Walker Course

UPCOMING EVENTS

September
07	Course Open 11am
11	Home Football Friday
12	Ga. Southern AT Clemson (7:30pm)
14	Arco Tournament (AM Shotgun)
17	Clemson Habitat Tournament (PM Shotgun)
18	Home Football Friday
19	UNC at Clemson (Noon)
21	Course Closed: Maintenance
28	Open Monday (11am) Mountain Tour (AM Times)
28-29	Junior Club Championship
29	GA Seniors Tournament

October
02	Home Football Friday
03	Miami at Clemson
05	Open Monday (11am)
07	Ladies Member-Guest
08	NHC Tournament
09-10	Senior Club Championship
12	ABC Carolinas Tournament Daniel High School Girls Regional
16	Home Football Friday
17	Charleston Southern at Clemson
19	Course Closed: Maintenance
23	Home Football Friday
24	Va. Tech at Clemson
26	Mulligans For Maggie Tournament

Golf Pro News

Brent Jessup, PGA Head Golf Professional

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Home Football Weekends Tee Time Reminder

Now that football season is upon us, please remember ALL Walker Course members have equal access to make tee times TWO WEEKS prior to the beginning at 12:01am. Each member is restricted to one tee time during any three-hour period (8am & 11am, 9am & 12pm, etc.) There are no reserved groups for play on Home Football Fridays. Tee times are accessible through your MEMBER PORTAL at the Walker Course website or by calling the golf shop. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

Open Mondays

For the next two months, The Walker Course will be open at 11am for Monday play, with a few exceptions for outings and maintenance. Please review the calendar of events for scheduling conflicts.

Junior Club Championship

The junior club championship will be held on Monday and Tuesday, September 28 & 29. Tee times will begin at 5:30pm both days. Juniors will play up to nine holes each day, depending on age divisions. There is NO ENTRY FEE, but one parent /relative MUST accompany each junior while they are playing. Trophies will be awarded to the winners of each age division: 11-U, 12-14, 15-17. Call the golf shop to sign up before the September 26th deadline.

Bob Ryerse Ace

Congratulations to Bob Ryerse for his rare hole-in-one on hole # 9! Due to the flooding, hole # 9 was playing as a 100-yard par three hole on August 8th. Mr. Ryerse selected a Ping 8-iron for the perfect shot that went in the hole for an official hole-in-one! Witnessing perfection were Maurice Lopez and David Jacobson. Mr. Ryerse was a member of the Member’s Hole-In-One Club and collected the $165 jackpot. Now it’s time for everyone to re-enter by paying their fee in the golf shop. Great shot, Mr. Ryerse!

Interclub Report

The season came to an unfortunate end for our Super Senior team in the first round of the playoffs against Rock Hill Country Club, with a 43-37 loss. Despite the season-ending loss, a big thank you goes to captain Jack Mansmann for organizing and leading this year’s team to their POD division championship.
The Senior division team has advanced to the second round of the playoffs by defeating Gaston Country Club last month and will take on the Lake Marion Golf Club team on September 15th. Good luck to Captain Rick Miller and his squad as they strive to make it to Pinehurst for the finals!

Match Play Status

We are down to the finals of the 2026 match play.

Men’s Championship Division:

Chris Shelnut vs. Anthony Craig – TBD

Men’s P/W “A” Division:

David Bendigo vs. Bill King – TBD

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Division Champions:

Jill O’Connor defeated Cherryl Meadows for the Women’s Championship.

Stephen Brown defeated Tommy Rogers in the Men’s P/W “B” Division

Richard Albritton defeated David Jacobson in the Men’s White Tee Division

Once ALL division champions are determined, champion trophies will be awarded and shop credits applied to your member accounts. Congratulations to the winners and good luck to those in the final matches.

Golf Superintendent News

Don Garrett, CGCS — Course Superintendent

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August Status

August was one of the toughest months that I can remember. A flood, a significant windstorm, two irrigation leaks, a week in the upper 90’s, no rain the last couple of weeks of the month, staffing
turnover, and some equipment breakdowns made this a month to forget.
Fortunately, the flood was brief. It was a true flash flood, caused by 2.9 inches of rain in about 45 minutes. This caused the water to rise as high as I have ever seen it. But it went down just as quickly. There was very little damage, just a lot of debris to clean up.
Someone asked whether the flooding could be prevented by removing all the growth along the creeks. This would make very little difference. The main choke points are the culverts under Cherry and Old Stadium roads and under bridges. Also, we are at the low point for the east side of campus. Most of the east campus, plus everything inside Highway 76 from Old Stone Church Road to Perimeter Road, drains to us. When it rains that much, that quickly, the creek is going to get out of its banks. I do think the retention ponds along Perimeter Road have helped. But again, in this kind of rainfall event, they can only do so much.
The storm on the 17th produced strong winds but little rain. I can’t recall seeing the course covered in that much debris without any trees coming down.
The lack of rain and the high temperatures late in the month have stressed the turf a bit, especially outside of irrigation coverage. Hopefully, September brings some rain and cooler temperatures.
Positives for the month? The natural areas on the course have been mowed as scheduled. The “turnip patches” have been mowed as well, and we will be reseeding them in September. And on the 31st, we were able to micro-tine aerify the greens and apply our course-wide fall feed. The greens should heal up in 10-14 days.

September Goals

In September, we will be focusing on the following:

• Continue to verticut and lightly topdress greens as long as the temperature stays warm.
• Make final growth regulator applications to tees, greens and fairways.
• Treat the course for fire ants, which will emerge with cooler temperatures
• Begin Spring Dead Spot control applications to greens, tees and fairways, once the soil temperatures reach 72 degrees. This is the temperature at which the pathogen becomes active, and when fungicides are most effective
• The first application is tentatively scheduled for Monday, the 21st.
• Apply a potassium-based fertilizer to the greens to assist hardening off.
• Apply a growth regulator to greens to control seed heads that occur around the third week of the month.
• Apply pre-emergent weed control to the greens to control Poa annua.
• Prep and reseed natural areas on 2/6 and 5. We will also reseed several other areas around the course and establish new natural areas behind the 7 & 8 greens.
Raise the height of cut slightly on tees and fairways around mid-month to allow additional growth before dormancy. This helps bermudagrass survive the cold months of the year, when it is not actively growing, and gives us a better base to withstand traffic during those months.

Driving Range Update

We are currently scheduled to install a net at the far-back, right portion of the driving range, the week of September 21st to help protect Old Stadium Road.
While this work is underway, it will be necessary to further restrict the distance limits, if not impose an outright closure of the range, for a few days.

Did You Know?

We used 25 tons of green divot sand over the last year. That’s the equivalent of a tractor-trailer load. Imagine how much more we would need if everyone filled their divots!

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Operating Hours: Pro-Shop: Monday: 11 am-7 pm Tuesday-Sunday: 7:30 am-7 pm Practice Range: Closed Mondays, Tuesday-Sunday: 8:45 am-4 pm (Weather permitting)   Key Contacts: Head Golf Professional Brent Jessup, 864-656-7516 Course Superintendent Don Garrett, 864-656-1814 Accounting Azenda Thompson, 864-656-0595 Golf Pro-Shop 864-656-0236 Solé On The Green 864-656-7444 The Martin Inn 864-654-9020 The Madren Center 864-656-7155

Membership by the Numbers Individuals 193 Family 97 Life 25 Non-Resident 99 Young Alumni 45 Inactive 3 Legacy Life 12 TOTAL MEMBERSHIP 474   New Members   Dan & Marcia Radakovich Austin & Megan Castles William & Carrie Ratterree Member Resignations Jacob Wisniewski Truman Watson Kevin Kelly Richard & Laura Shick Julie & David Shipley

UPCOMING EVENTS

August
01-02	CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
03	Course Closed
06	Vets Helping Vets (am shotgun)
10	Course Closed
15	Ping Fitting Day (10-2)
17	Course Closed
19	First Day Fall Semester Classes
23	Tiger Classic Practice Rounds
24	Clemson Women Tiger Classic (36 holes)
29	Kappa Sigma Reunion (pm shotgun)
31	Course Closed / Shop Open

September
07	Course Open 11am
11	Home Football Friday
12	Ga. Southern AT Clemson (7:30pm)
14	Arco Tournament (AM Shotgun)
17	Clemson Habitat Tournament (PM Shotgun)
18	Home Football Friday
19	UNC at Clemson (Noon)
21	Course Closed: Maintenance
28	Mountains Tour (AM Times)
28-29	Junior Club Championship
29	GA Seniors Tournament

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Golf Pro News

Brent Jessup, PGA Head Golf Professional

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31st Annual Club Champions

Congratulations to Ron Schroder and Mary Brock for their recent victories in your 31st annual stroke play club championship held the first weekend of August. Mr. Schroder posted rounds of 69+70= 139 for a five-stroke victory over Raymond Wooten.
Mrs. Brock collected her fifth straight women’s stroke play championship. Michael Hall won the men’s hybrid division, and Jack Mansmann took the white tee title. Thanks to everyone who played.

Home Football Friday / Free-For-All Tee times

After a successful trial run last football season, we will again implement our “Free for All” tee time access for MEMBERS ONLY two weeks in advance of each home football Friday this fall.
There will be NO MEMBER GROUP blocked tee times on any home football Fridays. This will allow all (480) MEMBERS equal access (at midnight) to reserve ONE tee time for home football Fridays two weeks prior.
You will need to access the “MEMBER PORTAL” online to reserve a tee time (at or just after) midnight two weeks prior. Please note that each member is limited to one tee time during any three-hour period (E.g., 8am & 11am, 9am & 12pm, etc.).

If you have questions, please ask so you fully understand the process. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

“Free for All” Portal Opens	Home Football Fridays	Opponent
August 28	September 11	Ga. Southern
September 4	September 18	UNC
September 18	October 2	Miami
October 2	October 16	Charleston So.
October 9	October 23	Va. Tech
October 30	November 13	Ga. Tech
November 13	November 27	South Carolina

Match Play Updates

Thanks to everyone for keeping this season-long event moving along. Two quarter-final matches need to be played this month, and then we will have only the final matches in each division to finish up by the end of September. If you are still competing, call your next opponent and get that match played.

 Junior Club Championship

The annual Junior Club Championship will take place on Monday and Tuesday, September 28 & 29. Tee times for this two-day, nine-hole daily event will begin at 6:00pm both days. There are three age divisions: 15-17, 12-14, and 11-Under. There is no entry fee for this event, but one parent must be present to chaperone their junior player. Trophies are awarded to the winner of each division. The sign-up deadline is Saturday, September 26th. Call the golf shop to sign up.

 Interclub Update

Both your senior and super senior teams have made the playoffs and will play their first-round matches later this month. Congratulations to Captain Miller and Captain Mansmann. Let’s make it to the Pinehurst finals!

Member Charge Reminder

We are experiencing an increase in food and beverage member charge tickets being returned from the beverage carts, Lucky Duck and Sole’ with illegible member signatures and membership numbers scribbled on them. Please help reduce these occurrences by printing legibly your name and member-ship number on the charge tickets.
Also, reminding your server (in advance) of your member discount will expedite the process when you have finished your meals. Thanks for your assistance.

Membership Directory Reminder

Recently, you received an email requesting that you update and confirm your member information for our membership directory. Please help get this project completed as soon as possible by returning the requested information form.

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Golf Superintendent News

Don Garrett, CGCS — Course Superintendent

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July Status

July has been a good month. Everything healed up well after aerification in June. The weather has been good, and we’ve lost very little time to rain.
Later in the month, we began our annual mowing down of the natural areas. Some of these we will be preparing for reseeding in September.
We’ve also been doing a lot of post-emergent weed control, since pre-emergent herbicides don’t seem as effective. We are especially targeting sedge and dallisgrass, which are two of the toughest weeds to control.
Mid-month, Environmental Landscapes were here to prep and sod areas on holes 2 & 16. These are areas where we had removed overgrown trees and could no longer maintain turf due to excessive shade.

August Goals

We will be aggressively grooming and managing the putting surfaces this month. Greens will be lightly verticuted and topdressed weekly and will be groomed with the greens mowers daily. Growth regulator applications will be made every 10-14 days.
Tees, fairways and roughs will continue to receive growth regulator applications every 21-28 days. Growth regulators help to manage excess growth of the bermudagrass during this high growth period, while also tightening up the turf and enhancing the surface and reducing scalping.
Following the Clemson women’s golf team event on August 24th, we plan to do a micro tine aerification of greens, which should have a minimal effect on playability.
On Monday, August 31st, we will be applying our fall fertilizer course-wide. This fertilizer includes significant potassium to help the turf harden off before dormancy. All nitrogen in this product is slow release, so it will feed slowly and consistently through the remainder of the summer and fall until dormancy without a flush of growth.

Wasps in Bunkers

I’ve been asked recently about the wasps in some of the bunkers. This question comes up every year about this time. The wasps are known as Cicada Killer Wasps. While menacing-looking, they are very docile.
These wasps burrow into the sand, creating chambers for their prey. They like sand because it is easier to dig than clay. The female then captures and stings a Cicada, which paralyzes it (the males do not have a stinger). They then drag the Cicada into the burrow and lay their eggs on the body of the Cicada. The eggs hatch in a few days and feed on the body of the Cicada.
Cicada killers do not sting humans. By stinging something other than a Cicada, they lose the ability to reproduce. They are considered beneficial because they kill cicadas that feed on and damage deciduous trees.
These insects are difficult to control. One can try to pump insecticide into their burrows, but I have found this ineffective. The most effective control method I have used is swatting them out of the air with a tennis racquet.
I have worked on golf courses for the last 44 years, and every course I have worked at has had Cicada Killer Wasps. I know of no instance where a person has been stung. You can read more here: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/cicada-killer-wasp

Summer Staff

We are fortunate to have another excellent crew this summer. Finding people to get up early, be at work by 6am, work in the heat and humidity, and work Saturday and Sunday mornings every other weekend is a challenge.
If you are out playing over the next couple of weeks and run into one of our staff members, I’d encourage you to say hello and thank them for their efforts this summer. They deserve it.

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FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Operating Hours: Pro-Shop: Monday: 11 am-7 pm Tuesday-Sunday: 7:30 am-7 pm Practice Range: Closed Mondays, Tuesday-Sunday: 8:45 am-4 pm (Weather permitting)   Key Contacts: Head Golf Professional Brent Jessup, 864-656-7516 Course Superintendent Don Garrett, 864-656-1814 Accounting Azenda Thompson, 864-656-0595 Golf Pro-Shop 864-656-0236 Solé On The Green 864-656-7444 The Martin Inn 864-654-9020 The Madren Center 864-656-7155

Membership by the Numbers Individuals 194 Family 99 Life 25 Non-Resident 100 Young Alumni 45 Inactive 2 Legacy Life 12 TOTAL MEMBERSHIP 477   New Members   Keith Tener Brody Smith Rick & Jennifer Bagby Glenn & Kit Batson Richard & Karen Ware Member Resignations Ron Thomas Jack McGregor Grayson Bailes Jeremy & Shawna Rogers

UPCOMING EVENTS

July
04	Red-White-Blue Event
06	Course Closed / Shop Open
13	Course Closed / Shop Open
18-19	Clemson Women’s Golf Academy
20	Course Closed / Shop Open
23	SC Senior Golfers (am shotgun)
25-26	Hurricane Junior Tour (am times)
27	Course Closed / Shop Open

August
01-02	CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
03	Course Closed / Shop Open
06	Vets Helping Vets (am shotgun)
10	Course Closed / Shop Open
15	Ping Fitting Day
17	Course Closed / Shop Open
23	Tiger Invitational Practice Rounds
24	Clemson Tiger Women’s Classic
29	Kappa Sigma (pm shotgun)
31	Course Closed / Shop Open

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Golf Pro News

Brent Jessup, PGA Head Golf Professional

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Red-White-Blue 4^th

In celebration of July 4^th, we will host a Captain’s Choice 18-hole scramble on Saturday morning, July 4^th. Play begins with 9am tee time starts. Members sign up individually, and teams will be determined by handicap index and paired accordingly. Each team will play (6) holes from the RED tees, (6) holes from the WHITE tees, and (6) holes from the BLUE /purple tees. Entry fee is $20 per player, plus cart fees. Deadline for entry is Friday, July 3^rd at noon. Since most folks have evening plans, there will be no post-golf social for this event. Winners will receive golf shop credits.

31^st Annual CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

The 31^st annual Club Championship will take place on Saturday & Sunday, August 1 & 2. The entry fee is $20 per player. This is a two-day, 18 holes per day, stroke play, NO HANDICAPS event. Members will compete only against other members playing from the same set of tees. The tee flights will be: ORANGE (Championship), Purple/White Hybrid, White, and Red (Women’s Championship). There is no gold (senior) tee competition since the Senior Club Championship is held later in October. Sign up in the golf shop by the July 30^th deadline. Defending champions are: Raymond Wooten and Mary Brock.

Member-Guest Pass Cards

Be on the lookout for your 2026-2027 Member-Guest Pass Card. They were mailed this past week via the US Postal Service. For our newer members, this card allows you to bring THREE guests (annually) to play for only a cart fee. Please review the day and time restrictions listed on the back of the card. The card is valid weekdays any time and after 2pm on weekends (F, S, S) and holidays. It is not valid on home football weekends (F, S, S). You must present the card for validation when you bring your guests and you must play with them. All 2025-2026 cards have now expired and are no longer valid.

It is a good idea to store the card in a safe place. Lost cards will not be replaced. Don’t wait until June 2027 to use them; they tend to get lost the longer you hold them.

 Hurricane Junior Tour Seeking Volunteers

Once again this month (July 25-26), we are hosting the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. We will need shuttle driver volunteers to move these young golfers around the course on Saturday and Sunday. If you are able to volunteer a few hours either day, please contact the golf shop for an assignment. A sign-up sheet is also posted in the shop for you to sign up.

 Match Play Reminder

 Quarter-final matches are due to be completed by July 19^th. Please contact your next opponent and get that match played! Thanks for your diligence in keeping this event moving along toward

completion by the end of summer.

Member-Member Results

     Congratulations to Joel Fickes & Tom Teasley for winning the gross division and Dave Carney & Tom Turpin for winning the net division of the Member-Member championship last month. Twenty teams competed in the multi-format event on Father’s Day weekend. Thanks to everyone for playing. We hope to increase the size of the field again next year. Congratulations also to all the individual format winners from each set of tees. Over half the teams won some division and shop credits!

Interclub Update

Both of your senior and super senior interclub teams are in position to make the playoffs later this month. Both squads have 3-2 records so far this season. The senior team is leading their “pod” with

209.5 points. The super senior team trails Cobbs Glenn GC by 3.5 points going into the final regular season match later this month. Big NIL bonus money is at stake for our captains! (LOL). Bring them home victorious, Captain Mansmann and Captain Miller.

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Golf Superintendent News

Don Garrett, CGCS — Course Superintendent

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June Status

We had a very successful aerification week, completing all greens, collars and fairways as planned. The weather was in our favor as well. It was dry except for one shower that slowed us for a few hours, and the temperatures were mild, staying in the mid-80s all week. The somewhat cooler temperatures make a big difference to our staff, who worked from sunup to sundown all week to get all the work done. All in all, an almost perfect week.

For the greens, we used a 1/2-inch hollow magnum quad tine, set on 1.5-inch centers to a depth of 2.5 inches. The plugs were cleaned up to remove this organic matter, then topdressed with sand that was brushed into the holes. The practice green was double aerified. We went over the green once, cleaned it up, filled the holes with sand and then repeated this process. I felt this was necessary to help break up anything layering related to sodding this green. This will help to break this layering up and get the roots moving deeper into the soil. It will take a little longer to heal up, but once it does, I think it will be much better in the long run. We did not perform the Dryject procedure like we have done the last 2 years. The Dryject injects sand into the root zone. I wanted to see if the 2 micro tine aerifications we have started performing in April and August might replace it. But I’m already a little skeptical and have pre-booked the Dryject contractor for next year.

Expect a 28-day healing period before the greens are fully recovered. As they begin to recover, we will begin lowering the mowing height back down, begin brushing and grooming daily, applying growth regulator, lightly topdressing and verticutting every 7-14 days. All these processes will help to smooth the greens and increase ball roll. For the fairways, we core aerified with a 13/16-inch tine, the first step in our 9-step process. The cores are then swept up and removed. Then, the fairways are double verticut. The debris from the verticut process is then vacuumed up and removed. The fairway is then brushed to stand up any remaining tissue. Then it is mowed in a circular fashion with a mower set very low to scalp this material off. The fairway is then blown off. Next, it is mowed again in a standard 12-6 direction and blown off one final time. The fairways are recovering rapidly and should be back to normal in a couple of weeks.

We accomplished quite a bit of work over 5 days, and I am appreciative of my staff, many of whom worked 15-hour days, from sunup at 6am to sundown at 9pm. And as I say every year, I know it disrupts playability for a few weeks, but the work we do over this one week has a lot to do with the condition of the course for the other 51 weeks of the year.

July Plans

As mentioned above, we will be working to assist the greens’ recovery and get them back in shape as quickly as possible.

On Monday, July 6, we will be verticutting the tees and collars, weather permitting.

Also in July, we will be cutting down the natural areas. The “Turnip” patches on holes 2, 5 & 6 will have run their course. We will cut them back and then get them ready to reseed about September 1^st. The fescue areas will be cut back and sprayed for weeds. The lower 9 fairway will be aerified again and topdressed as we continue to work on sand capping this area. The rest of the month consists of lots of routine mowing. This is also the month when many of our staff take vacation time.

Bleached White Turf

In early July, you may notice some spots around the course where the grass has a bleached look and appears to be white. This is from an herbicide product called Pylex. Pylex is very effective against the troublesome weed goosegrass. We have some spots of goosegrass that seem to be resistant to some other commonly used

herbicides. These spots are primarily areas we sodded at some point, and I suspect the resistant plants or seed came in with the sod. Thus, the need to try Pylex. The bleaching effect becomes apparent 3-4 days after application, peaks at 7-10 days and is usually fully recovered by 14 days. The 2 largest areas you will see are around the 7^th and 13^th greens.

In addition, we will be spraying some more traditional post-emergence herbicides. This will give the traditional yellowing/browning look to the turf with recovery in 7-10 days.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Operating Hours: Pro-Shop: Monday: 11 am-7 pm Tuesday-Sunday: 7:30 am-7 pm Practice Range: Closed Mondays, Tuesday-Sunday: 8:45 am-4 pm (Weather permitting)   Key Contacts: Head Golf Professional Brent Jessup, 864-656-7516 Course Superintendent Don Garrett, 864-656-1814 Accounting Azenda Thompson, 864-656-0595 Golf Pro-Shop 864-656-0236 Solé On The Green 864-656-7444 The Martin Inn 864-654-9020 The Madren Center 864-656-7155

Membership by the Numbers Individuals 193 Family 96 Life 25 Non-Resident 101 Young Alumni 47 Inactive 3 Legacy Life 12 TOTAL MEMBERSHIP 477   New Members   Member Resignations Mike & Denise Schlitt Bob & Cindy Starnes Karen McCauley

UPCOMING EVENTS

June
01	Course Closed / Shop Open
04	Super Senior Interclub Match (am times)
06-10	Clemson Golf Camp Week 1
08	Course Closed / Shop Open
11	Senior Interclub Match  (am times)
13	PING Fitting & Demo Day
13-17	Clemson Golf Camp Week 2
15	Course Closed / Shop Open
16	Senior Interclub Match  (am times)
18	Super Senior Interclub Match (am times)
20	MEMBER-MEMBER
22-26	Course Closed Annual FULL COURSE MAINTENANCE WEEK
27	Course Open (Recovery Conditions)
29	Course Closed / Shop Open

July
04	Red-White-Blue Event
06	Course Closed / Shop Open
13	Course Closed / Shop Open
18-19	Clemson Women’s Golf Academy
20	Course Closed / Shop Open
23	SC Senior Golfers (am shotgun)
25-26	Hurricane Junior Tour (am times)
27	Course Closed / Shop Open

Brent Jessup, PGA Head Golf Professional

One Day Member-Member: June 20

It’s time again for our annual multi-format Member-Member on Saturday, June 20. Format is 6 holes captain’s choice, 6 holes alternate shot, and 6 holes best ball NET. Each team member must play from the same color tees. Sign up by tee color and compete only against others from the same set of tees. Entry fee is $80 and includes golf, prize fund, and snack & sip following play at Solé. (Cart fees not included). If you don’t have a partner, let us know, and we will assist you in locating a new friend! We start on Saturday with a 9 am modified shotgun start before it gets too hot. Sign up now in the golf shop. Entry deadline is Thursday, June 18.

Course Maintenance

The Walker Course (golf course and range) will be closed for our annual aerification maintenance week, June 22-26. While the golf course is closed, the golf shop will be open from 9 am to 5 pm each day for shopping and tee time reservations. Since this maintenance is part of our “normal” operations, we do not honor reciprocal receipts from other courses while we are closed for this maintenance.

Clemson Golf Camps

Be aware that there are two weeks of Clemson Golf Camp this month. Tee times will end at 3 pm Saturday-Tuesday each week of camp (June 6-10 and 13-17). Additionally, the practice range will be CLOSED on those two Tuesday afternoons for camp use as well. Each Wednesday morning, the camp tournament is held, and there are no tee times available until after 2 pm. Our regular member groups will begin play at 12 noon with time blocks until 2 pm. Please check with your group leader for the exact tee times for those two Wednesdays.

 Match Play Reminder

 If you have not completed your first-round match, June 21 is the deadline. Please call your opponent and get that match scheduled. Thanks for keeping this event moving along on time!

 Ping Fitting Day

 We will host our third PING Fitting/Demo Day on Saturday, June 13. Please call the golf shop to sign up for an appointment between 10:30 am and 2:00 pm. Lots of good equipment to test and buy!

Pool News

     With the recent increase in memberships, along with strong hotel occupancy, we are currently experiencing higher-than-normal demand for pool & cabana use. To ensure an enjoyable experience for everyone, we are unable to accommodate private pool events at this time. Our priority is to offer a comfortable environment for all our guests.

     Walker Course members are welcome to enjoy small, informal celebrations in line with current pool policies, which allow up to four guests per membership (two complimentary and two paid passes). However, we are not able to host larger gatherings or reserve pool space.  

    You may bring a cake or dessert for such a gathering, but please continue to follow the food & beverage policies outlined in your Member Agreement Form. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation, and we look forward to continuing to provide a positive experience for everyone. Thanks!

Ron Schroder & Bill Harley win Member-Invitational Title

Congratulations to Ron Schroder & Bill Harley for taking the gross division title for your annual Member-Invitational held last month. Wes Carter & Todd Trotter took the “net” honors. Dan Waldsmith & Joe Schosky won the P/W “B” flight net, and Jack Mansmann & Gary Hannah took the White flight net title. April Hart and Jenn Callahan won the women’s division.  

     The Friday night low country boil feast, and Skins Game was a huge success with (3) skins won and several teams with identical nine-hole scores for their first round. Hank Foy & Blake Hodge won the short game contest Saturday afternoon before the awards were presented at Solé. Thanks to the (27) teams that participated in this year’s event. If you missed it, start planning for 2027 (May 14-15).

Don Garrett, CGCS — Course Superintendent

May Update

May was cool and dry for the first three weeks, and the Bermudagrass just didn’t want to grow. But in the latter part of the month, the nights got warmer, the rain came, and it really took off. The 6 inches of rain we received from the 21st to the 29th kept us from mowing fairways for nearly a week. But we are caught up now, have applied the growth regulator, and the fairways look great.

Due to the lack of growth, we postponed the aerification of the tees until June 1.

Work completed:

• Applied fire ant bait course-wide.

• Refreshed the sand in several bunkers.

• Made the first app of growth regulator fairways to improve turf density and for clipping control.

• On the greens, we topdressed twice, applied gypsum, and made all scheduled spray apps of fungicide, wetting agent, and growth regulator.

• Made two sand topdressing applications to lower #9 fairway.

• Fertilized and applied pre-emergent to the driving range

June Plans

June is the month that we aerify the course. We will be closed June 22-26 to aerify greens and fairways. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate, and we will have a nice, warm, and dry week to complete this important work. Tees were done the week of June 1, having been postponed from May as mentioned above. In addition, we will be doing some project work during aerification week, weather permitting. The cart path at the #1 tee, where the irrigation work was done last winter, will be repaired.

Project on #4

This past winter, we removed a large poplar tree on number 4, just past the red tee. This tree was in bad shape. It had significant rotting at the base of the trunk, over 60% of the root system was compromised by the cart path, and the canopy had significant dieback. It was a clear hazard. The two understory trees were deformed from growing under and out from the poplar. Therefore, it was necessary to remove those as well. In their place, we have created a mound and planted lantana to add a little color and create pollinator habitat. Some sod was lifted to allow for better drainage of water off the cart path. Because of all the rain in the latter part of May, we were unable to get sod until the first week of June to wrap this project up.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Operating Hours: Pro-Shop: Monday: 11 am-7 pm Tuesday-Sunday: 7:30 am-7 pm Practice Range: Closed Mondays, Tuesday-Sunday: 8:45 am-4 pm (Weather permitting) Key Contacts: Head Golf Professional Brent Jessup, 864-656-7516 Course Superintendent Don Garrett, 864-656-1814 Accounting Azenda Thompson, 864-656-0595 Golf Pro-Shop 864-656-0236 Solé On The Green 864-656-7444 The Martin Inn 864-654-9020 The Madren Center 864-656-7155

Membership by the Numbers Individuals 191 Family 100 Life 25 Non-Resident 101 Young Alumni 47 Inactive 5 Legacy Life 12 TOTAL MEMBERSHIP 481   New Members   Member Resignations John Pantaloni David Nadler Ned Roseberry Geoffrey Boyer Luke & Lindsey Hannon Rick & Cheryl McRae

UPCOMING EVENTS

May

Date	Event
01	New Rates and Dues
02	George Strait Concert
04	Blue Ridge Co Op Invitational (9am shotgun)
05	Regional High School Tournament (PM tee times)
06	Clemson Chemical Engineering Outing (PM tee times)
07	CAFLS Tournament (9:30am shotgun)
11	Course Closed for Maintenance
14	Senior Interclub Match (AM tee times)
15-16	MEMBER INVITATIONAL
18	Open Monday (11AM)
19	PING Demo Day (PM)
25	Open Monday (11AM)
28	Mizuno Fitting Day (1PM-5PM)
30	Arthrex Corporate Outing (2PM shotgun)

June

Date	Event
01	Course Closed / Shop Open
06-10	Clemson Golf Camp Week 1
08	Course Closed / Shop Open Senior Interclub Match (AM tee times)
13	Ping Demo Day (10AM)
13-17	Clemson Golf Camp Week 2
15	Course Closed / Shop Open Senior Interclub Match (AM tee times) Super Senior Interclub Match (AM tee times)
20	MEMBER-MEMBER
22-26	Course Closed Annual Full Course Maintenance Course Open (Recovery Conditions)
29	Course Closed / Shop Open

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GOLF PRO NEWS

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Brent Jessup, PGA Head Golf Professional

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Member Invitational

Our 30^th annual Member Invitational Championship will take place on Friday evening and Saturday morning (May 15/16).  Walker Course “members” may either invite a guest or play with another Walker Course member as their partner.  Both players must play from the same color tee markers and have a current GHIN handicap index to compete in the net division.

     Practice rounds are available Monday through Friday, the week before the tournament, for a cart fee charge only.  The first official function (Low Country Boil Cookout) gets underway on Friday afternoon at 5:30pm on the Solé patio for players only.  Following the “boil”, teams will be committee-paired to form a foursome for nine holes of “adventure golf.”  The best two (of four) scores “combined” on each hole will be the team score and will count as each individual team’s first round score.  In addition to the first-round score, adventure golf will feature a Cash Skins Game for those who wish to pony up $$.

     Saturday’s final round begins with a 9 am shotgun start.  Each team will play “best net” on the front nine and “best gross” on the back nine with full handicap stroke allocations.  Friday and Saturday rounds will be combined to determine the overall team score. 

     Following play on Saturday, a “team” short game contest will take place while scores being tallied.  The awards ceremony will take place in Solé On The Green with drinks and snacks.  Winners will be awarded in each tee division.  Entry fee is only $300 per team and includes everything except the practice round cart fees and the optional “Cash Skins Game” on Friday evening.

There is no tournament round on Sunday, but players are encouraged to stick around and play for an additional cart fee.  (Advanced tee time reservations are required.

Additional information is listed on the sign-up flyer in the golf shop.  We are limiting sign-ups to the first 36 teams.  Call the golf shop now to sign up!

Match Play

The final day to sign up for this year’s match play championship is May 3^rd.  First-round matches will be posted on May 5th, with a 4-week window for each match to be completed.  Call the golf shop to sign up.

Handicap Committee Report

At the April committee meeting, we reviewed reports detailing the timely posting of scores and a handicap analysis report on all members.  While there has been an improvement in the postings on the “day of play”, there are still a few who have difficulty remembering to post “day of.”  Your handicap index is recalculated after each round posted.  In the future, the committee will notify players who do not post at least 80% of the rounds on the day played.  A report has been posted in the golf shop showing the number of rounds for your review.

The committee is required to review all handicap indexes at least annually and make any adjustments highlighted during the review.  The most recent report recommended adjustments for 13 members.  After the committee’s review, no adjustments were deemed necessary.  Keep in mind the committee may run this report again and make adjustments as it deems necessary to reflect a player’s scoring potential.

The committee is aware of groups that use their own methods to calculate handicaps for group play.  However, some of their members play in other groups and events that use the GHIN system.  Therefore, those individuals need to post a score in GHIN regardless of the method used within that group.  If you have any questions or comments, you can reach the committee at:  Handicapcommittee.walkercourse@gmail.com

 Couples Twilight Winners

 Last month, the annual Couples Twilight was held, with Larry & Janal Walton teaming up with Arnold & Mary Brock to win with an even-par 36, taking a two-shot victory over the Jessups and Smiths.  Congratulations!

Directory Update

We are beginning the member directory update process and will email members to verify their contact information.  Please respond to the email even if no changes are needed.  With everyone’s prompt response, we hope to complete the update within the next couple of months.

Walker Course Newsletter

The Walker Course newsletters have been temporarily removed from our website due to new accessibility requirements at Clemson University.  We are working to have them added as soon as possible and will notify you once they are available online again.  We are sorry for the inconvenience!

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Daniel Waldsmith Hatcher Beach Anthony Craig John Frasier Brent Davis Amanda Regan Ryan Allen Bart Hardy Michael & Laurie Howley Greg & Debbie Johnson Tyler & Maggie Grisham Stephen & Beth Cothran Nicholas & Katie Reilly Mark & Lauren Todd

Burke & Suzanne George Mackenzie McCrary Jason Todd Evan McDow Markell Strang Kyle Cannon Kendall Thompson Will Lawson Jennifer Parker & Randy Coleman Mary Ann Sims & Jesse Tingle Dylan & MacKenzie Meyer Travis Furbee David & Donna Joye Tim & Sherri Guin

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SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

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Don Garrett, CGCS — Course Superintendent

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April Status

The first three weeks of April were very dry, as we endured a 40-day stretch without significant rain. The 2.5” we received last week of the month has perked things back up. The turf was really starting to show the effects of no rain, heavy traffic, and continued up-and-down temperature swings.

Work completed:

The mats were removed from the tees on holes 8 & 17. We were able to clean up the weed problem that had built up over time by leaving them dormant this winter.

The greens were micro core aerated on the 13^th.

All bunkers were edged.

Tees received an extra shot of fertilizer to help them recover from the wear and tear from record amounts of play.

Aerified and top-dressed the new practice green. As I mentioned last month, we will be doing this frequently this growing season as part of the growing process.

Two trees struck by lightning, one between 12 & 13 and one near the white tee on 16, were removed.

May Goals

During the month of May, we transition to more summer routine maintenance, which means lots more mowing of tees, fairways and roughs as the nights warm up and the bermudagrass starts to take off. In addition, we will be treating the course for fire ants.

On Monday, May 11, we are scheduled to aerify the tees. Hopefully, we get some warm nights, the fertilizer kicks in, and they recover quickly. As beat up as they are, we may consider postponing this work until they are growing more actively.

We will also be getting a little more aggressive with greens maintenance. We will be grooming the surface more often and begin top-dressing regularly.

The greens will also be treated for nematodes in early May.

We are also experiencing significant staff turnover. This is typical as we transition from the Spring semester into summer. However, this year, we have more than usual. There will be many new faces on the course, and we will train them as quickly as possible.

5,796 Rounds Played This Month. Last year, I wrote that we had set a record for rounds in one month, with 5,321. Well, this April, we bested that by over 400, a new record. Ball marks, divots and especially cart traffic are evident. Some areas are so worn that they will require re-sodding. As we did last year, we will utilize some rolling cart restrictions. On a day where it would otherwise be the 90-degree rule, we will be Cart Path Only on a couple of holes to give the turf a break. It’s amazing how the turf bounces back after just a few days with no traffic. You can also help by properly using the 90-degree rule. Many golfers think the 90-degree rule means that they can drive wherever on the fairways.  You see everyone enter the same spot at the beginning of the fairway and then exit at one area just short of the green, which causes significant wear and tear there. If you are unsure exactly what the 90-degree rule means, or just need a refresher, Google “90-degree rule for golf carts”. There are many explanations and videos that cover it.

Congratulations to our Graduates

Congratulations to our three graduating seniors, Cauthen Best, Logan Denton, and Charlie Gilsenan. I appreciate all their hard work and service to the Walker Course over the last two years and wish them success as they begin their careers.

Congratulations to Brian Gosnell

Congratulations to Senior Assistant Superintendent Brian Gosnell. Brian has accepted the position as Golf Course Superintendent at Timberlake Country Club in Chapin, SC. Brian has been an assistant at the Walker Course for the last three years, as well as working on the crew while a student at Clemson. April was a big month for Brian as he also became engaged.

Please join me in thanking Brian for his service to the Walker Course and in wishing him success in his new job.

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FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Operating Hours: Pro-Shop: Monday: 11 am-7 pm Tuesday-Sunday: 7:30 am-7 pm   Practice Range: Closed Mondays, Tuesday-Sunday: 8:45 am-4 pm (Weather permitting)   Key Contacts: Head Golf Professional Brent Jessup, 864-656-7516 Course Superintendent Don Garrett, 864-656-1814 Accounting Azenda Thompson, 864-656-0595 Golf Pro-Shop 864-656-0236 Sole On The Green 864-656-7444 The Martin Inn 864-654-9020 The Madren Center 864-656-7155

Membership by the Numbers Individuals 190 Family 102 Life 25 Non-Resident 104 Young Alumni 48 Inactive 6 Legacy Life 12 TOTAL MEMBERSHIP 487 New Members See page 4 Member Resignations Jimmy Dean