The Society of Hickory Golfers has announced the inaugural World Gutty Championship (WGC), scheduled for March 14-15, 2026, at the nationally recognized historic Winter Park Golf Club in Winter Park, Florida. The format is to be match play.
“The SoHG is bringing to the national and international rota of hickory golf tournaments an annual, pre-1900, gutty match play championship,” said Bill Geisler, the Society’s competitions chair who serves as chairman of the new WGC’s organizing committee, along with Marci Likens and Scott Staudacher.
“The SoHG’s mantra from the onset has been focused on “Preserving The Traditions of The Game,” Staudacher said. “We hope to inform and educate our members about the period commonly referred to as “gutty golf.”
Before Coburn Haskell invented the rubber-core golf ball in 1899, the gutta percha golf ball was the standard striking orb for then “modern golf.” Gutty golf, played with gutta percha balls and “pre-1900” clubs, has risen steadily in popularity over the past several years. The National Hickory Championship hosted by Pete Georgiady, has been played since 1998, and it has been joined in subsequent years by such popular events as the Foxburg Hickory Championship (Pennsylvania), the Keeper of the Spirit Hickory Championship (Wisconsin), and other regional gutty events.
As to the format, before the pastime of golf caught on in the United States, match play was the holy grail of determining one’s level of skill at golf. Above all, the home of golf, Scotland, held match play as the true determinant of all championships.
Many SoHG members have become interested in experiencing this style/form of golf, according to Staudacher, and many have acquired the proper clubs for this period of play. “Also, thanks to McIntyre Golf, a very fine reproduction gutty ball has been manufactured that closely mimics the playing characteristics of those long ago originals,” he said.
Thus, when the SoHG Competitions Committee, chaired by Geisler, earlier this year proposed an SoHG-sponsored gutty championship to be contested by match play and open to all international gutty enthusiasts, the idea was welcomed and approved by the SoHG Board.
The tournament committee consulted with existing gutty tournament directors on matters of timing and interest and to ensure that a new world gutty championship would both attract international interest and serve to complement current gutty tournaments. “It’s interesting in that our attempts to move forward as a Society are actually looking even further back in time,” Staudacher said.
SoHG President Joey Piatek is hopeful “The Gutty” will accomplish several goals.
“Specifically, the rules of golf in the 1890s began: ‘the game of golf is played by two (or more) sides, each playing their own ball’,” he said. “The focus on individual match play sets this event apart from nearly all other annual hickory events, gutty or otherwise.”
As well, focusing on the international aspect of this event reinforces the idea that the SoHG is a worldwide organization, he added. “We can’t guarantee international participation, but that hurdle is lowered by Winter Park’s location near the Orlando airport, which is an easier international destination for those traveling from far abroad,” Piatek said. “Also, the format will guarantee that players are able to play many rounds and not be eliminated early.”
Piatek was keen to emphasize that the SoHG does not just exist to put on the U.S. Hickory Open, but rather to promote hickory golf worldwide in a variety of formats, locations, and eras, and that it exists to serve its members and their interests in hickory golf. “The new event will also serve as a sort of living laboratory to test our gutty guidelines so that we may balance tradition and common sense as needed,” he said.
“We are inspired to bring back the tradition of match play to the hickory golf community and look forward to seeing gutty enthusiasts joining us this spring,” Geisler said.
The World Gutty Championship
The World Gutty Championship will be restricted to 32 players with SoHG handicaps of 20 or lower, divided into two competitive divisions.
The format is to be a round-robin set of five 9-hole matches on Saturday and Sunday. A point will be awarded for each hole won (a half point for a tie) cumulative in these matches. The top four players in each division will compete on Sunday afternoon for top honors.
Equipment is restricted to pre-1900, SoHG-approved clubs and the use of McIntyre “Park” line-cut or bramble balls. Period attire is required for all contestants.
More details are to be posted on the SoHG website as they are finalized. This will include an event entry form.
“For the past seven years, the Winter Park Hickory Classic has been an outstanding success for pre-1935 hickory competition,” Geisler said. “The addition of this tournament in Winter Park has been embraced by city officials, and we are thankful for their support.”
Contacts:
Bill Geisler, Tournament Chair
hickorybill1@gmail.com
Jim Davis, SoHG Executive Director
jdavis2364@gmail.com
Foxburg Hickory Championship Director Tom Johnson on the new event
Tom Johnson poses for the camera during the 2014 Foxburg Hickory Championship. Photo by Chris Lane.
I love the concept of a match play gutty event. The head-to-head competition, with the nuance of stymies brings back two parts of early golf that were prevalent back in the day. Most match play activities are pre-event, not lending itself to serious competitive play. When you add in the weight and support of the SoHG, it is sure to be a treat.
The format of earning and accumulating points in lieu of elimination is interesting. I like this format, ensuring the important factor of an equal amount of golf for each contestant. The stigma of an early elimination has been removed in the proposed format.
I am hopeful that the World Gutty will lead to an increase of regional gutty events. Specifically, in lieu of needing maybe 30 players for a medal event, you could have a great match play event with 8 to 16 players. That would fit nicely in a round robin match play. A solid gutty handicapping system would enable flights or head-to-head matches. The camaraderie and sportsmanship we find in medal events would certainly continue in these matches. I am already considering another event at Foxburg, perhaps with 12 players with three flights… hmmm.
Overall, the World Gutty Championship is a solid concept and could help grow the pre-1900 game. I am all for it, and look forward to a sprouting of smaller regional gutty events as another great opportunity to spread the pre-1900 game.
As I like to say, gutty golf is the most challenging golf you can play, with the best people you will ever meet.
