The Hickory Golfer

I’ve known Sid ever since I joined my local club about three years ago. It was the same time that I started playing hickory clubs exclusively. Sid works a day or two a week at the club either in the cart barn or as a marshal. As the only hickory player at the club, and to some extent in the city, I’m pretty recognizable when I’m on the course, particularly when I’m wearing my knickers. For the first year Sid would comment on my hat or the knickers when he was marshaling or ask about the round when he was working in the cart barn. Last year when one of my prized Tom Stewarts snapped off the shaft and went tumbling in the weeds he offered to come out and help me find it.

Two Sundays ago we both showed up to the course in the late afternoon looking to get in as many holes as possible before dark. Sid’s been interested in my clubs for quite a while and on the 5th tee he said, “If you’ll put together a set of hickories, I’ll play a round with you.” That was about all the motivation I needed to get a really good set together. Well that and three PGA students at the local college that asked almost the same question the following Tuesday. So off I went for the next two weeks assembling three sets of the finest hickory club sets from my collection of clubs. Not all the clubs in my collection are restored, but I wanted to really put a good foot forward so I worked hard at restoring about twelve to eighteen clubs. I finished two sets in the middle of the week and had plans to finish the third set on Saturday/Sunday so I gave Sid a call on Saturday to see if we could play on Sunday afternoon.

Of course as soon as I placed the call I thought you dope, it’s Mother’s Day. There is no way he’s going to play, but fortunately his wife is as understanding as mine and we scheduled a late afternoon outing. When I got to the course I gave him three sets to choose from: an RTJ set of Stewarts (only 2 RTJ clubs but very similar otherwise), my Sandy Anderson set of Stewarts, and a Stainless set of Stewarts. The last two sets are similar in makeup to what Francis Ouimet used to when the US Open in 1913: A mid-iron, mashie, mashie niblick, and niblick as the core and a 1 iron for a driving iron along with a jigger. Sid chose RTJ set and then I totally forgot he was left handed for putting but he brought an old Bullseye putter. Ok, we all agree that the Bullseye isn’t a hickory club, but hey we’re making do here.

While we’re warming up on the tee box waiting for a couple groups to tee off (I’ve never seen more people playing on Mother’s Day. What is wrong with these people?) we’re chit chatting along and he says he’s from Nebraska. “Really, where from?”, I ask like I’ve asked people a 1,000 time before fully expecting to not have any connection to the answer. Same town my wife’s family grew up in. Do you know wife’s-Maiden-name Elementary? Yeah he says, I lived right near there. No kidding I say, that was named after my wife’s grandfather who was the superintendent. “Do you know Rusty wife’s-Maiden-name?”, he asks. All of sudden I feel like Goliath with a stone in the middle of my forehead. Uh, yeah, he’s my father-in-law. The conversations continues to make sure we’re talking about the same man. Sure enough we are.

It’s time to tee off and the first hole is just a little bit on the intimidating side. Even more so when you have clubs you have never hit before. You have to clear a creek at 170 yards but can’t go more than 225 unless you thread the eye of needle through a 25 yard slot that goes down to another creek about 300 yards away. I instinctively pull out the 1 iron from my bag and he asks if he should use a 4-iron. Well a humm…no….see that 4 iron has 28 degrees of loft so it really isn’t a four iron. The first rule of hickories is there are no standards. Hit the RTJ 2 iron in your bag instead. He pushes the shot to the right and it lands in the ditch while I smash my 1 iron straight and true but a tad bit to long. He pitches out to a perfect layup while I push my higher lofted mashie to the right side of the green. His next shot is muffed into the creek using one of my Wilson Elite Fifty he has borrowed. I’m so glad they are only a dollar. Found and retrieved he hits a nice pitch with a 60° niblick (don’t I treat newbies to a nice set of clubs) to within 10 feet and we’re putting. First hole done I’ve got par 4 and he’s got a 7.

On #2 we pull out the drivers for the first time. He its a nice drive about 260 in the middle of the fairway and I pull one slightly that ends up on the edge of the bunker. I hit this monster 40° mashie that bounds to the back of the green and he hits a nice mashie niblick at the pin that bounds by. My new Nicoll’s Gem putter slides the 60 footer to inside the leather and Sid bumps it back to me and then he pitifully putts his ball well short of the hole. “I just need a heavier putter”. Yep…I’ve got one back home.

The next few holes continue with a lot of strategy never before employed and questions about what club to use. I explain that the spade mashie was designed to get out of rough and Sid hits a really nice pitch shot from the rough on the one the holes. He’s already improvising. Use the RTJ Mid Iron right? Yep. By this time I’m starting to notice his swing just a little bit more and then it hits me, that’s my father-in-laws swing. Same set up, same hands, same little cocking of the wrists, same position on the backswing and downswing and same follow through. Figures when you think about it, they both grew up on the same course in Nebraska though a good 25 years apart in age. My father-in-law played golf there when Sid was just a youngin and kids imitate good players within the club. I’m not saying all club members swing alike. Maybe it’s something simple like they had the same pro, but there was an uncanny similarity.

By the 5th Sid is starting to get it with irons at least half the time and he’s beginning to use his imagination to create shots he never would have with his modern set. He hit a really nice draw that bounded to the back of the green on 5 followed by a delicate chip with a spade mashie (something I would have never done) for a tap in. The driver though was a mystery to him and on the 6th it went sputtering to the right. Findable, but in the trash, he recovered nicely up to my drive. I hit a nice 2 iron (mid-iron) for my second on the par 5 and Sid pushed his third one into the hazard. “You’ve got the bound tos about losing the ball don’t ya?”, I kidded him. Nope he found it. In about a foot or two. I hit a “aim dead straight” mashie niblick to the back side of the green and Sid followed with a really nice niblick just a bit deeper. When my putt dropped we slammed knuckles. I’m one over at this point and I’ve been striking the ball quit nicely.

The par 3 I hit another “aim dead straight” for the pin that slides by some 15 feet and Sid pushes a poorly hit shot to the right. He comments that the thing about these clubs is they accentuate a poor shot. You don’t get away with miss hits like you do with modern clubs. He’s beginning to see how playing with a set of hickories can actually help your modern game as well. On the 8th I have him hit my Jack White driver. Hey, if you’re going to play an RTJ set you have hit a Jack White driver right? It’s not a good drive but it gets up to within 145 yards. I bound by him settling in the sand trap. He asks if he should use the mashie niblick and I tell him to use the spade mashie instead since it’s uphill. “Wow that was pure.”, he says as the club comes off the head. It’s a really nice looking shot, that should be on the backside of the green. I hit a blind mashie niblick pure out of the trap to within 10 feet of the hole, but just on the edge of the green. His perfectly struck ball crawled up the hill on the back side of the green and his pitch was little tough coming out. After 8 holes I’m just one over and he’s having a great time.

On the ninth he uses my driver again and plunks it into the sand about 210 yards away. I hit this perfect drive that leaves me a cool 90 yards to the green. Sid confirms that a spade mashie is the way to go. I know the distance is good at 145 yards but I’m not sure if it will dig into the sand on him, but there is no digging on his shot. “Woooo”, he exclaims, “beat that” he crows as his bunker shot lands by the pin and settles about 10 feet away. Under full pressure now to out preform the newbie I hit probably the best shot I’ve hit ever with my 50° niblick to within 6 inches. “How’s that?”, I ask. He just shakes his head and knocks it out for a birdie 3 as he goes back to putt his ball. “That was almost an eagle.”, he says.

Sid had to leave after nine. I ended up shooting even par on the front nine and I have no idea what Sid shot but I know he had fun and learned a lot. We’ve already made plans for future Sundays. On the way home I called my father-in-law. You’ll never believe who I played hickory golf with today…