Month: September 2026

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