APRIL 2021 Message from the Director of Golf Rick Price, PGA Spring is in the air as we welcome the month of April! The Bermuda grass is growing, allowing us to open the driving range tee and the new short game area this month. In April, the Men’s Member/Member Championship scheduled for April 9-10 is full. All golf leagues are wrapping up their main tournament events this month, and we all look forward to hopefully being back to normal in the fall with shotgun starts and luncheons. Congratulations to all the winners from last month in the Men's 18-Hole Club Championship, Women's 18-Hole Club Championship and the Oro Valley Amateur. Men's 18 Hole - 2021 Club Champion - Dean Silverlock Women's 18 Hole - 2021 Club Champion - Debbie Huffman 2021 Oro Valley Amateur Champion - Jon Lindstrom Oro Valley Amateur - 2021 Gross/Net Divison Champion - Jim Phillips The next Yappy Hour will be Thursday, April 29 from 4:00 - 5:00 PM on the driving range tee. The driving range will be closed at 3:00 PM for a clean pick of all the range balls in the wash and desert areas. We would appreciate any volunteers to help. Thank you for enjoying all the activities at the Club this season, and if you are leaving us for the summer, we wish you safe travels and look forward to seeing you back playing again soon. PGA Director of Golf [email protected] 520-825-3110 Updated News CHIP & PUTT: On Thursday's through the month of April, Chip & Putt starts at 4:30 PM. You can play up to six people per group and book seven days in advance. The entry fee is $10 per person for golf, prizes and one drink off the beverage cart before you tee off. Sign up online through the reservation system or call the Pro Shop at 520-825-3110. GOLF COURSE REMINDER: There was no overseeding on all the newly sodded areas around the greens, approach areas, and driving range tee. We ask your help when driving your golf cart around the tees and greens, always to keep the cart on the path, including all handicap flagged golf carts. Please follow the signage for golf cart traffic and use the blue gate system to enter the fairways between the two blue stakes and exit the fairway between the two blue stakes further down the fairway. The idea is to keep your carts in the fairway once you enter through the blue stakes. The newly seeded fairways will handle cart traffic much better than the dormant Bermuda rough. The first tee time in April is 6:44 AM. Every week after it changes 8 minutes earlier until we reach 6:30 AM. The Pro Shop will open an hour before the first tee time and close at 5:00 PM daily. PRO SHOP STATUS We welcome you into the Pro Shop. However, we require masks inside, along with only two people at a time, to ensure the safety of all our members, residents, guests and staff. The check-in process will continue as follows: a tee host concierge will be stationed outside of the pro shop to assist you with check in. The player assistant will be on the tee to get you started on time. GOLF CART POLICY The Views Golf Club golf cart policy is two players per golf cart. Single players should be prepared to share a Views Club cart. We pair golfers up to share a golf cart according to starting times booked. Cart rental is a per seat charge. Due to the lack of availability of golf carts, we cannot provide single rider golf carts. You may consider walking or renting one of our four single-rider scooters. However, please do not book a tee time if you are uncomfortable riding with someone else in a cart. Masks are recommended while riding in the golf cart. Masks are not required while playing, on the driving range or practice areas, if maintaining social distance – but if unable to do so, please wear your mask. If you have a private golf cart, you may continue to ride as a single. Only two carts will be allowed in the fairway or rough at any given time. Any additional carts in the group must always remain on the cart path the entire hole. If you have less than four players and would like no one else to be paired with your group, you are welcome to pay for the entire foursome at the public rate to reserve the space. It is also the person's responsibility to book the starting time to fully communicate these procedures to all golfers in their group in advance before arriving at The Views Golf Club. TEE TIME RESERVATIONS Thank you for checking in and being ready to tee off a minimum of 10 minutes before your scheduled tee time. The early arrival to your starting time helps keep us on schedule throughout the day, leading to a good pace of play and an enjoyable day on the course. PRACTICE FACILITIES & DRIVING RANGE TEE DRIVING RANGE - We will continue using the artificial tee line until April 14. On April 15 we will start hitting off the grass tee. PRACTICE PUTTING GREEN - The area is available for putting and chipping. SHORT GAME PITCHING AREA - The new short game area features two practice chipping greens and a bunker located between the 1st tee and 9th green at the bottom of the hill. The short game practice area was not overseeded this year. Now that the Bermuda is starting to grow, we anticipate we will open the practice area the last week of April. FINN SCOOTER'S We have four Finn Scooters available to rent. They are easy to ride with a low-center of gravity, and the lightweight aluminum frame makes it a well-balanced ride. If you can ride a bike, you can ride a Finn. Renting a scooter is easy through a downloadable app. The cost is $25 for 18 holes and $14 for 9 holes. This fee is additional to the golf rate, and is charged right through the app when registering to use the scooter. HOLE IN ONE 3/8 - Matthew Westby - Hole #17 141 yards - Pitching Wedge 3/11 - Greg Schmidt - Hole #7 168 yards - 8 iron NEW MERCHANDISE & SALE The new line of Jamie Sadock has arrived for the spring! We have selected items of merchandise on sale at 50%. We look forward to assisting you find the perfect gift or items you are looking to purchase. As a reminder all members receive 25% off clothing and 10% on golf clubs and accessories. Lesson Tee Understand Your Golf Equipment There are many different myths on what equipment can and cannot do for your game. Becoming more educated can help you improve your game and spend your money more wisely. Get Fitted - There is no doubt you are making the game harder for yourself by playing equipment that is not correct for your game. Shafts are different, lie angles are different, and there are many other critical elements of clubs that can affect your course performance. Working with a knowledgeable club fitter can improve your scores by making your bad shots not as bad and your good shots just a little bit better. If you purchase a club based on manufacturers' marketing claims, you are not giving yourself the best chance to succeed. Driver Shafts and Lofts…they are ALL DIFFERENT - Most golfers assume that they should get X loft driver with X shaft based on their swing speed. It's wrong for many reasons. First off, there are no standards in the golf industry for shafts. One manufacturer's stiff flex could be the equivalent of another "regular" flex. Additionally, most golfers assume that you need a lower loft on your driver to hit the ball farther, which is not true! Many players may need more loft to hit the ball farther (it could be as high as 11,12, or even 13 degrees). Longer Isn't Always Better - One of the golf industry trends has been to introduce longer shafts on drivers because golfers are demanding more distance. Stock driver shafts can be as long as 46″ now, and for most golfers, that does increase their swing speed, but something else happens…it's much harder for them to make proper contact on the face, which is crucial to hitting longer and more accurate drives. Some club fitters in the industry believe that going with a shorter shaft will help your accuracy and help you hit the ball farther. Finding the right length will allow you to make more consistent and solid contact that leads to more distance. Lie Angle - If you have no idea what the lie angle is on your irons, you need to have them checked. If you have too upright clubs or too flat for you, your ability to hit accurate iron shots will be significantly reduced. Understand Wedge Bounce and How to Use it - Wedges have come a long way, and there are many options available to golfers. Bounce is essential, and how you can use it correctly in different situations. The short game is critical to improving your scores and knowing a few basics about how wedges can make all the difference. Please attend one of our weekly clinics on Tuesdays or Wednesdays or take a private lesson for further help with your chipping. Call the Pro Shop at 520-825-3110 NOTE: 2020-2021 Daily Rate Fees - CLICK HERE 2020-2021 Membership Plans - CLICK HERE Club Golf Leagues to join: CLICK HERE Men's 18 Hole Women's 18 Hole Men's 9 Hole Women's 9 hole USGA Handicap: CLICK HERE Charley's Grille @ The Turn every Friday and Saturday 10:30 AM - 3:00 PM until May 8.