December 2020 Newsletter
NEWSLETTER by Bart Wolfe, PGA General Manager on December 1, 2020
Social/Food & Beverage Report
The WildeWood Club is excited to announce the hiring of Latonya Lavant as our new Chef and F&B Supervisor. Latonya comes to The WildeWood Club with over 20 years of Food and Beverage leadership experience after receiving her Culinary Arts degree.
The Grill will be closed 11/30-12/3 for our annual cleaning, staff training, and a menu refresh. Latonya is very excited about the opportunity to meet all of you.
Our New Year’s Eve party currently has 85 reservations. We will not add any more to the list to ensure social distancing, but we will start a waiting list. If you would like to be added to the waiting list, please send an email to Bart@thewildewoodclub.com.
Thanks to your generosity, The WildeWood Club will provide 250 Bikes with our Toys for Tots bike drive! We will assemble the bikes starting at 9:00 am this Saturday, December 5th in the Tennis parking lot. We have 50 extra bikes this year so we could use some additional volunteers!
Our next Blood Drive for The American Red Cross is Saturday, December 5th from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. There are 10 open appointments left at this time. The Bloodmobile will be setup in the lower golf parking lot since we will have the Bike Build going on in the Tennis lot. To sign-up visit redcrossblood.org and search by zip code 29223 for The WildeWood Club.
Our new fire pits should arrive any day. The fire pits will be installed in the sitting areas overlooking our Stadium Tennis Courts. The fire pits are being installed in Memoriam for Jane Whiteside.
Maintenance Report
We hope everyone had a fun and food filled Thanksgiving and are counting down the days until Santa. For me personally, Thanksgiving holds a special meaning because Thanksgiving 2019 was my first day on property. As I spent the day riding the course, learning the holes, and taking a few pictures I realized just how big of a challenge we had in front of us. I told our management team at Pinnacle Golf that I believed this would be a 3 year project to return this course to a place that both you and I could be proud of and I am happy to say we are well on our way. This is the third course I have been a part of coming out of closure but the one with the most support from ownership, membership, and community. When you are here every day like many of us are, it is sometimes hard to not focus on all the blemishes (and believe me I have notepads full) but I challenge you to stop and reflect back 12 and 18 months ago. All of this is to say, after year one I am thankful to be a part of such a great and growing community. And though it will take some time, the sky is truly the limit for the Wildewood Club and your agronomy department is excited to be along for the ride.
This month we will finish edging and re-distributing sand in bunkers as well as finish with the bushhog work along our out of bounds lines. This work will be followed by beginning the bulk of the chainsaw work on things too big for the bushhog. There may be some days where our chainsaw crew gets ahead of the cleanup crew as the majority of the debris will have to be trailered back to the shop so if you end up in a pile of debris please treat the area as ground under repair. We will also continue the seemingly never-ending job of pinecone pick up. We already have several wonderful residents who chip in by piling up the pinecones from the area between the course and their house that we pick up weekly. If anyone else would be interested in “adopting” an area or hole it would be greatly appreciated. Lastly, and depending on temperatures and when the grass goes dormant, either late this month or early January we will start painting greens, tees, and fairways. This is both aesthetic and agronomical, while the darker grass will draw more heat leading to an earlier Spring green-up it also gives us the look of overseed without the monetary cost of mowing, watering, and fertilizing and agronomical cost of competing with the Ryegrass in Spring transition. I have included a short video from the USGA if you are interested.
https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/articles/2018/01/going-green–golf-courses-benefit-by-painting-fairways-instead-o.html
Finally, as the weather takes a turn for the cold, we continue to ask that golfers spread out their cart traffic. This will help us all tremendously in the Spring when the grass starts to wake back up. Also, it is that time of year we start to have frost delays. Please check with the proshop prior to walking on the greens or tees at the practice facility on days when frost may be present. When you walk or drive on frosted green grass (either non-dormant Bermuda or Rye overseed) the weight ruptures the cells inside the plant thus leading to dried out and sometimes dead footprints or tire tracks.
I look forward to seeing you all on the course and if there are ever any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Grayson Clark
Grayson@thewildewoodclub.com
Tennis Report
- Please wear a face masks while inside the tennis center. Once downstairs, you may take it off to play tennis.
- Please remember to sign in and pay for all guest BEFORE you go on court.
- We ask that No Dogs be allowed on the tennis courts at any time.
- New Cardio Clinics will begin January 1! Tentative schedule will be Saturday 8-9:00am and Tuesday/Thursday 12-1pm. More details to follow!
Christmas Specials:
- Buy 3 lessons from Adam and get 1 lesson Free!
- Buy 4 lessons from Bill and get 1 lesson Free!
- String: Diadem poly strings; Elite XT 16g, Flash 16g, Evolution 16g, and Solstice 16L all $5. (Total price will be $25 with labor).
Court Maintenance
As you have noticed, we have put half of the windscreens up on the clay courts. This is due to the lower sun level at mid day. With those sections of the courts being continuously in the shade the courts will not water evenly. Also we are already looking at below freezing weather at nights. When the courts freeze, some puddling may occur when they thaw. If you are playing on a court that becomes wet or soft, please stop playing as it can be dangerous to you and harmful to the courts.
New Adult Clinic Schedule
Ladies Clinic Schedule:
- 2.5 – Saturday 10-11:00
- 3.0/3.5 – Friday 9-10:30, and Saturday 9-10:00
- 4.0 – Thursday 9-10:30
- These Clinics are open to all Tennis and Golf members, 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.
Junior Clinics
After School Kids Clinics:
- Yellow Ball Clinic (Ages 13-16): Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 4:30-6:00
- 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 from 4:00-4:30
- Red Ball clinic 2 (Ages 3-6): Wednesday 3:30-4:00
- Age and ability level will also help us determine which clinic your child should be in.
Golf Report
Golf Hours of Operation for Tuesday to Sunday for DECEMBER 2020:
- Pro Shop: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
- Tee Times: 8:50 am to 4:00 pm (Carts must be in by 5:15 pm)
- Range: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (allows golf staff to pick the range, chipping greens, and putting greens)
These are the DAILY GROUP PLAY TIMES will be CHANGING for the month of DECEMBER. You can sign up online or by calling the golf shop. DAILY GROUP PLAY is a SHOTGUN START at the times listed below:
- Tuesdays: Seniors Play Day – 10:00 am/ Ladies Play Day – 10:00 am
- Wednesdays: Wednesday Morning Group – 10:00 am
- Thursdays: Seniors Play Day – 10:00 am/ Ladies Play Day – 10:00 am
- Fridays: Friday Morning Group – 10:00 am
- Saturdays: Dogfight – 9:50 am
- Sundays: Blitz – 9:50 am
Please call the golf shop or go online if you like to sign up for any GROUP PLAY times. Please remember to sign up for GROUP PLAY on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays AT LEAST 1 HOUR PRIOR to the start time so that scorecards can be made by the pro shop staff.
TO ALL GOLFERS: WE POLITELY ASK THAT GOLFERS HITTING BALLS ON THE RANGE ONLY HIT FROM THE AREA IN FRONT OF THE YELLOW ROPE. WE ARE TRYING DESPERATELY TO GROW GRASS IN THE OTHER AREAS OF THE RANGE AND THAT PROGRESS IS IMPEDED WHEN GOLFERS HIT FROM OUTSIDE THE DESIGNATED AREA.
Members are responsible for informing their guests about our dress code. Golfers not adhering to the dress code will not be able to play or use the practice facilities. JEANS, GYM SHORTS, CUT OFF SHIRTS, WORK OUT SHIRTS, AND SANDALS ARE NOT ALLOWED AT ANY TIME ON THE WILDEWOOD GOLF COURSE AND PRACTICE FACILITIES. ALL SHIRTS MUST HAVE A COLLAR.
Please return your cart to the area near the cart barn upon completion of play. This really helps our outside staff to be more efficient in the cleaning/sanitizing of the golf carts. We appreciate all the members who do this already!
Please be sure to use your club to tap the sand off the bottom your golf shoes before walking on the green if you play your shot from a greenside sand trap. This helps to prevent “sand footprints” from being tracked across the greens.
We politely ask that golfers (and their guests) do not take the green towels that are provided in each cart. Please leave them in your cart following the completion of play.
Please help us to protect the golf course by RETURNING YOUR CART TO THE CART PATH as you approach the green. Carts must also remain on the path on PAR 3 HOLES and near TEE BOXES.
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL GOLFERS USING THE GHIN HANDICAP SYSTEM:
In order to improve data security and golfer privacy, golfers will need to create a digital profile to access the GHIN mobile app and ghin.com beginning in early January 2021. Users are required to have a unique email address to create a digital profile and access the GHIN mobile app and ghin.com. From now until the end of 2020, club admins and professional staff will be soliciting members to provide a unique email for their GHIN account to prepare for digital profiles in 2021.
In January 2021, golfers will set a password for their account as they create a digital profile. A golfer will then log in to the GHIN Mobile App and ghin.com with their email address or GHIN Number and the password they created.
If golfers do not provide an email address, they will not be able to create a digital profile and log in to the GHIN Mobile App or ghin.com. They will only be able to access a Club Kiosk or have a Club Admin post a score on their behalf.
Please email rj@thewildewoodclub.com with the email address you would like associated with your GHIN account by December 21, 2020. Please make sure to include your name and GHIN #.
TO ALL TENNIS/SOCIAL/HOA MEMBERS: TENNIS, SOCIAL, AND HOA MEMBERS HAVE 6 TIMES PER YEAR THAT YOU ARE ALLOWED TO PLAY HERE AT THE WILDEWOOD CLUB FOR THE GUEST FEE. YOU ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO USE THE PRACTICE FACILITIES ON THE 6 DAYS THAT YOU PAY TO PLAY THE COURSE.
- GUEST FEE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: $37
- GUEST FEE FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: $47
TO ALL DOG WALKERS: PLEASE DO NOT WALK YOUR DOG OR ALLOW YOUR DOG TO RUN NEAR GREENS, BUNKERS, OR TEE BOXES. THESE AREAS ARE EASILY DAMAGED AND WE WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP IN PROTECTING THE GOLF COURSE.
STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT ALL DOGS MUST BE ON A LEASH WHEN WALKING ON THE WILDEWOOD GOLF COURSE. YOU MUST PICK UP AFTER YOUR PET AND DISPOSE OF ANY WASTE IN A DESIGNATED TRASH CONTAINER.
WALKERS AND DOG WALKERS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THE WILDEWOOD GOLF COURSE FROM 8:30 AM TO 4:00 PM.
Happy Holidays and Regards,
Bart Wolfe
PGA General Manager
(803) 788-8000 Option 3
bart@thewildewoodclub.com
