The Hickory Golfer

You’ve just collected your first set of hickory clubs and you’re headed to the course to see if you can play when all of sudden it hits you..

What tee box should I use?

While it may seem like a difficult question the answer is pretty simple. Use the same method you used to select the tee boxes with your modern clubs.

Method? What method…I just go the tips and let her rip.

Alrighty then, here are a couple of guidelines you might consider.

Leave your EGO at the Clubhouse

For most hickory golfers this isn’t a problem. A good many have already checked their ego at the door and are seeking a different type of game by playing hickory. But for you blockheads that think you have to tip it then please consider the following.

Hickory clubs
• Are not as forgiving as their modern counterparts – This means that the margin for error is much smaller and while you can hit the center some of the time you aren’t going to hit it all the time, nor nearly as much as you did with modern clubs. So that modern Driver that consistently goes 240 will probably go 230 when hit well and maybe as little as 200 on a slight mishit.
• Have a higher center of gravity – This means that the effective loft that you will be able to achieve with hickory club will be lower than your modern club. In short your hickory club will have a lower flight which will translate into less distance. In my own case my modern 5 iron goes a 195 yards and my hickory 3 iron only flies 183 yard. Both are at 28°.
• Were designed in a era when 6,500 yards was a long course. Today’s clubs are designed for course at 7,200 yards. Or is it the other way around. Anyway you get the picture.

So unless your name is Sean “The Beast” Fister and you can hit a hickory driver off the ground over 300 yards check your ego at the door of the clubhouse and play a more appropriate tee than the tips. BTW, I actually saw Sean hit that drive at the Arkansas Hickory Open reception.

Multiple your 27 or 28° lofted iron by 36

27 or 28° should something like a Mid-Mashie or a Mashie Iron. If you have a later model Tom Stewart like I do a 3 iron is the club to look for. In my case I average about 180 to 185 yards with this clubs so that would be between 6480 and 6600 yards.

A couple of side points. If you have Tad Moore’s clubs don’t use the Jigger as your measuring club. While it has 29° of loft the shaft is generally shorter and you won’t hit it far enough. Some players may only have a Mid-iron and Mashie in the set. No problem, just multiple the average distance of your Mashie by 42. It comes out to about the same yardage. Note I’m assuming your Mashie is about 36°. It may not be so adjust the multiplier appropriately.

Look for flex tees

Look and see if the club has any flex tees. If they do there is probably a good reason they exist and using them will help you enjoy a round. For instance at my local club I could easily play the blue tee at 6579 yards based on my 3 iron distance. The whites at 6,040 yards are a little light for my personal taste. But there are three holes that really cause of a problem when I play with hickories.

• #1 has a ravine at 190 yards from the blue but is only 175 from the whites. It is a tricky hole with a limiting landing zone and a prevailing cross wind. For me the white tees are better for a low shot with my 1 iron that settles near the 150 yard marker.
• #8 is an uphill left hand dog leg protected by bunkers on both sides. I’ve smashed drives from the blues but still end up 150 uphill hards away from the blues. From the whites I can control the shot with a brassie and be the same distance.
• #11 has a carry of 205 yards from the blue tees but little or no carry from whites. With a mishit I’m doomed in a wasteland of weeds during the summer. It’s a simple par 5 but if you can’t get off the tee it is a least one or two more strokes to get back in the fairway.

Fortunately the club has put together a set of flex tees that incorporate #1, #8, #10 and #11. The distance is only 136 yards shorter that blue tees. I appreciate the help on #8 even though it’s an unfair advantage to the power hitters in league and can ignore the disadvantage of upper tees have on #10. But for the me the advantage of #1 and #11 makes a big difference in my rounds.

GIR distance and clubs

This is generally done after a round is over, or even after a couple of rounds have been played, but can be done in advance if the course has a map. Calculate the average GIR (Greens in Regulations) shots that you made and which clubs were used. A GIR shot is the first shot on a par 3; second on a par 4; and third on a par 5. Your GIR shots should look like a bell curve over the range of your clubs with your middle range clubs getting most of the action. If the bell curve centers on the long irons or woods in your bags then move up a tee. who really wants to hits long irons into a green all day. If it centers on niblics then move back a tee. This isn’t pitch and putt unless that is something that you need to practice.

To illustrate on my home course If everything goes right I should use my 55° Niblick twice, 49° Niblic once, Mashie Niblick 3 times, 40° Mashie 4 times, 36° Mashie 5 times and Mongrel Mashie 3 times which covers a distance from 80 yards to 170 yards with most of the shots between 120 and 155 yards. If I moved back to the tips I would hitting the Mongrel Mashie and 3 iron the most with the majority of the shots at 150 to 185 yards and moving up a tee box I would be hitting the Niblick and Mashie Niblick the most something between 70 and 120 yards.

Final thoughts

Golf is something to be enjoyed not as Mark Twain described it as “a good walk spoiled”. If you play from the right set of tees the challenge will still be there, play your round in a timely fashion and most importantly enjoy the round.