Hickory golf is a new trend that might not be as new as you think

Out with the new, in with the old

A trend has been picking up in the golf world over the past few years, and it’s certainly got a unique style. Hickory golf requires players to play a more traditional version of the game using clubs with hickory wood shafts, which require far more technique and finesse than modern clubs. These hickory clubs are much different from the titanium clubs that you see today.

Hickory clubs

The sweet spot on a hickory club is much smaller than that of a modern golf club, making it very difficult to hit. In addition, players only use six different clubs, carried in a skinny leather bag that gets slung over players’ shoulders as they walk the course.

Hickory clubs are wood-shafted, versus the modern titanium shaft. Players claim that this gives the club a feeling of life and warmth, rather than the cold, manufactured metal feel of 21st century clubs.

Players also call their clubs by the traditional Scottish names. Some examples include the mashie for approach shots, the brassie that works as both a driver and a fairway wood, and the niblick for pitch and bunker shots.

The World Hickory Open

There are many hickory events that take place year-round across the globe, one of the biggest being the World Hickory Open, running for its ninth year in 2013.

The first World Hickory Open took place in 2005 at Musselburgh Old Links in Scotland, one of the oldest golf courses in the world. Today, the tournament is open to professionals, amateurs and women, with designated handicaps for each category. The format includes up to 22 teams in two separate shotgun starts on the first day, with each team consisting of three players.

The rules regarding equipment for the World Hickory Open are incredibly strict, and any decisions regarding them are final. Players are permitted to use clubs that fit into one of three categories: antique hickory-shafted clubs (equipment with club heads made prior to 1935); modern reproduction hickory-shafted clubs (equipment that replicates as closely as possible pre-1935 clubs) and retro-fitted clubs (clubs made before 1935 that at the time of their release were available in both wood and steel shafts). These retrofitted clubs must be fitted with period or hickory shafts.

The skills

One of the attractions of hickory golf comes in the pride of individual skill in the game. Because the golf clubs are far more difficult to use and there are fewer to select from, players can feel a higher sense of pride knowing that they were the one to make the shot, not the technological advances of the club.

Golfers claim that playing hickory requires more talent and results in a better appreciation of the skill required to get a good score. It really makes players stop and recognize how talented golfers of the past were to play the way that they did.

Period wear

Another fun element of this version of the game is the attire. Hickory golfers often wear golf clothing typical of the era from which their clubs were made—meaning baggy plaid shorts, high socks, tweed jackets and hats from your grandfather’s closet. There are even events that make dressing in period wear mandatory, and failure to comply results in penalties on the offending players’ scorecards. The time frame is typically that of the 1930s and 1940s.

Ancient equipment

Many of those heading the hickory movement are members of the British Golf Collectors Society. They have extensive knowledge of the history of the game as well as authentic equipment nearly a century old and believe that playing hickory golf means that they are playing classic courses the way they are meant to be played, with the equipment they were designed for.

One of the issues with this, of course, is the question of whether it is more important to preserve historically valuable golf equipment or to continue to use it and give it life as it was intended. Many decide upon the latter and use authentic equipment from the time periods. Others elect to use replicas. Whatever you choose, hickory golfers have the utmost respect for one another, and they certainly have fun taking a leaf out of the history books when they hit the course.