The Hickory Golfer

The local newspaper got out and about at the Tad Moore Hickory 4 Ball event this last April and got some pretty interesting quotes that were published in the Selma Times – Journal.

Not sure I agree with Roger Andrews initial comment about playing to connect with history, but I certainly agree with his comments on club advancement that has made game to easy. In fact if you ask any hickory golfer why he’s playing hickories you’ll probably get at least one reason being that the game got to easy. Conner Lewis has posted a couple of times in forums that his handicap went from a 4 to a 7 playing hickories. I’ve actually seen my own handicap take a similar move up wards from a 0 to a 7 though I suspect that this year it is going to drop back down to around a 3 or 4.

Breck Speed’s comments about the sweet spot being smaller and timing and tempo really emphasizes the point that hickory golf requires a more consistent, reproducible swing than the modern clubs do. Today’s phrase of Bomb and Gouge referring to philosophy of hitting has hard as you can with a driver and then using your error forgiving wedges to extract from the rough (when you occasionally get in it) doesn’t work in hickory golf. In hickory golf mistakes are magnified. Yes this week I hit a 299 yard drive when everything went perfectly. I also hit a 200 yard dud the same round.

The key is consistency which is what Breck is alluding to when he says a good golfer will still be a good golfer. But I would rephrase it to say a good ball striker will be a good ball striker with hickory but a poor ball striker or a golfer with fundamental swing flaws will play much worse (the author being a good example of this). The last few years I’ve seen some pretty awful swings that are sporting low single digit handicaps with modern clubs. They would easily be a 15 or higher with hickories. Ask any real good hickory player and they will tell you that they would be a much better player using modern clubs if they were so inclined (which they aren’t).

And I agree with Mike Just that we’re playing a simpler form of golf, but the truth is that this simpler form of golf that requires much more imagination than you get with modern clubs. Look at any junior club player today and you see that total lack of imagination when it comes to shots. How far is to the hole and what club goes that far is a about as imaginative as they get. But put a hickory stick in their hands and it changes almost instantly. Look at my friend Sid and our play last Sunday. With a simple introduction about what a spade mashie and jigger were designed for he started creating this highly imaginative shots in his first round of play.

Finally, Tad has it right, golf is a social game and hickory golf is a good example. I got into hickory golf for a variety of reasons but one of the big ones was the afternoon I spent with John Rigg at Muirfield. At the time I wouldn’t have ever played there but John started talking to my wife on a veranda of New Lundin and somehow the discussion got around to hickory golf. Next thing you know I’m getting to play Muirfield and having lunch in the clubhouse. (Please don’t ask about the grilled tuna my wife had in town)

Another example is this last year at the Mid-Pines Hickory Tournament. I went out to play a practice round and figured out I was playing with my friend Paul Dietz from Canada. Immediately I knew I was going to have a good time and two days later when we paired together for the final round I just relaxed and went out and parred the first 12 holes (don’t ask about the quad on the 13th). Afterwords, at the awards luncheon my wife and I had the pleasure of sitting with Paul and his wife along with Jay Harris and his wife. We had a great time chatting it up about who knows what. In short a great time socializing on and off the course.

So get out of your rut of playing modern bomb and gouge golf and go find your local hickory golfer or a hickory golf tournament. You’ll find great set of competitors who really understand the game. Just look around they are everywhere and more are popping up all the time. If you’re in Colorado, you can look me up and we’ll go play a round.