Winter Tee Time Policy

I hope this finds you well!

Winter weekend tee time procedures!

During the winter months at Valencia Country Club we face the challenges of frost delays and less hours of daylight. In the past we changed our weekend booking policy, and due to its success, we plan on continuing the effort. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but by implementing this policy we are able to accommodate more member play while minimizing your waiting times. This policy will start December 6th, 2008 and continue through the spring.

The following policies apply in the event of frost and non-frost course conditions:

1. No tee times will be taken for the weekends.
2. On the day call the Pro Shop at 661.287.1880 beginning at 6:00.

If there is Frost:
3. We will offer split tee times off the 1st and 10th tees, starting at 9:30 and continuing until 11:30.
4. The Pro Shop will give you a tee time and ask the names of players in your group. No shows will be charged a cart fee. There will be no guest play before 11:00 a.m.
5. Singles will be allowed to make a tee time. The Pro Shop will pair you up with three other players.

If there is No Frost:
3. There will be no tee times assigned.
4. As soon as 3 of the 4 players in your group check in you will be allocated a tee time.
5. Singles will not be given a tee time, but will either join existing groups or be paired together to form a group.
6. There will be no guest play before 11:00 a.m.

Unfortunately, during this time there will be No Ball Toss, however, we will make every effort to pair up singles into full groups. If you have any questions about this or any other policy, please feel free to come by my office or give me a call at 661.287.1880. Thank you for your understanding and I hope you all have a great winter.

Sincerely Yours,

Craig S. Cliver

Club Fitting

One of the most important improvements in the game of golf over the past couple of decades is Club Fitting. When i was in driver's education, after i had wound up the engine in my model T, i'd sit in the car and adjust all the mirrors and seat. This was important, but not necessary to driving the car. Driving a car isn't dependent on seeing out your rear view mirror or even being able to see over the dashboard, but it does improve your chances of getting to the destination safely. Club Fitting is very similar. I know many of you are asking what i've been drinking. Club Fitting isn't necessary to you ability to play golf. It might have an effect on you being able to hit the ball over the water safely. Club Fitting has become so advanced that now golfers fit their golf ball to their clubs and their playing conditions. First it is important that your clubs fit your game.
Club Fitting kills 2 birds with 1 stone. First it gives you the right equipment for your swing and second it gives you the confidence that your clubs fit your swing. Fitting only should take about 15 minutes. When you are fit for clubs the first thing we do is check the length in a dynamic setting. We want you to hit shots and find the most comfortable and consistent length for your swing. Length is the most critical factor of centeredness of contact which is one of the three laws that affect distance. There are only three laws that affect distance, and they are centeredness of contact, swing speed and angle of approach. A golf ball hit 1/4 of an inch off center with a 5 iron will lose 8% of its yardage. After we have measured length we focus on lie angle. Lie angle is tremendously important in direction. There are only two laws that affect direction, clubface direction at impact and path according to that clubface. Half of that is based in lie angle. The more upright (toe up) your club is at impact the further left the shot will travel (for right handed golfers), the more flat (toe down) the further right. Length of shaft has an effect on lie, that is why we measure length first. The 3rd major thing we measure is flex of the shaft. Shaft flex really is a preference. The stiffer, the better direction and shorter you will hit the ball. The softer flex, the further you will hit the ball at the cost of control. Feel is probably the biggest factor in the shaft flex. Club Fitting as in life will make you more comfortable and that should directly correlate to confidence. This saturday we will be on the range with all of our equipment. If you are interested in new equipment or just want to check if your current equipment is fitted for you please stop by.

Jasper Park Lodge

I have made it back. I did have a couple of people try to contact "the Governator" to shut down the California border when i was on my way back in. Unfortunately the non partisan state government was too busy talking about an endangered gnat to make a decision on me coming back into the state...sorry to some of you. My trip was fun and very educational. Jasper Park was beautiful. A great place to bring a family and mountain bike or canoe the lake. There were hiking trails everywhere and all sorts of wildlife. In the midst of the city there was a giant elk. I couldn't believe it, but people were within 10 feet of this once wild animal that has become quite domesticated. We played 45 holes at Jasper Park, they have a fantastic 18 hole course. We arrived Wednesday after the Columbian Icefield and decided to tee off at about 9:00 at night. We walked off the 9 holes at 10:30 and i went straight to bed. I never had played golf past my bedtime. We did go into town on Thursday night and i think i found my next career field. I did turn in an application and am waiting for their reply. If i put you down as a reference, i would appreciate the embellishment of my abilities. The photo of me is on the 15th tee looking across the lake to the fairway of the par 4. The golf course and Jasper Park Lodge surround this lake and it is the clearest lake i think i have ever seen. The beauty of these 2 National Forests in Alberta Canada were amazing. If you ever want to get away i highly recommend both destinations. I hope you have enjoyed my trip to the great north as much as i have writing about them. Be blessed.

The Columbian Icefields

We travelled from Banff to Jasper yesterday through the Columbian Icefields. Along the way we tried to stump our driver Frederick to no avail. The guy was much smarter than a 5th grader. I found out so much information that if i don't write some of it down my brain might combust. I guess that when you see valleys between mountains if they are shaped like a "V" then water caused the erosion. If they are shaped like a "U" then it was a glacier and this on this trip we were on a glacier hunt. The good news is glaciers don't move fast and they stand out against the mountains so they weren't too hard for us to find...plus we had Freddy. The top left photo is the beginning of the ice fields. I guess glaciers are like rivers and the icefields are like the lakes. The icefield pushes the glacier because of the weight of snow and ice accumulated. It just pushes the bottom and that forms the glacier which we get to see the tow of. Top right is a picture of me looking down into Lake Hector. I guess the English hired this Hector guy to discover Canada, kind of like Lewis and Clark. Just never heard of a guy named Hector in Canada...let alone being one of the countries great adventurer. I guess Canada was much bigger than he thought so he only got half way done. The bottom two photos are the Columbia IceFields. We were fortunate enough to walk on the icefield. We took a ride up in these massive monster trucks. I finally have walked on water. All of you that didn't think i could do it :-p

The Canadian Rockies

Ok folks,

I am writing to you from the Fairmont Banff Springs, God's Country. I can't believe the views. If you are interested in breathing you will love this place. I flew into Calgary, 3 hours from LAX, and then about an hour drive up the mountain. I am apart of the PGA Ambassador's program. They are introducing us to the types of trips that are available to the Membership of Clubs like Valencia. I think we need to figure out a trip up here. If not with me take a loved one and enjoy this. The golf is world class, actually played 9 holes with hickory equipment yesterday...what a treat. The three photo's you see, one is from my room, not a bad view eh. If you notice i have already picked up the language, i will rent Strange Brew when i get back to America. The other is me actually hitting a fairway in front of the Castle they call our hotel. The Hotel was designed after the castle Wallace wanted but i guess never got. You know him as Braveheart, every time before i go to bed i open my window and yell "FREEDOM." I know i am an obnoxious American, i don't really do that. The other last shot is me posing on our 9th hole with a hickory club in my hand, yes and i did tuck my pants into my socks, it only seemed appropriate to wear knickers during this experience. We are headed up to the Glacier fields today and then to the Fairmont Jasper. Stay tuned for more of "Roughing It," by me :(. I am too blessed to be able to do this.

Weekend Release 6/24/08

Craig’s Weekend Release Program
For the week of June 24th thru June 29th

Ohmigod...i was hoping hell would freeze over and not envelope the Santa Clarita Valley. This is absolutely ridiculous. I don’t know how to survive in this heat. I put on Sunscreen Saturday and it started to boil. I have started to develop my own sunspots. If I were to spontaneously combust it would be a cool down from the current state I am in. I am serious I started a fire in my fireplace at home to cool off the apartment. I actually think it got so hot this weekend I saw Satan leave; he just couldn’t take the heat. Good news is it is supposed to cool down this week, only in the low hundreds. Whoever settled in the Santa Clarita Valley must not have been human. Conveniently it is a dry heat, whatever that means.
This week should be better than last and there is nothing going on to stop you from coming out. Ladies have the day on Tuesday from 7:30-9:00. Robert has done a small Tyne Aerification on the greens to get some air blowing through the root system. In my years of studying entomology, herbivores and how to grow grass I have no idea what roots even are. It all looks green to me. I was thinking he should grow bigger trees to make more shade and then that would keep the grass cooler, but what do I know. I actually saw a couple of Members walking the course last week, Thursday to be exact. It was 112 out here. I immediately called the nearby asylum, so if you don’t see Mr. Grossman around that is why.
Eriko had a great week with her sale of Fairway and Green. This week under much heavy handed suggesting she has set up a table with EP Pro on it. Ladies and some of you men that like women’s clothing (I didn’t use any names D.K.), come out here and take advantage of the sale.
Congratulations to Nick Delio and all the hard work. Nick won the California State Amateur at Lakeside Golf Club this weekend. He lapped the field and won 7 up in the 36 hole final. Congratulations also to Joe Greiner and John McArthur who also qualified for the event. Nick’s prodigious yardage turned Lakeside into a pitch and putt as he does to most courses. Pretty impressive Nick, it couldn’t happen to a nicer young man.
I saw a report on CNN this week that if the weather stays like this the dinosaurs might come back. Rent Jurassic Park, I think it is a documentary on how to survive a dinosaur attack; it could come in useful. I hope everybody has a great week.

Schedule of events for the week of June 24th thru June 29th:
Tuesday: Ladies Day from 7:30-9:00
Wednesday: Open Play
Thursday: Open Play
Friday: Tee Times All Day
Saturday: Ball Toss 8:30-9:00, Tee Times after 11:00
Sunday: Ball Toss 8:30-9:00, Tee Times after 11:00

Your Friend,

Craig Cliver

A Busy Spring

Well, this spring has been awesome around the Club and on the road. Robert and I took a group to Atlanta in April to play a couple of the Heritage Golf Group courses in the area. There were 14 of us and pictures are to follow. I will post those that keeps this blog rated pg-13. We finished the week on the impossible TPC Sugarloaf where our Superintendent shot a mean 74. Unfortunately it was too little too late for Hertz's Horses as Cliver's Clowns prevailed. The bet was dinner of our choice and i think that they are in the honor of the elections, lobbying, for In and Out while the Clowns are pretty set on something a bit less pedestrian. Robert and I also had the pleasure of being hosted by Brian Fitzgerald and at&t for the Master's. Wow, i can't tell you how cool that was. I think that we kept under the radar and are still allowed to go back. Robert did try to streak a couple of times but i kept him under control. If you haven't gone and you are into golf you really should treat yourself to the hospitality of the South and the area of Augusta. I did change my Sprint Cell phone to an at&t because of the treatment of that company and their commitment to sport. I was thinking of a tatoo, but that might be overkill. I will somehow fit the letters at&t into my children's names if i ever have them. I hope this finds everybody well on this Mother's Day and feel free to comment as i promise to update this more regularly. Be blessed.

Breaking the Ice

If you are reading this, my first entry into this blog has been successful. Spring has sprung at Valencia CC and so have allergies. With allergy season comes the President's Cup and the Invitations to the Classic. The President's Cup tees of its 4 month season on April 1st. All first round matches must be done by the 20th of April. Invitations for the Classic went out last week and must be in between the 1st and 15th of April. If we have more invitations then space we will use the participation points from 2007 season. Please get your invitations in before the deadline.