HICKORY GOLF NEWS

Wisconsin hickory players organizing association issue challenge to Midwest players
October 3, 2012

Wisconsin’s finest hickory players, here gathered for the Cherokee CC match, are forming a hickory players association. They have issued a challenge to neighboring Midwest states for hickory matches. Any takers?   On Saturday, Sept. 15, eight hickory players from Ridgeway CC in Neenah, Wisc. visited Madison, Wisc. for a hickory golf match with seven players from Cherokee CC. The […]

Gutty Slam Results for 2012
September 19, 2012

2012 Gutty Slam Results    On Friday, Sept. 7, the final rounds of the 2012 Gutty Slam were played at historic Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Course, in Ontario, Canada.      In order to qualify for the finale, a player must have participated in at least two of the other three gutty golf events – the All American Hickory Open played at […]

Hickory courses we love to play – The Warren Golf Course
September 13, 2012

Hickory courses we love to play The Warren Golf Course South Bend, Ind. 123456   The Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame was designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. It’s the course of the University of Notre Dame and is not shy to describe how they feel Coore and Crenshaw, calling them “arguably the greatest golf architects of the […]

Links to Explore – Ancient Golf

Links to ExploreAncient Golf 123456   This site is maintained by Geert and Sara Nijs, independent sports historians from the Netherlands. It focuses on ancient “stick and ball” games, the predecessors of golf. There are headings for colf/kolf,  jeu de crosse (choule), jeu de mail (pall mall) and their relation to the Scottish game of golf. The couple, according to […]

10 Stages of a Duffer’s Round

“As dogs to wanton boys are we to the golf gods, they tease us for their sport.”Paraphrasing the great Shakespeare, from King Lear There is, in this wonderful game we love, room for everyone. It is a democratic pastime that denies no one the opportunity for embarrassment or, equally, ecstatic triumph. From ragged caddies to silver spoons, public links rats […]

Ralph Livingston III — Modern Hickory Golf Pioneer
August 18, 2012

“Hickory golf is a challenging sport. If you don’t like the challenge, go take up putt putt golf.” Ralph Livingston III was nothing if not passionately devoted to the game he embraced in the early 90s. His research into authentic hickory equipment and their relationship with the golf course architecture of the time led to ground-breaking theories of the game’s […]

Courses for the Hickory Soul – Highland Park Golf Course
August 16, 2012

Alabama’s Highland Park Golf Course is the home of Tad Moore’s Southern 4-Ball Hickory Championship. It’s been a popular choice as some 70 players were in the field for the 2012 contest. So, why do they like it so much? The course, the oldest in Alabama, was established in 1903 as the Country Club of Birmingham. The country club had […]

Links to Explore – The United States Golf Association

123456 Can’t imagine why this site hasn’t been covered here earlier. Perhaps it was just too obvious, or perhaps we are just too busy with hickory golf and the USGA whispers not a word of such activities on its site. Nonetheless, the website of the reigning and governing body of modern golf in the United States is worth bookmarking for […]

The Ladies!

From “The Golfer”August 1903 Being a Toast at a Golfers’ DinnerBy William Shaw Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen: “In spring a young man’s fancy fondly turns to thoughts of love. That may be with the fancy of the ordinary young man – the young man who does not golf. But in the spring the fancy of the young golfer turns fondly […]

Correspondent for August – Observations from the Links

At a recent Hickory Event, my group was kept in the field for more than six hours on a very hot day – at least two hours too long to be kept from the bar! In this case the main reason was given as interloping golfers jumping in at various holes between the Tournament groups – a not uncommon hazard […]

Tony Smarrelli putts way to 2012 U.S. Hickory Open title
July 26, 2012

Following two days of heated – it was 97 in the shade – competition, Pinehurst resident Tony Smarrelli, 62, emerged as the 2012 U.S. Hickory Open champion. Some 65 players turned out for the 5th annual U.S. Hickory Open played with clubs that pre-date 1935, or are accurate modern replicas of such clubs. Held under the auspices of the Society […]

New clubs approved for play
July 20, 2012

NOTICE to MEMBERS: Newly Approved Hickory Shafted Replica Clubs available to be played in SoHG sanctioned events.    The Equipment Committee – Rob Ahlschwede, chair – has approved the application of the BTI Company (playhickorygolf.com) for a set of irons and a special niblick for play in Society of Hickory Golfers-sanctioned events.     The irons are replicas of the early RTJ […]

Courses for the Hickory Soul – Wawashkamo Golf Course
July 13, 2012

It may not be one of the easiest courses to get to. First you’ve got to drive to the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Then you park your car, load your gear on a ferry and take the 20-minute crossing to Mackinac Island. Once on the island, a horse-drawn taxi will get you to your lodging. Plenty of places to […]

A Game for Ladies

I well remember my Father looking down his nose at the game of golf – “An old man’s game to be taken up when you can no longer play tennis.” We played our last game of tennis together when he was 87, and I waited in vain for the request of a round of golf, as he was then fully […]

End of an Era at Oakhurst?
June 26, 2012

The whispers had started before we had embarked on our annual pilgrimage to Oakhurst, and sadly they were confirmed with the official announcement by Louis Keller that the Property will be set on the auction block at the end of July. For those who have not tasted this unique hickory golf event, and the bonds of friendship and camaraderie it […]

SoHG Housekeeping

The Spring/Summer 2026 edition of A Wee Nip has been mailed. Thanks to all who contributed! Click on the cover image to view the latest edition.
The PlusFour Podcast hosted by Rob Birman regularly publishes interviews with hickory golfers, leaders in the hickory golf world and golf historians. Rob is a gifted interviewer and his guests are both knowledgeable and interesting. It's a good mix. The latest is an interview with Stephen Proctor, whose recent book, Matchless, brings to life the storied careers of golf's legendary women greats, including Joyce Wethered and Glenna Collett. Click here for the latest episode (airing Monday, Nov. 17).
ADVERTISE IN THE WEE NIP – Send your message to all SoHG members in the bi-annual magazine. Your ad also helps the SoHG. Contact Dale Hallock for information on how to advertise.
The USHO at Hot Springs is now history. Check the Homepage for an article with results and photos. Next year's event is to be on the Gearhart Golf Links in Gearhart, Ore.
Support the USHO with a donation to the USHO Patrons Fund. Donations of any amount to the Fund are welcome, but a $1,000 donation earns a Lifetime Membership in the Society. Click here to learn more and donate.
Let us know about your hickory hole-in-one. Click here to check out reports from others who have managed this rare shot with a hickory club. Timothy Chenevert, of Baton Rouge, La., got his on the City Park Golf Course in late September.
Send your letters, comments, photos, and articles for A Wee Nip and website contributions to Jim Davis. Do it! Let's hear about your hickory golf travels and adventures.

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