Channeling Your Inner… Bobby Jones…
in the Modern Hickory Era
Story by: Greg and Beverly Wise, Golf the Wise Way
The origins of golf can be traced back to Scotland, where the game of golf is generally accepted to have been born in the 15th century. Initially, golf clubs were crafted from numerous types of materials such as wood, iron, and even bone.
In the U.S., the first mention of golf dates to 1659, when a group of Scottish merchants in Charleston, South Carolina, formed the “Golf Club.” Other early records include a 1739 shipment of golf equipment to Charleston and an advertisement in the New York City Royal Gazette in 1779 for golf balls and clubs.
Many types of wood had been tried during golf’s long evolution, but during the late 19th century hickory wood emerged as the preferred material for club shafts. Dense forests of old-growth hickory in the southern U.S. became a favorite source.
The readily available hickory wood helped support a tremendous growth in the game in the late 1800s and early 1900s, both in Europe, especially Great Britain, and the United States.
Hickory wood has excellent strength, flexibility, and durability, making it an ideal material for golf club shafts. The wood was lightweight, yet it had the stiffness to propel the ball with accuracy and distance. Golfers began to favor hickory clubs due to their superior performance compared to other then available materials.
Charles Blair Macdonald, known as the “Father of American Golf,” helped refine the American game by designing and building some of the first golf courses in America. His National Golf Links of America is a 253-acre track on Peconic Bay in Southampton, New York. This and other courses by Macdonald would establish high standards of design for golf architecture for years to come.
Even remote areas such as Mackinac Island, in northern Michigan, felt the touch of golf when Scottish professional Alex Smith came to the island in 1898 to lay out a 9-hole Scottish links pattern golf course ultimately named Wawashkamo (the Anishinaabek Indian term for “Walk a Crooked Path”). Even today Wawashkamo Golf Club promotes its annual Hickory Stick Classic in August, on a course layout that is remarkably true to the original layout of Mr. Smith.
With an influx of new golfers to the market, the United States Golf Association (USGA) was founded in 1894. The USGA was the result of a meeting between golf course delegates after two competing clubs in 1894 held a “National Amateur Championship.” The USGA now conducts the National Amateur Championship of the U.S.
During this time, golf became a favorite pastime among the upper classes, and hickory golf clubs became a status symbol. Prominent players, including Harry Vardon and Bobby Jones, achieved great success using the hickory clubs of the era.
A shift in the marketplace for golf
The mid-1930s marked a major turning point in golf with the popularization of steel shafts. Steel offered several advantages over hickory.
- Durability: Steel shafts were more durable than hickory, reducing the risk of breakage and warping.
- Consistency: The uniformity of steel allowed for more consistent performance across clubs.
In the early 1930s, with good hickory becoming scarce, steel golf shafts became the new norm with professionals and amateurs alike. They began turning to such manufacturers as Wilson or Spaulding who built high-performing clubs. Hickory shafts became a thing of the past until a revival of sorts in the early 1970s has returned them to golfing prominence.
Modern hickory golf as it is played in the United States grew out of so-called “hickory hacker” events held in conjunction with annual meetings of the Golf Collectors Society (GCS). The GCS was founded in 1970 by Joe Murdoch and Bob Kuntz to share their passion for golf history and the game’s collectibles and memorabilia. Only a few dozen people were initially involved, but the idea caught on and more GCS members began to try out the old clubs at these casual outings.
On their own, the more curious and enthusiastic of these players would occasionally meet at their own home clubs for informal hickory golf outings. Tad Moore, one of the earliest U.S. hickory pioneers, along with Randy Jensen, Ralph Livingston III, and Roger Hill, estimates there might have been perhaps 15 ardent hickory golfers in the U.S before the 1990s.
In 1999, following a GCS annual meeting in Lexington, Ky., a group of players met to discuss a rules controversy that had arisen following the hickory golf event. They decided that there had to be rules and standards set for all players to follow.
In 2000, the group expanded and formalized with the idea of setting standards and rules for tournament play, so everyone playing with hickories was on a consistent level playing field. Tad Moore, John Sherwood, Ralph Livingston III, Chuck McMullin, Roger Hills, Randy Jensen, Winfield Padgett, and John Crow Mill have been recognized as the founders of the founders of the Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG). With Ralph Livingston III recognized by the founders as the inspiration for the SoHG and the true beginning of modern hickory golf.
In 2008, the Society of Hickory Golfers crowned its first U.S. Hickory Open Champion – Dr. Jay Harris – at the Mimosa Hills Country Club in Morganton, North Carolina.
Champion and Location
- 2008 – Jay Harris, Mimosa Hills CC, Morganton, N.C.
- 2009 – Roger Andrews, Mimosa Hills CC, Morganton, N.C.
- 2010 – Rick Woeckener, Mimosa Hills CC, Morganton, N.C.
- 2011 – Alan Grieve, Donald Ross Course, French Lick, Ind.
Ladies Champion – Claudia Aaron - 2012 – Tony Smarrelli, Donald Ross Course, French Lick, Ind.
- 2013 – Jeremy Moe, Bay Course, Seaview Resort, Galloway, N.J.
- 2014 – Jeremy Moe, Country Club of Asheville, Asheville, N.C.
Ladies Champion – Barbara Kopec - 2015 – Jeremy Moe, Miami Valley Golf Club, Dayton, Ohio
Ladies Champion – Francine Smarrelli - 2016 – Jeremy Moe, Links of Lawsonia, Green Lake, Wisc.
Ladies Champion – Sally Shiff - 2017 – Nico Bollini, Del Monte Golf Course, Monterey, Calif.
Ladies Champion – Roberta Robbins - 2018 – Taylor Jones, Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, N.C.
Ladies Champion – Andrea Hodel - 2019 – Rick Woeckener, Belvedere Golf Club, Charlevoix, Mich.
Ladies Champion – Kate Tomlinson - 2020 – Taylor Jones, Happy Hollow Club, Omaha, Neb.
Ladies Champion – Susan Marchese - 2021 – Andrew Von Lossow, Gearhart Golf Links, Gearhart, Ore.
Ladies Champion – Chelsea Guenette - 2022 – James Ciganek, El Campeón Course, Mission Resort, Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
Ladies Champion – Rylee Stovall - 2023 – Matthew Hoffman, Inwood Country Club, Inwood, N.Y.
Ladies Champion – Jane Pohlman - 2024 – Mark Lakin, Kenosha Country Club, Kenosha, Wisc.
Ladies Champion – Rylee Stovall
The Society of Hickory Golfers now works with organizers of several national and international tournaments on historic courses, many of which date their origins to the 1920s or earlier. There are many regional hickory golf groups throughout the U.S and abroad. The Society’s premier event is the U.S. Hickory Open, which travels around the country to visit historic tracks and continue the tradition of high-level competition for all skills and ages with hickory golf clubs.
Conservative estimates of the total number of hickory players in the world are around 4,500, and the number is growing.
2024 U.S. Hickory Open Statistics
Highest Number of Players in the annual event – 128
(38 Open Players – 40 Senior Players – 38 Super Senior Players – 12 Women Players)
Highest Number of Women Golfers – 12
First two-time Women’s Champion – Rylee Stovall
(2022 Mission Inn and 2024 Kenosha)
Players from 24 United States Represented
Highest Number of International Players – 7
(China 3 – Switzerland 1 – Sweden 2 – Denmark 1)
As a golfer, if you want to hold “History in your Hands,” it’s time to learn more about modern hickory golf and find that set of clubs to take your experience to the next level… and you, too, will be “Channeling that inner Bobby Jones.”Top of Form
About the Authors:
Greg and Beverly Wise have been traveling the world, playing and writing about their golf experiences as “Golf the Wise Way,” and submitting to numerous publications.
Greg has played golf for more than 60 years, and now finds his Modern Hickory Clubs more rewarding. They truly believe that “a picture is worth a thousand words…” so, Beverly and Greg both excel in getting the right photos to enhance their stories.
