By: Greg Wise
To re-write a little golf history…Florida State Golf Association has partnered with the Florida Hickory Golfers to promote the use of Wood Shafted clubs in the FSGA Tournaments.
Imagine, the year is 1913, and the FSGA is its earliest days of existence. The founders, and the competitors, all over the state, are playing hickory shafted clubs. For the first decade or so, everyone played hickory clubs. It wasn’t until the mid ‘20s when steel shafts were introduced that golfers slowly migrated away from hickory clubs in the mid ‘30s.
“Since 1913 our mission has been to preserve and protect the game of golf,” Kevin Hammer, FSGA President, Florida State Golf Association, said. “What better way to preserve the game than to protect and promote a style of play that was prevalent for hundreds of years, and which numerous niches of the golf world still enjoy today.”
Mike Stevens, Captain of the Florida Hickory Golfers, said “I am pleased to announce that the FHG has entered into a partnership with the Florida State Golf Association to promote Hickory Golf in the state. The FSGA will provide a portal on their website about hickory golf and the Florida Hickory Golfers. Also, next year we will jointly conduct a Florida State Hickory Open Championship.
Designing custom golf clubs since 1963, Tad Moore has worked with some of the most discriminating amateur and professional golfers in the world. Tad has for a long time has been recognized around the world as one of today’s premier club designers.
Tad Moore, said. “I was first introduced to hickory golf in 1986. I found it is a wonderful game in that scoring is not the main reason I play, but rather the hitting of a fine shot as I envisioned. The feeling of hickory clubs is hard to describe but you get instant feedback. Good or bad.”
In 2005 Tad Moore Golf, Inc., introduced a line of Hickory Shafted Golf clubs that are used for playing traditional golf. Tad’s clubs are similar in design to the 1925 MacGregor and William Gibson clubs, two of the more popular brands of this era.
These are the first NEW hickory shafted clubs to be produced here since the early 1930’s. This interesting new niche market of people enjoying the playing of traditional golf is a growing at a very surprising rate and the exciting part of golf in America today. Tad is once again an innovator in the manufacturing of clubs for the American golf market.
With his deep history of club design and craftsmanship, Tad Moore Golf of Selma, Alabama has been named as the “Official” Hickory Club manufacturer to the Florida State Golf Association.
We will be traveling to Tad Moore Golf in Selma, Alabama to get a closer look at his Hickory Clubs and the process in which they are made. Follow the story on Golf Central Magazine’s Facebook page for “Moore Updates,” or visit them on the web at https://hickories.tadmoore.com.