format means that it is an individual tournament. You will play your own ball on Saturday and Sunday. Your tournament score will be the lowest score you have on each hole for the two days. That means if you make a 7 on hole 1 on Saturday and you make a 4 on hole 1 on Sunday, your tournament score is 4 for hole 1.
The Entry Fee is $25 with all of that paid out to the Low Gross and Low Net winners.
You will make your own tee-times for Saturday & Sunday. You need to tee off by 1:00 pm each day so that your card can be turned into the pro shop. Registration deadline is Thursday, August 5th. Please register by email to RJ@thewildewoodclub.com and let him know which tee you will be playing.
2021 Member-Guest Golf Tournament September 11 & 12
Open to all Full Golf Members of The WildeWood Club. The registration deadline is Sunday, August 15th. All entry forms must be completed and returned to R.J. Catarino in the pro shop or by email to RJ@thewildewoodclub.com.
TEE TIMES
Full Golf Members may book tee times up to 14 days in advance. We encourage members to make tee times well in advance (especially on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) as The WildeWood Club has 325 Full Golf Members as of August 1.
Tennis/Social/HOA Members may book tee times up to 7 days in advance for the 6 rounds per year you are allowed to play.
All players must check-in at the pro shop before going out to play. This allows the pro shop staff to inform all players of the daily rules and helps with the pace of play. Please do not head to the first tee without checking in to the pro shop.
Please call to CANCEL your tee time if you are not going to use it. This allows the staff to open that time on the tee sheet for other members.
PRACTICE FACILITIES
The WildeWood practice areas are for Full Golf Members and their daily guests only. Tennis/Social/HOA Members may use the practice facilities on the days they pay to play one of their 6 allotted rounds per year.
We will continue to alternate between the mat and the grass area of the range on a regular basis. This will allow the grass area to re-grow at a healthy pace.
FRIENDLY COURSE ETIQUETTE REMINDERS
- Please be on time for your tee time and check-in at the pro shop before heading to the first tee.
- Please call the golf shop if you need to cancel your tee time.
- Please use the 2 sand bottles on the cart to fill in your divots in the fairways/rough.
- Please return your cart to the cart barn area upon the completion of play.
- Please leave the 2 green towels in your cart upon the completion of play.
Please return your golf cart to the cart path near the tee boxes and when approaching the green. PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE YOUR CART WITHIN 25 YARDS OF THE GREEN (EVEN PLAYERS WITH HANDICAP FLAGS).
Golf carts must remain on the path on all Par 3’s.
All golfers must ride 2 players per cart. Single carts are no longer allowed.
Please allow faster players/groups to play through if there are open holes ahead in front of you.
The WildeWood golf staff would like to personally thank all the members that do these things every day!
FISHING IS NOT ALLOWED AT ANY OF THE LAKES ON THE GOLF COURSE AT ANY TIME. Parents, please share this message with your children!
We thank all the residents that follow these guidelines! They are in place for everyone’s safety.
ADDITIONAL EMAIL LIST
Members that have been added to the additional email list will receive any email that is sent out to all WildeWood members (Golf, Tennis, Social/HOA). They will not receive all daily emails that are sent out to Full Club Members. We politely ask for help in forwarding any emails to your family members.
TENNIS REPORT
Interclub is back! Each year, clubs around Columbia get together to play a tournament for ultimate tennis bragging rights. This year Interclub will be August 26-29. It will be held at Windermere. There are 10 divisions, requiring 4 people in each division. We will need a massive turnout, but with everyone’s help I know that we can make it happen this year! The past two years, we have had the most points per participant, but haven’t been able to fill all of the spots. This year could be our year!
**We are having great participation so far thanks to Carol Fuerst and the rest of the Tennis Social Committee spreading the word! If you are interested, there may still be room for you! Please email Bill Simpson at bill@thewildewoodclub.com if you are interested in playing!
Kids Night Out, August 21, 2021; 5:30 to 8:30 pm
Laser Tag in the Tennis Center! This is always a fun night for the kids with Pizza, Laser Tag, Movies, games and more! Also a great way for parents to have a date night! Please email Bill@thewildewoodclub.com for availability and pricing!
USTA Singles League
USTA Singles League registration is open! As of right now, we have 2.5, 3.0, and 4.0 Ladies teams registered. If you would like to play on a team that is not registered, please reach out to Bill Simpson and we can create one!
Clinics
Ladies Clinics
2.5 – Tuesday 9:00-10:30, Saturday 10:00-11:00
3.0 – Monday 9:00-10:30
3.0/3.5 – Saturday 9:00-10:00
3.5 – Friday 9:00-10:30
4.0 – Wednesday 9-10:30, Thursday 9:00-10:30
*These Clinics are open to all players; however, you must be rated at the same level of the clinic that you attend or play on a WildeWood team at the same level of the clinic that you attend.
Kids Clinics
Yellow Ball Clinic (Ages 13-16): Monday and Wednesday 4:30-6, Friday 4-5:30
Green Dot Clinic (Ages 11-12): Tuesday and Thursday 4:30-5:30
Orange Ball Clinic (ages 8-10): Tuesday and Thursday 3:30-4:30
Red Ball Clinic 1 (Ages 6-8): Monday and Wednesday 4:00-4:30
Red Ball clinic 2 (Ages 3-6): Monday and Wednesday 3:30-4:00
Kids Tennis Camps
Aug 9-10 (Ages 5-18): 12pm-5pm / $125 / Snacks and Drinks provided
Aug 16-19 (Ages 5-18): 12pm-5pm / $250 / Snacks and Drinks provided
MAINTENANCE REPORT
Well Summer has finally arrived, and July was everything I had always heard and expected from Columbia SC. The month started off great and then someone turned up the thermostat and cut the rain off. We went 18 days with the “feels like temperature” over 100 degrees without a drop of rain.
During this time, we learned a lot about the weaknesses of our irrigation system. The good news is our Bermuda grass took the beating and has jumped back wonderfully since our inch of rain we received the 25th.
I would not be totally shocked if we experience at least one more dry spell between now and October and just like this past month we should expect the yellowing of the turf in some areas. I know there was some concern amongst a few of you all that we were not watering enough or were going to lose turf. Rest assured we were maximizing every minute of our 14-hour water window, running water from 8pm thru 10am daily. Our current pumps have a limited volume of water they can move at any one time but paired with raised mowing heights in the rough and an application of a well-timed wetting agent things greened right back up nicely.
Other highlights this month included getting our yearly aerification completed and the first of two truckloads of sod down. Looking into August, we will be laying the second truck load of sod in a few of our bad fairways, cleaning up some weeds, and starting to get ready for tournament season.
As always, I would like to thank everyone for the continued support and look forward to seeing you all on the course. If there is ever any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me at Grayson@thewildewoodclub.com.
The WildeWood Staff would like to thank all of you for your tremendous support of our programs and activities over the past two years.
Regards,
Bart Wolfe
PGA General Manager
(803) 788-8000 Option 3
bart@thewildewoodclub.com
Bill Simpson – Director of Tennis
RJ Catarino – Director of Golf Operations
Latonya Lavant – Food and Beverage Manager
Megan Epting – Business Office Manager
