The Weekend Release

Craig’s Weekend Release Program
For the week of March 29th thru April 3rd


Spring?;
Well, as many of you experienced last week the Valencia Country Club golf course survived Santa Clarita’s 20 year storm.  The course did dry out and we actually were able to get handicap flags out this weekend.  Jesus and his staff did a phenomenal job with the conditions.  We are looking for a good week of weather this week.  It’s looking like we will have mid 70’s and 80’s this week.  That would be too normal, i am sure Mother Nature will cook up a little special something for us.  It looks to be a busy week, so please check out the stuff going on below or call the shop if you are planning on coming out to play.  Please bear with us. 

Spring Sales;
Starting April 1st Titleist will be offering buy 3 dozen personalized Pro V golf balls and get the 4th dozen free.  This program will only go from the 1st until the 18th. 

Eriko’s Weekly Sale is back!  This week, she is putting out Straight Down apparel and Cobra Equipment. Up to 60% off from the retail price.  For an example, Cobra ZL Driver will normally cost $340 member price, but the sale price is $275. Baffler Rail will normally go for $156 member price, the sale price is $130. (Inventory is limited, so be the first to take advantage to get these great prices) Please call the golf shop if you have any questions!

Tuesday;
The weather should be great and we start the week with a bang.  Tuesday is Ladies Day.  They have the tee starting at 9:00a.m.     

This week also signifies the week we start the President’s Cup Matches.  We almost filled out the field and i would imagine many of you will want to get your matches in this week.  Just know that when Regis tells you that to win your match you need to get your own cart for the match, just know that Regis hasn’t won a match since ’02, 1902.  We have over 120 Members signed up for this event, we have 75 carts...do the math.  Please get to know your opponent and share a cart...it’s about the brotherhood. 

Ladies Team Play will be starting at the end of the month, so there will be a team from Crystalaire teeing off between 11:00 and 11:30. 

We do have our Junior Long Term Athletic Development Program running from 3:30-4:30.  This program is directed towards children between the ages of 4-7 that might want to play golf.  Realistically this is one of the most impressionable time for youth to start picking up functional movement patterns.  It is like teach foreign languages.  Once a child starts learning them they are predisposed to learn others easier.  Please look at my blog for a more in depth description of this program.

Wednesday;
We are wide open on Wednesday.  We do have our Junior Long Term Athletic Development Program running from 3:30-4:30.  This program is directed towards children between the ages of 8-12 that might want to play golf, but for sure want to be active.  Please look at my blog for a more in depth description of this program. 

We have a Tournament Committee Meeting from 5:30 until 6:30 or 7:00.  If you have any interest in participating in this Committee, please send me an email.  We will be discussing “the Classic” Member Guest and are looking for some new participants.

Thursday;
Ok, i need your grace here.  In the midst of our disaster last weekend we had to postpone our Santa Clarita High School match.  We had it scheduled for the Monday after the storm but couldn’t keep it.  It is going to be this Thursday.  Competing will be Valencia, Hart, West Ranch, Golden Valley, Saugus and Canyon High Schools.  They will be sent out starting at 12:33 and going until about 2:00. 

The Weekend;
Friday should be great, call Tuesday and get your tee time.  Saturday afternoon we do have our Member Junior golf tournament.  This event is 9 holes starting at 2:00.  It is a great opportunity for you to come out and enjoy a relaxed event to share the afternoon with your child.  Please call the shop if you would like to sign up for this event.

Marvin will also be reviewing his Swing School Lesson from last week from 2:00 to 3:00.

Sunday we will be having a Bridal Show.  I will be out there telling them all not to do it, but you might see a bunch of brides and grooms looking around the Club in the afternoon.  Just though you might want to know. 



Schedule of events for the week of March 29th thru April 3rd:

Tuesday:  Ladies Day; Tee closed from 9:00 to 10:30. 
Wednesday:  Open Play
Thursday:  Santa Clarita High Schools, tee closed from 12:33 to 2:00; Open Play rest of the day.
Friday:  Open Play; Tee Times all day
Saturday: Member’s Open Play Before 11:00; Tee Times after 11:00; Member Junior 9 holes 2:00 Shotgun.
Sunday: Member’s Open Play Before 11:00; Tee Times after 11:00


Craig Cliver

The Aftermath

#2 Bunker...notice all the sand work that was done today

#3Pond...tons of silt but the shoreline is back

#4 Bunker...this job took most of the day

Well, we had some time to do some torrential clean-up today.  Sorry for the inconvenience of being closed but in all seriousness this course was more of a mud-bog than a golf course.  We have dried out a bit and look forward to play tomorrow...Mother Nature willing.  We look forward to seeing you all around the Club!  When you do come to the course, know that it will take some time for the conditions to get back to what we all expect.  The fairway bunkers on 4 and 1 have been contaminated...thank God they are already hazards.  The pond on #3 is full of silt, it looks like a bunker, you almost want to rake it.  It looks like we will be getting rain the rest of the week, so that should clean off all of our mud ridden cart paths.  It also might help wash the silt down towards the maintenance facility.  Just know that the approach shots on 1 and 10 will be soggy for some time.  That should encourage you to go for 1 in 2!  Come on SPRING!!!

#6...had pumps working most of the day

The 20 Year Storm

Debris left on the 3rd Tee

#4 Fairway Bunker...notice the No Parking Sign!

#2 Cart path and #3 Pond..overflowing

#4 Bathroom, the Mud was up to the water level this a.m.

Front of #6 Tee Box

Right Front of #10 Tee Box

Sunday left us with quite a bit of clean up.  We had 5 inches of rain in 7 hours.  The winds gusted up to 20 miles an hour.  We will be trying to make sense of this place for at least the next week.  In my career here at Valencia Country Club we will have to close the course just to clean up.  We just aren't prepared for weather like this in Southern California.  One of the fortunes that we deal with at Valencia Country Club is that we are on very fertile ground.  We are at the low part of the Santa Clarita Valley, where over 1000's of years our ground has become a giant compost heap.  The negative side of this is we are the last area to thaw during frost and every 20 years when there is a storm like this we deal with all of the storm drains emptying on our course.  There is a storm drain on the left of number 5 that goes under our course and empties below the driving range by the maintenance facility.  Well Sunday the grate that covered the drain filled and blocked the water from traveling under our course.  You will see in photos that we have a tremendous amount of silt on the fairways of 1 and 10 and also in the ponds between numbers 2 and 3.  We have ducks hanging out in the new water feature in front of number 6.  We did lose a large Eucalyptus on the 10th tee.  It is surprising that we had as little tree damage as we did.  The thing about trees growing on golf courses is we make it too easy for them to grow.  We don't challenge their roots to seek water at depth.  Due to the fact that we water the surface for grass, trees roots are shallow, so when we have wind on top of soft ground they often topple.  All this to say we have some work to do around the course and it looks like another storm is on it's way!  Welcome to spring!!

The Weekend Release

Craig’s Weekend Release Program
For the week of March 22nd thru March 27th

Course is Closed Tuesday March 22nd!!

Course Closure;
For all of you keeping score, Mother Nature-Infinity, Human’s-Zero. Sunday was the first day of spring on all the calendars around the world. Somebody forgot to tell that to the weather. On Sunday we had 5 inches of rain in a 7 hour period from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. I will be updating my blog with pictures, so hopefully by the time you get this you can go there and see the damage. The wind blew on an average of 15 miles per hour with guest up to 20 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Needless to say the damage was as extensive as i have seen on a golf course. The ponds on number 3 look like giant mud ponds. The bunkers on 4 fairway have been washed out. The bathroom behind the number 4 green was buried with 18 inches of mud when we arrived this morning. Again there will be pictures of all of this and more discussion on my blog. The runoff that ends up sitting on the 1st and 10th fairways is substantial. There is tons of silt built up and all of the fairway bunkers on 1 are being drained all day. We did lose a tree on 10. The tree on the right side of the tee box feel over the path and onto one of our irrigation control boxes. We don’t know the extent of the damage yet. The irrigation lake on 16 is to it’s limit and the overflow drain we built a year and a half ago is working very well. All this to say that the golf course will be closed tomorrow. The staff needs to rebuild a bunch of the bunkers and clean up the fairways before we can get golfers on it. Our goal is to be open on Wednesday. The really issue is what will the next storm bring us that is supposed to be here starting Wednesday for 3 days.

Building Hours;
The Pro Shop will be open tomorrow from 7:00 until 5:00.

The Kitchen and Bar will be open from 8:00 until 5:00.

All these times are general and not written in concrete...if it seems we should stay open later we will.

We will be canceling all the Junior Programs for this week as we don’t know when the Range will be reopened.

The Weekend Release

Craig’s Weekend Release Program
For the week of March 15th thru March 20th


Ladies Day;
We have a very big field for this week’s Ladies Day. It looks like there will be an excess of 40 players. This means that it will be a bit later before we can get other play on the course after the event. Please plan on it being closer to 11:00 than 10:00 as it typically is.

March Juniors;
This week begins our Long Term Athletic Development Program at Valencia Country Club. The Program will be from 3:30 to 4:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday will be for Juniors from the age 4-7. Wednesday will be for Juniors from the age 8-12. If you have any children in these age demographics, please bring them out. We will take guest too. If you want more information please check out my blog, i have written an overview of the Program. Please call the shop if you are interested on bringing a child out.

Men’s Member Guest;
This Wednesday we will have our annual At&t Member Guest. The field is full and we will be closed before the event to all play. We will be using the entire golf course for the 12:00 Shotgun. If you haven’t signed up and were planning to, please call the shop and we will make you an alternate in case space opens up.

Men’s Individual Gross Net;
Phew, what a week of events we have. This Sunday we have our March installment of the Player of the Year event. This week is the Individual Gross Net. We will be adding an optional Skin’s Game to the event. We will tee off at 9:00. There will be breakfast served before and BBQ after the event. Currently the top 10 in the point standings is Harry Thomas, Peter Cho, Greg Gayheart, Will Whitehead, Dr. Robert Herring, Dick Rai, Randy Bragdon, Steve Whitmore, Phil Nordella, Chris Chase, Dave Fish and Ron Lawlor.

Around the Club;
It is a busy week and the weather is beautiful. Hopefully this weather stays away and we have another week like last week. As you can see around the course, grass is growing and the greens are really responding. Please keep paying attention to your ball marks and those of the players in your group. Thanks for all the help and i look forward to seeing you around the Club.

Schedule of events for the week of March 15th thru March 20th:

Tuesday: Ladies Day-Tee Closed from 8:45 to 10:30; Open Play Rest of the Day
Wednesday: Men’s Member Guest at 12:00-Course Closed to all other Play Before
Thursday: Open Play
Friday: Open Play; Tee Times all day
Saturday: Men’s Individual Gross Net at 9:00; Open Play after the event
Sunday: Member’s Open Play Before 11:00; Tee Times after 11:00


Craig Cliver

Long Term Junior Development at Valencia Country Club

Generally speaking in the United States we are behind in developing athletes. Now don't go crazy, yeah i know we have the best athletes in the world but with the resources that we have access to we should dominate in every field not just the few that we see. We also are seeing the rest of the world surpass our athletes across the board. You ask why this is...Democracy! Other Countries' Governments have invested in LTAD(Long-Term Athlete Development). There is so much information out there and most of it has been compiled by countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden even the Eastern Block Countries were using this technology. Some countries were using this knowledge even before they knew it and thought it was just a hypothesis.

What we will be teaching your children at Valencia Country Club is "physical literacy." Sports are split into two developmental areas. There are early specialization and late specialization sports. Early specialization sports are artistic and aerobic. These sports are gymnastics, figure skating, diving and swimming. There are 4 stages:

1. Training to Train
2. Training to Compete
3. Training to Win
4. Retirement and retainment

In Late Specialization Sports (Track and Field, Team Sports, Golf, etc)there are 6 stages:

1. FUNdamental
2. Learning to Train
3. Training to Train
4. Training to Compete
5. Training to Win
6. Retirement and retainment

The two stages we will be spending the majority of our time working on at Valencia are FUNdamental and Learning to Train. The primary effort will be spent working on the FUNdamental stage. We will teach the children functional movement patterns that will make them better athletes for the rest of their lives. The way sports has been taught in America is like teaching Calculus without knowing how to count. The key points of FUNdamentals are:

• Participation in as many sports as possible
• Speed, power and endurance are developed using FUN games
• Appropriate and correct running, jumping and throwing techniques are taught using the ABC's of athletics
• Introduction to the simple rules and ethics of golf
• Strength training with exercises which use the child's own body weight; medicine ball and Swiss ball exercises
• Develop the child's:
• ABC's (Agility, Balance, Coordination, and Speed
• RJT (Running, Jumping, Throwing)
• CKs (Catching, Kicking, Striking with and implement)

Please trust me when i say that if i had children i and they weren't involved in an Early Specialization Sport, i would have them involved in this program. The long term benefits of physical literacy is amazing and this age window is necessary. People can learn this at a later age, but they will never be literate. We all have friends that we see do something athletic and it looks like they have been doing it forever. This program will help your child be that person!

The Weekend Release

Craig’s Weekend Release Program
For the week of March 8th thru March 13th



Winter Tee Time Policy;
I figured i should keep this up here for another week. We have gone back to our regular tee time policy. As most of you remember what this means is that starting Tuesday we can take tee times on Saturday and Sunday starting at 11:00. The course will open at 7:00 and from then until 11:00 it will be first come first serve based on getting your group together. This policy only affects the weekends. Please call the shop if you have any questions.

March Juniors;
Next week we will start the Junior Development Program at Valencia Country Club. I am very excited about rolling out this program. I think this program could revolutionize athletics in Santa Clarita and maybe elsewhere. Jill has compiled information and training from some of the great trainers and physicians in the world to implement this program. We will be starting it at a limited basis next week and i would imagine in 6 months we will have to expand the program. For those of you that have questions, please go to my blog as i will writing more about the program in detail. That seems to be a better venue to give you all of this information. My blog address is at the bottom of this page.

Matt Marsh;
As many of you have heard, our Superintendent is moving on. Matt Marsh has done a tremendous job here in the 18 months he was here. The projects that he has completed will set us up for a long time to come. About a month ago he was contacted about a position in Orange County at Santa Ana Country Club. The previous Super, retired after being at the Club for 30 years and this opportunity for Matt was just too good to pass up. We have been blessed by his expertise and hope him all the best in his future. As you have witnessed in the past transition the staff that we have out there is very well prepared and trained. First Wayne, then Robert, and now Matt have left us in very healthy condition to handle this change and the staff of Jesus and the boys are very capable of handling the turf conditions for the near future while we find the Future of Valencia Country Club. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

March Member Events;
The 16th of March marks the return of our at&t Member Guest. We started this event 4 years ago to put you out on the course the Wednesday before the event. You can bring 1 or 3 guests. We will put the at&t in positions out there, so you can play the course as Rich Contreras got to play it. On Saturday the 19th we have our next Men’s Member Tournament. It is an individual Gross Net format. Starting the 26th of March we will start our Saturday Swing Schools. Please look around the Club for signups.

Around the Club;
This coming Sunday we head back into Daylight Savings. Please prepare your clocks for this change. You might want to go to bed an hour earlier so that at 2:00 a.m. when the clock goes to 3:00 you are prepared. That being said 7:00 a.m. will actually be 6:00 a.m. I hope my staff shows up!!!


Schedule of events for the week of March 8th thru March 13th:

Tuesday: Ladies Day-Tee Closed from 8:45 to 10:00; Open Play Rest of the Day
Wednesday: Open Play
Thursday: Open Play
Friday: Open Play; Tee Times all day
Saturday: Member’s Open Play Before 11:00; Tee Times after 11:00
Sunday: Member’s Open Play Before 11:00; Tee Times after 11:00


Craig Cliver

Valencia Website Address
valenciagolfclub.com
Username (your VCC membership number)
Password (your last name)

valenciaccgolf.blogspot.com (Craig’s)

ccliver@kempersports.com