January 4th thru January 9th

Craig’s Weekend Release Program
For the week of January 4th thru January 9th


Around The Club;
Once again i get to discuss my favorite theme in the Santa Clarita Valley. This weather is awesome. So much for global warming. If it wasn’t enough that we were trying to make up for low water levels across the state in one month, we are now having snow days at Valencia Country Club. The new high speed quad chairlift will be completed by the end of the week. It should be tons of fun carving in fresh pow pow down 1, 10 and 18. We are setting up a free style park on the driving range. There will be tables, rails, and many other obstacles for your free style bliss. All of this is sponsored by your local Jeep dealers. Richie is now offering waxing services for your skis and boards in addition to the occasional broken shaft. Please ski and board under control at all times. You can buy the season pass here or just the daily pass. Ski schools start this weekend for the juniors. We did get about 2 inches last night and it is melting off as i write this. We will be open for play for the rest of the week.

Saticoy Home and Home;
Thursday we will have a warm up for the Men’s Team Play season which starts here on the 13th against Los Angeles Country Club. This week we will be sending 4 matches to Saticoy and having 4 matches here. There will be a total of 4 groups playing teeing off at 10:00 in a Shotgun. We will have to close the course for a bit so we can get these groups on the course. Please understand this inconvenience and if you are planning on joining us that day with guests or a game of your own, try to schedule it around the match.

This Week;
There is nothing else going on around the Club this week. I do expect a swarm of locust or some other natural occurrence. Please be prepared for anything! I look forward to seeing your around the Club! I will be posting this on my blog in addition to other pictures and events that go on weekly around the Club. Please check it for updates. I do love the feedback, so please don’t hesitate to tell me what you think...it doesn’t even have to be constructive!



Schedule of events for the week of January 4th thru January 9th:

Tuesday: Ladies Day-Tee Closed from 8:45 to 10:00; Open Play Rest of the Day
Wednesday: Open Play
Thursday: Open Play; Saticoy CC Home and Home Tee Closed from 9:30 to 10:15ish
Friday: Open Play; Tee Times all day
Saturday: No Tee Times; Winter Tee Time Policy!
Sunday: No Tee Times; Winter Tee Time Policy!



Craig Cliver

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

valenciaccgolf.blogspot.com (Craig’s)

Craig's Weekend Release

For the week of December 28th thru January 2nd


Around the Club:
We are into our final week of the year. This past week with the rain we haven’t been able to open the range. Our goal will be to open it tomorrow and pray it doesn’t rain too much on Wednesday or we might have to close it again. Be grateful, we haven’t had any mudslides. This week we have nothing scheduled that should knock you off balance with your golf plans.

Upcoming Events:
New Years Party-We will be having our second annual East Coast version of New Years. The ball will drop at Valencia Country Club at 9:00. This will allow you to come to VCC and go home and shut it down by 10:00 if you are like me. It also allows you double your pleasure if you are a professional and go ring in the New Year West Coast style. Please call if you are interested in joining us. Emails have been going out all week.
Men’s Team Play-Starting in January the Men’s Team play will be playing on Thursdays. If you are interested in participating please send me an email with your shirt size. If you plan on bringing guests out during the week please check our schedule as we alternate home and home with other clubs through the middle of February. I will continue to send emails out, i just don’t want any of you caught off guard.
Titleist Pro V Sale-This is the last week you can get the Pro V for under $40. Starting in the new year the price will go up. If you need to stock up, now is the time!

I hope this email finds all of you well. Please be safe this week if you do decide to participate in the festivities of the year. It is a pleasure to work for you all and i hope all of you are healthy and safe. Thank you for making it such a great year for all of us at Valencia Country Club.


Schedule of events for the week of December 28th thru January 2nd:

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: No Tee Times; Winter Tee Time Policy!
Sunday: No Tee Times; Winter Tee Time Policy!

UK Trip

Well folks, we have all made it to the UK. We have seen 14 of the 16 potential "Accidental Tourists." This photo was the first sign i saw while arriving at London Heathrow. When traveling i really do appreciate the fact that they state the obvious. I have had the alternative experience to the sign.

Whistler B.C.

It has been a wonderful trip to the Northwestern corner of our continent. Whistler is brilliant and everybody that is on this trip would agree sights and friendships that only marveled each other. The Junker's, M. Becker's, Harris', Malone's, Bernard's, Bragdon's and Allensworth's all had a blast on this experience. The golf was forged between mountains and streams and the vistas were shaped with bear sightings and laughs. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but the stories will have to be told!

Men's President's Cup

You can access the Flights of the President's Cup by clicking on the link below. Please contact your match and play before the deadline date. Protocol is that the Lower Handicap golfer would contact the Higher Handicap golfer. Please let's keep the gamesmanship to a minimum and just get in touch with your opponent regardless of the Handicap and get the matches played. You can make a tee time, but we might need to pair you up to keep the course moving and not run out of carts. Good luck in your match!

Craig

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AooqEkr1tK-sdFNBSVhEM2NST3dPaWRYLUVKcU9QNmc&hl=en#

PGA Expo

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Eriko and I just returned from the PGA Expo in Orlando, FL. After a Redeye where we had a baby crying 2 rows behind us and a guy that sat behind us telling his neighbor about his life story and he was 117 we arrived in Orlando very well rested. I was at least smart enough to book us an exit row that we got kicked out of because they didn't think Eriko spoke fluent English, just kidding. It was a funny experience, we had this Asian woman ask us that and all of us in the exit row couldn't understand what she was saying because her English was very broken. So about the exit row, for all of you that think you can out-smart the system, a little word of advise. Ask for the second row in the exit row, the first row seats don't recline. I am due for a neck rub if any of you want to come by my office.

So Thursday i had the opportunity to sit in a room with Bob Vokey, the Titleist Wedge designer. It was a great learning experience and we really discussed the affects that the new grooves have on the design of clubs and the lofts. As many of you know Phil Mickelson took some grief for using an old Ping Eye 2 wedge, with grooves that were box, but approved for play. The reason he took this 60 degree wedge and bent it to 64 is because with the new grooves the ball is just sliding up the face on a 64. There isn't enough traction for the ball to bite on the face. He really was amazing to listen to. The ball flight they are finding is a bit higher and not quite spinning as much. From the fairway the difference isn't too dramatic, but they are finding the Pro's are thrilled since now for a back pin they can hit it at the flag and the ball isn't spinning back 20 feet. These changes won't bother most of us as changes to the casual golfer doesn't go into effect until 2024. What i wanted to really share with you was a concept that i take for granted but i thought you might enjoy. When really good golfers get a wedge in their hands we look at trajectory. Trajectory can be broken down into 9 windows. For a straight shot you have, high, low, and middle. Then you add left to right and right to left depending on what the shot requires. Next time you go out and have a wedge in your hands, imagine looking through nine window panes and pick one to hit your shot through. The short game gives all of us an opportunity to be very creative. Have some fun out there!

On Friday i sat in the room with Scotty Cameron as you can see in the photo with our very own Jason Gore in the background. Scotty talked about his past and what got him into putter design. Scotty is not an instructor of putting. He is an artist that studies what happens in a putt and how to help that process as much as possible. The basic theories behind putting is the ball is in a minor depression because of the weight of the ball and gravity. The putter hits the ball and lifts it, studies have proven 4 degrees is the perfect loft to create that experience, out of its depression. The ball ideally comes out with no spin and lands and begins it's roll down the target line. Now there are only 15,672 sequences that have to happen to make that consistent, that is why he makes his putters the way that he does. He guarantees his putter to take out 14,327 of those sequences leaving you with only....my brain hurts. It was a great trip and please feel free to come find Eriko or me to discuss anything else we saw.

GHIN Update

Tournament scores that were brought over during the conversion into the player's file only included the date of the round and the handicap differential. In order for the information to be displayed in GHIN the score, course rating and Slope rating had to be artificially created to arrive at the correct handicap differential. So if the player sees a score listed under the two low tournament scores that they did not shoot please understand the handicap differential and the date are correct but the score and ratings do not match what they shot that day.

If a golfer is reactivated at the SCGA office or through www.ghinclub.net, the Handicap Index will not be displayed until the next revision takes place. If you would like the golfer to be listed with an index immediately you will need to use the modified index feature. An option is to use the player's trend and have it removed on the day of the next Handicap Index revision.

The association golfer list has been pushed down to all clubs in Southern California. When a player in Southern California posts a score they will be recognized with their name and current index prior to entering the scoring information.

You can look up any player's Handicap Index in Southern California on the posting screen by selecting the Guest CRS HCP Lookup button and then selecting the HDCP Lookup button. By entering the last name of the golfer you will see a list of player's in Southern California and what their Handicap Index is. However, you are not able to retrieve the player's SCGA membership number.