HICKORY GOLF NEWS

Dark clouds threatened golfers during one or two points during the 2025 Keeper of the Spirit Gutty Challenge this year (July 17-18) but only a few drops splashed harmlessly about the historic Eagle Spring golf course. The rest of the time was spent chasing gutties over a charming layout through the hills and valleys of this great Wisconsin location. Greg […]

Mike Stevens, director of the Florida Hickory Golfers, reports on the annual outing at Sara Bay Country Club: Although hot as usual this time of year it was a great outing on July 26 at Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota. Originally named Whitfield Estates CC, it was the home of the first 36 holes for the match between Bobby […]

The 2025 Columbia Cup hosted 70 players from nine different states over July 11-13. This, our 11th annual event, was played on the Gearhart Golf Links along the Oregon Coast—recently named the 5th best “true links course in the USA” by Golf Digest.   Perfect weather—marine layer in the morning breaking to sunshine and breezes in the afternoon. The greens […]

The 48th playing of the Heart of America Hickory Championship, the longest-running hickory tournament in the country, took place July 12 – 13, 2025 at the beautiful and historic Bright Grandview Golf Course in Des Moines, Iowa. The tournament, founded by Warren “Ole” Oleson and previously highlighted in a Golf Digest article, has in recent years been hosted by hickory […]

Kevin Mendik reports: On June 21, 2025, the historic Myopia Hunt Club in Hamilton, Mass., commemorated its 150th anniversary with a 9-hole hickory event. More than 80 members participated, many in traditional attire. Clubs were provided by Kevin Mendik and Bill Wardwell.  On July 9, 2025, the sounds of hickory could be heard and players in period dress could be […]

Wisconsin’s Ernie Ernst reports on a delightful event on the Baths and Irish courses at Kohler: The Kohler Par 3 Hickory Challenge was contested over July 1-2 at the Kohler Blackwolf Run location (The Baths, Kohler par 3 course) and the Straits on the Irish course.  It was two days of partner golf starting with 30 holes on the Baths […]

Under sunny skies and rising temperatures, the 10th annual Wisconsin Hickory Players’ annual charity event was held June 21-22 at Thornberry Creek at Oneida, Iroquois course. Iroquois is gutty- friendly and allows an unspoiled  walk or cart. The Pay It Forward Gutty Challenge offered a unique weekend of “Auld Gawf” spanning three centuries of golf equipment. Contestants sported Auld Gawf […]

Jacob Orcutt reports: Golfers from Alabama to Massachusetts came together at Shennecossett Golf Course in Groton, Conn. for the 5th annual Smith-Collett Classic – named for former Shennecossett pro and two-time U.S. Open champ Alex Smith, and his star pupil Glenna Collett-Vare, who won the U.S. Amateur Women’s Championship six times.  Shennecossett remains a difficult test of golf, and the […]

Our friends in the Metropolitan Hickory Society returned to the Spring Lake Golf Club on June 17 for its “War at the Shore” competition. It had been on hold for a few years, but the MHS, which hosted the 2023 USHO at the Inwood Golf Club, are a resilient bunch and love playing hickories on the many historic courses in […]

Tournament host Chris Hawes reports: The second Ottawa Hickory Challenge, June 6-8, began with 118 golfers in a two-person scramble. Players came from Arizona, Edmonton, Connecticut, Pinehurst, and all across Ontario to participate. An additional 26 competed in our Saturday/Sunday stroke play tournament. By all measures it was a success! All our goals were met. 1) Have fun. 2) Expose and educate […]

Event Host Tom Tracy reports: The 2025 Idaho Spud Cup, the state hickory shaft golf championship held June 7-8, is in the books. The third annual edition of this event, held under warm sunny skies over the pristine fairways and greens of River Birch Golf Course in Star, drew 31 entrants in three divisions (Open, Seniors, and Ladies) willing to […]

Wisconsin’s “Copper Cup Clan” celebrated the occasion in style at the Scenic View Golf Course in Slinger. Of the 38 golfers, 16 women participated in a 9-hole scramble; nine players in a 65-and-older gutty competition; and 13 in a modern hickory event with eight seniors and five in the Open division. “We had hole prizes, and our very own Teddy […]

Hickory golfers from Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa got together on Sunday, June 1, at The Golf Club at Table Creek in Nebraska City, Neb., for the first NeKaWa Cup. The event is to promote camaraderie and play between regional players from Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa. Central to the NeKaWa Cup is an 18-hole match-play team event. Players will be assigned […]

It was unseasonably cool during the three days of the WHO Classic, but that did not diminish the enjoyment of 38 golfers from around the country who traveled to Wyandotte, Mich., for this enjoyable hickory celebration. Golfers from as far as Florida made it to the event. It began with a Friday warm-up round on the West Shore Country Club […]

THIRD ASIA PACIFIC HICKORY SHAFT CHAMPIONSHIP TOKYO 2025 Les Browne, chair of the Asia/Pacific Championship, reports: We started in Melbourne in 2023, which was a great success, then last year in Christchurch, NZ, which was a step up ;and this year in Tokyo which was a further upward step. The formation of the Asia Pacific Society of Hickory Golfers has […]