Each year the Nebraska Hickory Golf Association inducts a select few into its Hickory Hall of Fame. The ceremonies are normally conducted during the River City Hickory Classic that honors Nebraska native and golfing legend Johnny Goodman. In 2020, however the NeHGA hosted the U.S Hickory Open at the Happy Hollow and had planned to hold the ceremony there. Covid forced the organizers to alter the plans a little, and while 2020 inductee Mike Stevens was able to attend, players from abroad could not. These included David Hamilton (Scotland), Jorgen Linse, (Sweden), Joe Lauber (Switzerland), and Pehr Thermaenius (Sweden).
Messrs. Linse and Thermaenius, as were Hamilton and Lauber, truly appreciative of the honor. The two Swedes got together for a photo when their medals were received and sent the following note. Another example of how the worldwide hickory golf community is so appreciative and supportive of one another.
Wrote the Swedish Hall of Famers:
We were very honored to receive the news of being inductees to the Hickory Hall of Fame with the fine invitations to participate in the US Hickory Open at Happy Hollow GC in Nebraska. We were looking forward to meet you all and enjoy great hickory-golfing and your wonderful hospitality, but Corona crushed our plans.
A heartly thanks from us both, for electing us into the Hickory Hall of Fame, we appreciate it sincerely. The figurine is already on the shelf in our respective homes being the center-piece for admiration – ours as well as visiting guests’. But today we came together to take this photo holding our statues in a corona-adapted manner between each other.
Hope to see you all at another time!
Hickory-greetings from Pehr Thermaenius and Jörgen Linse
Pehr Thermaenius, left, and Jorgen Linse, 2020 inductees into the NeHGA Hickory Hall of Fame.