Wee Nip - Society of Hickory Golfers

A Chip Shot
from the President
A
Hickory Golf is well and alive. This
year, I have experienced more people who
are enjoying the great game of GOLF with
hickory clubs.
They are experiencing traditional shot
values and the joy of a “pure” shot struck
with hickories. What can I say, as those of
us who have had this feeling for many years
are now considered the “old timers” when
we show up at events. We tried to tell others,
but it just takes playing a game of golf with
hickories for others to realize the true joy
of the experience. Thanks for asking your
friends to try a round with hickories.
The Arkansas Hickory Open was a wonderful
event on a great old course hosted by
the Country Club of Little Rock, Arkansas
Golf Association and the Mountain Valley
Spring Company. Breck Speed of Mountain
Valley reported the results to our Web site
readers. If you can make it next year, you
must experience this event.
Mid Pines 2006 concluded in November
– Rob Pilewski reported that nearly 80 players
participated; a great Donald Ross course
that is perfect for hickory golf. This event
will be held in 2007 just before the National
Meeting of the Golf Collectors Society – ALL
in Southern Pines at the Pine Needles and
Mid Pines resorts. They are right across the
street from each other. This will be a great
time. Mark it down as a must.
Carol and I have moved to Selma, Ala.,
and will host our Southern Hickory Four
Ball there next March 30 and 31. I hope you
and you partner will return or, if you have
not come before, please plan to play. In
our area, the Robert Trent Jones Trail golf
courses are close, so you can come to the
South and play some great golf courses as
well as the SH4Ball.
The next few years are going to be very
exciting in Hickory Golf. I feel we are very
lucky to have the events we currently have
and I am sure the list will grow as well as
the numbers of players. Introduce a friend
to hickories. Give him good clubs that you
would play with yourself and I am sure you
will have a hickory golf friend for life.
Merry Christmas to all.
Tad Moore
President, Society of Hickory Golfers
Wee Nip
from the
Society of Hickory Golfers
Newsletter of the Society of Hickory Golfers Autumn 2006 www.hickorygolfers.org
Tom Stewart, meet
Ralph Livingston III
It is a modest home on a quiet street
deep in the American Midwest. The
landscaping is clean and unpretentious,
an agreeable setting that is both
welcoming and
neighborly.
There is nothing
here that hints
of anything
unusual inside.
Yet, the owner’s
basement den
and workshop
are home to perhaps
the world’s
foremost collection
of clubs
made by arguably
the world’s
greatest maker
of hickory-era
clubs, Tom
Stewart.
Most of you
are familiar
with Ralph
Livingston III.
He is a commercialphotographer
who lives
in Grand Rapids, Mich., USA, and one
of the founders of the Society of Hickory
Golfers. You have spoken with him, played
golf with him or read of his interests in
golf. His passion for the game, for fathoming
its nuances and understanding the
relationship between land, club and human
have made him a sort of beacon for collectors,
researchers and film makers.
It was not his intention to play golf.
Indeed, the fever came late, introduced to
him by his future bride in a moment of
triumph – on one of their earliest dates,
Livingston accompanied Krista to her company’s
golf outing. She won. He became
hooked in two
ways – they wed;
he took up golf.
As a wedding
gift, they bought
each other a
membership to
a local country
club.
Some five or
six years later,
as Livingston
remembers, he
acquired a Tom
Stewart putter.
“When I found
it, I was putting
very poorly and
when I swung
it, I really liked
it,” he says.
“Something just
clicked with that
club, and since
I started with a
Stewart, I felt that
I would just collect his clubs.”
Collect he has. Though he is coy about
the official number, Livingston estimates
he has between 500 and 3,000 clubs, most
of them Stewarts. This includes 76 unique
Stewart putters, the only part of the collection
he has bothered to count. It is the
result of at least 15 years of dedicated
collecting. Their value is open to guess,
the artistry of clubs made by Tom Stewart has been a longtime
passion for noted hickory enthusiast Ralph Livingston III.
see STEWART, 8

Tournament
Fixtures
March 25 – BGCS Welsh Hickory Championship
The 2007 British Golf Collectors Society Welsh
Hickory Championship will be contested over the
links at Aberdovey Golf Club, former home of
Bernard Darwin.
March 29-31 – Southern Hickory Four Ball
The Southern Hickory Four Ball moves in 2007
from LaGrange, Ga. to Selma, Ala. and the Selma
Country Club.
April 28 – Excelsior Days Hickory Partnership
The Excelsior Springs 2-Person Best Ball event will
be held at the 18-hole Excelsior Spring golf club in
Excelsior, Mo. The Tom Bendalow design opened
in 1915.
May 21 – BGCS Central England Hickory
Championship
The second major hickory event on the BGCS
fixtures card for 2007 takes place at the scenic
Coxmoor Golf Club in Nottingham, England.
May 25 – BGCS Scottish Hickory Championship
The third major on the BGCS fixtures card for 2007
will be contested over the strategic links at Gullane
No. 3, in East Lothian, Scotland.
June 7-9 – National Hickory Championship
The NHC makes a return to the historic Oakhurst
Links in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Contestants
play 36 holes over two days.
Sept. 14-16 – C.B. MacDonald Tournament
This tournament will be at Niagara on the Lake GC,
North America’s oldest golf course.
Sept. 26-28 – World Hickory Open Championship
The 2007 World Hickory Open Championship will be
held at Craigielaw Golf Club in Aberlady, Scotland.
Oct. 5 – BGCS English Hickory Championship
The final BGCS major of 2007 will be played over
the classic links at Rye Golf Club in Rye, England.
Nov. 2-4 – Mid Pines Hickory Open
The 4th annual Mid Pines Hickory Open
Championship has fast become one of the premier
events for hickory enthusiasts. The 36-hole medal
event is played on a Donald Ross gem in Southern
Pines, NC.
The Wee Nip is the printed newsletter of the Society of
Hickory Golfers. It is published twice yearly. Articles,
comments, correspondence are gratefully accepted,
though publication is not guaranteed.
Address all correspondence to:
Editor, Wee Nip
338 Gladstone Ave. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506 USA
or via e-mail to: jdavis@grpress.com
For information about the Society of Hickory Golfers,
visit the Web site at:
www.hickorygolfers.com
failure to adapt? Called the oldest playing course in the world, Musselburgh Links faces uncertain changes, perhaps
as a result of its reluctance, or ability, to adapt as the game has changed through the 20th century.
A Musselburgh story
“The oldest course in the world and the
man who champions its cause.”
Nick Turnbull, Editor, World Golfer
– Issue 6, 2004; referring to Lionel
Freedman
by lionel freedman
secretary, musselburgh links
1999-2005
Of all the golf courses in the history
of the game, Musselburgh must be
considered the most tragic.
Musselburgh Links is the oldest continuously
played course in existence.
Records exist dating back to 1567 when
Mary Queen of Scots was reputed to have
played there, prior to her surrender to the
confederate Lords.
Musselburgh hosted the Open
Championship six times between 1874
and 1889.
Five Musselburgh men won the
Championship 11 times in the latter part
of the 19th century and the links was
where they learned the game.
There is no doubt that the golf course
is a very special place and deserves to be
treated with respect by those who play it
or just wander through the fairways. It is
therefore extremely important that those
who wish to make changes must do so
with the utmost respect and integrity for
its status.
This does not mean that things should
remain unchanged: History suggests that
golf courses that do not adapt to the times
2
quickly find their reputation diminishing.
Where Musselburgh still exists, its reputation
is damaged, as it did not adapt as the
game changed through the 20th century
and golfers found other places to play.
All the existing great and ancient links
of Scotland have required modification as
modern technology has taken the game to
new levels, allowing even average players
to hit greater distances. The 2005 Open
Championship at St Andrews had six new
tees made to make the course a sterner
test. This year’s open at Hoylake, another
ancient links, had considerable changes to
the course involving new bunkering, new
tees and slight realignment of fairways.
Donald Steel, the golf course architect,
first consulted by me to design the new
nine holes at Musselburgh and to oversee
the proposed changes to the Old Course,
was responsible for this.
Whilst purists have argued against those
proposed changes at Musselburgh, they are
deemed necessary by those who have the
game at heart and to ensure that golf courses
continue to provide the test demanded
by players and spectators alike. Survival
depends on preserving the reputation of the
course. No golf course can stand the criticisms
of being dated, too short, too easy to
play, especially one that has hosted Open
Championships in the past.
Perhaps this is the right place to quote
Bernard Darwin’s description of the
see LINKS, 15

Featured
Club
The club with
the hole in it.
My favorite club has a hole in it!
That’s right, from the bottom right
up through the top. It was the first of the
long line of “pick-em-up” clubs that help the
golfer retrieve his successful putt from the
cup. One reason I like this item is because
I have been fortunate enough to obtain
considerable provenance as well as later versions
of the club. All together they make for
a composite display that is quite interesting.
Mr. A. Stanley Isles of Hoylake,
England, was the senior citizen inventor
of this useful club. His age may have
contributed to the reason for its creation,
as not having to bend over to get his ball
may have been his original intent. The first
model, which you see pictured here, was
an aluminum-headed deep faced mallet
style putter that he cut horizontally in half
to insert a piece of leather. The two halves
were put back together using screws,
while the leather piece was sandwiched
between. The leather insert had a hole cut
in it smaller than the ball. Little slice cuts
were made around the inside circumference
of the leather which then allowed the
ball to pop through from the bottom and
rest on the top. Unfortunately, leather does
not hold up well in wet and salty conditions.
The result was that the leather dried
and pieces broke off, which caused the
ball to fall out.
Isles had to come up with another version.
This one had no hole on the top, only
the one in the bottom to grab the ball. He
lined the inside of the hole with a rough
mastic tape that would be sticky enough
to capture the ball... but not for long. This
rough tape soon wore smooth and again,
dropped the ball.
But Isles was persistent and came up
with a still better version. A small rubber
plug was inserted near the heel portion
on the sole of the putter. It bulged out a
small amount into the circular hole in the
bottom of the club. When a player pressed
“Pick-em-Up” Mallet-Style Putter
By Gary Wiren
Lake Park, FLorida, USa
down on the ball it compressed the rubber
plug and squeezed the ball into its grasp.
He now had a winner at last. By then it
was 1934 and the world was in a severe
economic depression. This was probably
the reason that today this club is a rare
collectible. Sales do not appear to have
been very brisk.
Finally, the provenance shown in the
picture refers to two of several paper
items in the collection. One is a thank
you letter from St. James’s Palace written
by the Secretary on behalf of The Prince
of Wales, who apparently was gifted one
3
of the putters. Also, you may see a letter
from the Secretary of The Royal and Ancient
Golf Club of St. Andrews indicating
that the club was perfectly legal. Additionally,
there are business letters indicating
that Mr. Isles was trying to get Spalding
to buy the patent and make the club in the
USA. Apparently that didn’t happen.
Maybe the putter was not a great success,
of that we are not sure. But what we
do know is, A. Stanley Isles must have
had a pretty good idea, since there has
been a large number of copy-cat “pickem-up”
putters that have appeared in the
marketplace since.

Bunkered!
The beach is no place for the hickory
player, but no match for niblick masters.
By MichaeL Fay
execUtive Secretary, donaLd roSS Society
As hickory players, we try our utmost to avoid sand bunkers.
The primitive “lofters” that we all carry are ofttimes
ill-equipped to handle the difficulty of bunker play. When these
pre-1930 golf courses were built, the architects of the day were
well aware of bunker phobia. That is why they placed the bunkers
where they did.
Bunkering from 1900-1930 on a good number of Donald Ross
courses reflected the half-shot penalty that Mr. Ross felt a bunker
should assess.
This is borne out by the depths to which Mr. Ross dug his
bunkers. In examining literally hundreds of original Donald Ross
hole drawings over the years, I have never seen a green-side
bunker described at less than three-and-a-half feet in depth. Five
feet appears the norm for these bunkers. As the bunker moves
further from the green, in most Ross instances, the depth rose.
Nonetheless, three-and-a-half feet remained the shallowest he
built.
Two types of bunkers that Ross built on three hundred plus
courses have all but disappeared.
The first is the cross bunker. These were placed variously
4
menacing hazards. Fairway bunkers such as these offered formidable challenge
to the hickory player of earlier days. The rough, raised wall made it tough to advance the
ball any distance, let alone remove it from the bunker itself.
and extended from the line of rough line to extend as much as
40 percent across the fairway. Often they were at yardages that
by today’s golfing standards are somewhat obsolete. It must be
remembered that the hickory player at that time had the same
difficulty as we do today in getting the ball airborne on a consistent
basis. A ball struck on the heel or toe of a driving club many
times would catch the lip of these cross bunkers 160-180 yards
off the tee. Bunkers situated at the inside of dog-leg holes challenged
the player to carry it for the most aggressive line of play.
Unlike the modern cross bunker, which in many cases does
not present significant obstruction from the bunker floor to the
green, the classic bunkers always had significant blockage to
deal with. This reinforces the half-shot penalty theory.
The second type, one that on older courses is usually altered,
is the short bunker; short as in its relative distance from the
green, somewhere between 70 and 25 yards short of the green.
These served two purposes. First, they were a hazard. Second,
and more importantly, they would provide the best route to the
green. The object in the early days of the past century was to
play the ball to land just over the bunker and bound and run to
the green. Remember, there was no irrigation outside of tees
and greens so the preferred line of play was closer to the ground.
This strategy became less useful when the irrigation systems
changed the hardness of the ground. Many of these bunkers
remain a tribute to their effectiveness as hazards.
I’ve seen quite a number of wedges of different sorts at our
outings and believe that they were an invention from after the
1930 era. Sarazen, in his victory at Princes in 1932, used the
sand wedge for the first time in recorded championship play.
Although Sarazen did not invent the club, he used it advantageously
at that Open Championship. I suspect that most of the
wood-shafted sand
wedge styled clubs
sprung up after that
Open.

I Really Enjoyed That Trip!!
Ed. note: The sweetest moments in golf are not always the
ones with the most witnesses. Rob’s story strikes true to the core
of anyone who has ever enjoyed a solo round on a beautiful day.
By roB ahLSchWede
We were driving the little yellow bug. Great fun just in
that. Had traveled from Omaha thru Iowa, Missouri,
Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and were finally in North Carolina.
I wasn’t sure playing golf in November was such a good thing. You
see, in Nebraska, where I’m from, you kinda taper off play starting
around mid-September, really slow down in October (weather gets
kinda dicey). Then, in November, you are lucky to play once in a
while – if there’s no snow and the temp gets to 42 or 43 F.
I had committed to play in the first Mid Pines Hickory
Tournament in Southern Pines, NC,
with a game that needs constant help/
practice to have a chance to look like
“a game,” and that constancy had left
me a couple of months earlier.
But, it was the first Mid Pines, Rob
Pilewski had done all the work, and
like many hickory players, I figured
he could use the support we all need
when we start one of these deals. A
full field is always best. A top 10 finish in a nine-player field
looks good, but deep down you wanted more folks there to hide
those ugly shots and scores.
Susan, my wife, had decided she could come along, if I promised
to stop a few times along the way. First, St. Louis – we’d
always gone through St. Louis on the way to somewhere else
– the botanical gardens there are awesome.
Ever gone up in the Arch? Man!! Then on to west Tennessee
where we saw my brother and his wife. Just a quick stop for
lunch – they both had class to teach at the college that afternoon.
At Knoxville, we stopped for the night with old friends from
Nebraska. Actually, Margo had been our maid of honor (for
those of you who care about such things) way back in the 60s in
Nebraska. Got to fly an airplane. Seems Margo’s husband flies
and invited us to go up for a spin. Big road, that sky. Then rolled
into North Carolina.
We stopped at Asheville. We’d been there before. Did the
tourist thing, including The Biltmore, a few of them artsy places
Susan likes, but had not played golf on previous trips. I did need
a practice round. So, this time....
I knew there were some good courses in Asheville, but the
Donald Ross course at the Grove Park Inn was my choice. The
place was almost deserted. It was November, after all. I decided
to ride (when playing a course for the first time you can go up
ahead and look at the hole to help figure how to play it – like
that helps me). I paid my fee and waited for someone to play
with. Rolled putts on the practice green for a while. No one.
There was a foursome out there, but no one waiting or scheduled
for another hour. So, off I went, alone, which most of us know is
a great way to play golf anyway.
After riding thru five states in a small car, spending two nights
in strange beds and eating God knows what, it took a couple of
5
holes to loosen up. Finally, on the first par three, I made a good
stroke. OK. That’s more like it. Finally working up a rhythm, of
sorts. Did miss that 6-foot birdie.
The air was clean and crisp. A light breeze. Perfect for
November with autumn sunshine that lays an almost golden
patina on everything it touches. Some good fall foliage color, a
little moisture from last night’s sprinklers and a course just off of
its club championship. It was smooth greens, manicured fairways
and freshly raked bunkers.
I played without seeing anyone. Well, there was that foursome
up ahead, but with playing extra shots here and there, a few mulligans,
and practice putting on most greens, they kept well ahead.
It was just what I needed, practice. Lots of shots, lots of putts,
and lots of fresh air. It was great.
No matter how slow you are, a single always catches up to a
foursome. I did that on the 16th. An uphill par four. Short, but
the incline is a challenge as is the bunkering on the approach.
The foursome signaled me to play through, so I appropriately
chunked my approach. I did pitch my
third to about 2 feet, picked it up, graciously
thanked the fellows and made
my way, hoping not to hold them up
too much.
The 17th at Grove Park is a slightly
downhill par 3. The card and the sign
both said 155 yards. The elevated tee
is in the front garden of a really beautiful
stone house the Inn owns. I figured
my cut-down Spalding Kro-Flite 2-iron with the lead tape
that Bennie in Edmonton had traded me for a couple of H & B
left-handed commons, would be the club. After all, it is my 150club.
So, hotel tight on the right (lots of glass windows – man,
I hope I don’t break a window) and a steep grade falling away
from the green on the left (can’t pull it left, or I’ll never find it) I
swallow hard and swing away.
I actually put a pretty good swing on it. Almost smooth.
No pull. The hotel windows were safe, too. Hey!!! This looks
good! The ball landed on the front half of the green, took two
bounces... and rolled in. I stand there. Looking foolish, probably.
Damn! Did that go in?!
A quick look around. Saw no one. There was a fella in one of
the hotel windows, but he was looking at whatever. The group
behind me were still putting out on the 16th. No one!! I arrived
greenside, walked over without my putter, and pulled the ball
from the cup. A hole in one! An ace! And no one else saw it. As
I returned to the cart, the superintendent pulls up in his carryall
cart. “Did you see that?” I ask. His reply indicated that he did
not, and that he sure wished he had. Me, too.
I did manage a three-putt bogey on the 18th. Back pin and I
hit the very front of the green. Don’t know what I shot that day,
don’t even know what day it was, really. And, really don’t care
to know. It was just plain beautiful.
The fella in the clubhouse was pleased. Hickory club? “Cool”
The cart guy was happy for me. Even the lady in the Grove Park
Inn gift shop thought it was pretty neat. You bet I told her!! In
fact, Susan was almost as excited as I was.
Don’t remember where we stayed that night. Played terribly in
the Mid Pines. I believe I was fourth in the ladies division (and
there were only three of them playing).
Man, I really enjoyed that trip!!

Swedish Hickory hosts 51 players
Finland and Canada join
international field at
Djursholm Golfklubb
By Pehr therManieUS
The Swedish Hickory Championship
became more international this
summer as players from two new
nations came to play at Djursholms
Golfklubb, just outside Stockholm
on 29th July.
Antti Paatola became the first
Finnish player to enter. He is a
leading force behind the development
of the hickory game at home
and has played in a number of
events in England and Wales. Antti
organises a budding hickory tour in
Finland.
The other new nation is Canada,
represented by golf architect Bob
Kaine. He has designed the new
greens that have been built at
Djursholm during the last couple of
following through. Jörgen Linse is Sweden’s
leading hickory club collector and co-founder of
the championship.
after the round, Scottish Hickory organiser Ron Beatt, his task fulfilled this season, relaxed together with former
Swedish ladies champion Annika Thunström.
years.
Bob’s work was admired by all.
He has treated the the Djursholm
1930’s course very carefully and
has laid out greens that are wonderfully
“golfy” and that never
“shout” at the players. Instead, they
speak in a soft voice – still, they
are always ready to inflict serious
damage to the careless player’s
score.
The championship had a dramatic
start with a thunderstorm passing
over Stockholm. That meant the
championship had to be shortened
to 10 holes. But the weather cleared
and various matches were arranged
on the 11th tee. A multi-national
six-ball greensome match was seen
fighting it out among the oaks off
the 18th fairway.
In the ladies championship, 2002
champion Annika Thunström of
Ljunghusens Golfklubb was held as
the favorite. But, as she explained,
6
champions. 2006 Swedish Hickory champions Maj-
Britt Widenfelt and Mikael Garnow pose with their cups
and the championship trophy. This is a replica of a Tom
Morris playclub. Between competitions it is displayed in
the Swedish Golf Museum.
she made too many mistakes and
could not hold off Maj-Britt Widenfelt,
playing for the host club.

a new club. Gothenburgh veteran Göran Flach, left, got hold of a new club out of Owe Werner’s stock. This season
Owe organises the first hickory tour on courses around Stockholm.
in a last attempt to defend his championship
Peder Kruse tried to cut the corner on the last hole, but
ended up among the blueberry bushes.
Maj-Britt plays to nine and she
is the champion with the lowest
handicap to date.
Judging from handicaps, the
field in the men’s event was by far
the best that has contended for the
championship. Young professional
Klas Ohlsson, who has recently
published a Swedish book on the
history of golf, looked secure at
one over par. But in the last group,
Mikael Garnow confinently holed a
lengthy put for a score of level par.
Mikael is a member of the cluster
of hickory golfers around the
pretty links course of Helsingborgs
Golfklubb at Viken on the southern
tip of Sweden.
This is where Claes Kvist is the
one who lures golfers away from
steel, plastic and space metals.
For the first time, we staged a
veterans’ championship. Hans
Murray needed an extra hole to
defeat Carl Folcker, both playing
for Djursholm. Carl, however, won
the handicap prize. Both of these
new trophies were presented to the
championship by Chris Homer last
year.
7
All in all, 51 players entered this
year and together with families and
guests filled the clubhouse for the
championship dinner.
After the presentation of the trophies
it was announced the the 10th
Swedish Hickory Championship
will be played over the links of
Ljunghusen, in southern Sweden.
The date is still to be decided, but
the weekend of July 15-16, 2007
looks like a safe bet.
Look to the spring edition of the
Wee Nip, or the Society of Hickory
Golfers Web site for confirmation
of the date.
Footnote: Other nations in the
championship so far are Scotland,
England and Estonia. No American
has yet entered.
winning putt. Mikael Garnow holed this put to win
the ninth Swedish Hickory Championship.

STEWART
continued from 1
but a layman might put it easily in six
figures. Monetary value, however, is but a
crude and arbitrary measure of a hickory
collection. An ancient Vedic saying goes
that knowledge comes to him who is
ready to accept it. It is easy to believe that
the clubs have found Livingston and not
the other way around.
“I wanted to document them, to find out
what they were all about,” he says. “After
a few years of accumulating them, Pete
(Georgiady) urged me to maintain a collection.
So, I continued studying what I
had and added anything that was different
from what I had. What I learned is that
Stewart was an incredibly versatile maker.
There are so many different clubs. I mean,
you are talking Tweenies, Sammies; there
are 44, 66, 88 irons that are alternatives
to existing named irons. Many are variations
on the same club, but have different
trajectories, such as the Mongrel Mashie,
Jigger and 3-Iron. There’s the Benny, the
Young Benny, the Swlican Pitcher…”
As Livingston continues, we might take
a moment to note that his Hickorygolf.
com Web site has become a sort of central
server, a touchstone for hickory golf aficianados
and those seeking both introduction
and information about play with hickory
clubs. It has been many years since
he played with anything other than his
beloved set of “Tommy Stewarts.” He has
become a familiar and welcome figure at
events both in the U.S. and the U.K. and
has won several of them. It is also worth
noting that his expertise in the matter of
hickory golf clubs has brought him to the
attention of the motion picture industry,
which has sought his advice – and his
clubs – in the making of such films as
“The Legend of Bagger Vance” and “The
Greatest Game Ever Played.”
Livingston’s basement showroom is
about 13-by-32 – a small space indeed to
contain such a wealth of history. Clubs
are displayed along the walls in traditional
fashion, but in an ordered system that
indicates their natural relationships.
Kingdom – Golf clubs
Phylum – Hickory clubs
Class – Tom Stewart
Order – Iron heads
Family – Approach clubs
Genus – Mashie
Species – Mongrel Mashie
But, back to Livingston who is pointing
to a beautiful Jigger on the wall. “Stewart
would do special orders. For example,
you could order a 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-Jigger
set. It all depended on the nature of your
game, the courses you play and the type
of shot shape you were trying to accomplish.
Every club was designed with a
shot intent. What I like to do is try to
figure it out from the head shape and the
original shafts characteristics.
“Tom Stewart would shut down the shop
so workers could see tournaments. He had
a good work ethic and was a good manager.
Other manufacturers tried to lure his
men away so they could have a Stewart
foreman in their shops. From what I’ve
seen, his clubs as currently found, have
the highest percentage of playability of
any maker. He made them for top players
and well-heeled players, either good or
rich. He made the first Jigger and the first
Approaching Cleek. This man was dedicated
to high standards.”
Livingston shows the visitor a current
proof of his book on Tom Stewart and the
clubs. It is a substantial work, as detailed
and thorough in its approach as any club
made by its subject. It is sure to be well
received and will stand as a definitive
work on this most revered of the old masters.
Livingston’s interest in Stewart clubs
far transcends their collectible value. “I
like to know what they did, what they
were supposed to do. After the first time
with tom stewart looking over his shoulder, Ralph Livingston III holds one of the many clubs in his collection. He
has devoted himself to the research and collection of Stewart’s work.
8

livingston’s putter collection includes 76 examples of Stewart’s work among
other unique clubs. Putters are one of the few collectibles that still offer unique finds
for the knowledgeable collector, according to Livingston.
I played in Scotland I started seeing an
architectural relationship to the clubs, and
especially to the links courses. I wanted
to know why there is so much diversity to
these old clubs. And then, my god, then
you had the changes in the ball and that
also changed the nature of the clubs.
“You had two pull-backs in the ball, in
1921 and 1930, to establish performance
limits. Before 1921, the balls ranged from
1.57 up to 1.75 inches; and this is just the
sizes I have seen in advertisements, they
could have produced balls that were even
smaller or larger. The weights were just
as far ranging with offerings of light (1.5x
oz.), medium (1.6x oz.) and heavy (1.7x
oz.) in all those different sizes. That year
they limited the ball to a 1.62” minimum
size, and a 1.62 oz. maximum. The ball
manufacturers continued
their distance
orgy and by 1930
the USGA further
reduced the distance
of the ball. The highest
performing balls
had to be similar to, or
exceeded the ProV1
of today. Some of the
shot distance examples
are truly remarkable.”
His spirited digression
on the nature
of the ball notwithstanding,
it is course
architecture that
interests him most.
If you have had the
good fortune to play
golf with Livingston,
you will have seen
him stop at various
points on the course,
studying the outline of
a bunker, noting fairway
contours and the
shape and slope of the
greens.
“I can see some of
the difference in the
club changes, with
respect to the courses that were being
played in that era. It would be interesting
to know how and why which clubs
were made to suit certain courses. Styles
of play were so different. Stewart was an
absolute genius when it came to understanding
the challenges a particular client
would face on his favorite golfing ground.
This is one reason his clubs are so fascinating.
Just putting together the relationships
of the weights and sizes of the clubs
to the weights and sizes of the balls will
require significant study. I have clubs that
make absolutely no sense with the modern
ball but must have performed with a ball
of appropriate weight and size.”
It is hard to settle one’s focus when
9
“It would be interesting to
know how and why which
clubs were made to suit
certain courses.”
viewing Livingston’s collection. From the
stand of unique putters in the center of
the room, the magnificent Stewarts on the
wall, the collection of woods, an entire
genus of driving irons, the classes of other
collectibles – including a wonderful iron
that belonged to the great Francis Ouimet
– and the various bags of Stewarts that
serve both as movie props and loaner sets
to lucky friends and acquaintances. He
estimates that he has made three to five
dozen sets of Stewarts over the years. One
set in particular deserves mention, his
own.
“A bonus of my collecting mainly
Stewarts is that I can obviously put
together the best set available,” he says.
“Tiger Woods could play them. They are
powerful clubs, though, you’ve got to
have the physical strength to swing them
properly.”
This last he says with a rueful touch,
for he has been slowed the past few years
as he recovers from operations to remove
numbered stewarts, such as the 44, 66, 88 clubs
above, represent an attempt to order clubs by loft as an
alternative to existing irons of the day.

two brain tumors. “The old bean doesn’t
recall things as quickly as it used to,” he
says. The visitor finds that hard to believe,
as Livingston speaks with knowledge,
authority and passion about his favorite
subject. If the name or origin of a particular
club escapes him at the moment,
we can forgive this easily. The fellow has
hundreds if not thousands of other clubs
committed to memory!
The exact contents of Livingston’s
play set are documented on his Web site,
hickorygolf.com. It is enough to note here
that many of them are highly-prized RTJ
Stewarts, made to the specifications of
one Bobby Jones, an American golfer of
some note.
Over the years, Livingston has seen his
share of clubs.
“I have looked through something close
to a million clubs over the last decade
and a half,” he says. “The National and
Dayton GCS shows, I think, had over
100,000 clubs when the society was
larger. I’d love to see those quantities at a
show once again.”
Given a club at random, he can quickly
size up both its value as a player or a collectible
by a quick examination of shaft,
head and cleek marks. “The first thing I
look for is playable characteristics,” he
says. “I look for anything I don’t have
and I haven’t seen anything that fits that
a rare giant niblick is among the Stewart collection
in Livingston’s golf den.
the ultimate play set. Perhaps the best set of playable Tom Stewart clubs in the world belong to Livingston. For
a complete description of the clubs, visit the hickorygolf.com Web site and click on “In Their Bags.”
description. Putters probably get my attention
more than anything else these days.
You can still find something different here
and there. There was more experimentation
with putters than anything else.”
(Some things never change.)
The section of wooden headed clubs
boasts several Jack Whites and a set
of James Braids. Of this collection
Livingston says “I enjoy the playing
aspect of them and like to see what the
heck they did. The majority are playable
drivers, spoons and brassies line the wall in this section of the room. There are several Jack White clubs and
a number of James Braid models.
10

play sets stand ready among the more collectible items in the Livingston collection. They have been used in such movies as “The Legend of Bagger Vance” and “The Greatest
Game Ever Played.”
and in collecting the group of woods,
most are utility clubs in function, was one
of the few diversions from the Stewarts.”
Perhaps the most interesting club in
Livingston’s collection is an old Tom
Morris long-nose Putter that he calls “Old
Tommy.” It is probably the oldest in his
collection, dating to the 1870’s. This club
was his primary putter for a little over
two years and was even treated to a trip to
visit it’s makers grave in 2001.
Ever the man to test his limits,
Livingston acquired a burl of Applewood
and carved as exact a replica of a Tom
Morris play club that he could manage.
He prepared the shaft which was
“borrowed” from another splice club,
wrapped on the grip and took the result to
a National Hickory event where the club
was good enough – at first glance only,
mind you – for Pete Georgiady to recognize
it as a Morris club.
A man of exacting standards when it
comes to hickory history and research,
Livingston has a pet peeve he wishes
would be laid to rest. “Please, stop calling
mashies “5-irons.” Mashies are mashies,
they are their own club. There is no such
thing in that era as a 5-iron. That nomenclature
depended on the numbering of
a particular set. The driving Iron down
through the mashie are “approaching”
clubs. The mashie through the niblick
were considered “pitching” clubs. How
the mashie was played depended on the
players preference.”
A bit of advice from Livingston on
hickory play –
“In the 20’s and earlier, there was no
philosophy of hitting a long way up the
fairway to flop a niblick on the green.
It was a strategic game of drive and
approach, or drive and pitch. And drive
didn’t necessarily mean driver. So, when
playing today, try to find an approach club
that works well, a high percentage club,
one that you know you can hit accurately
into the greens, and try to lay up your
drives to that distance.
“Nowadays, it is a game of graduated
lofts and graduated distances. Back then,
half and 3/4 swings were the norm and most
shots inside 150 yards were approached as
a pitch shot. They were done entirely by
feel using anything from the mashie through
11
the niblick. It is unfortunate that the longer
pitches are generally not seen today and
have been forced out of use in the U.S.
because of course conditioning.”
One could spend the better part of a
day discussing hickory golf and club history
with Livingston. There are few who
take the pastime as passionately as he, and
fewer less who have so devoted themselves
to it’s history and development. This writer
is one who, among many, no doubt, owes a
debt of gratitude to Livingston for an introduction
to hickory play.
As the Stewart book nears its date
with the printer, Livingston is likely in
his workshop, cleaning a club, measuring
a shaft or researching the origins of a
puzzling Mongrel Iron or Mashie Cleek.
There’s always something more.
“Man, I have so
much stuff to
research...”

low net Prize brings
hubris at cost to head
There is an odd strain
of individual at my
club – I’m sure you’re
familiar with the type
– that persists in thinking
I’m “a little bit off” for my
interest in hickory clubs. To deflect their barbs, I joke that I’ve
found that the secret to my continued happiness is in climbing
farther and farther up smaller and smaller pyramids. One of
these pyramids is clearly hickory golf. Now let’s be frank: I’ll
never be a golfer of note with my modern clubs. Tiger Woods is
not threatened when I tee it up; Greg Norman doesn’t ring me
looking for psychological counseling. But with my hickories, I
believe I have found my calling.
Start me up
As hickory golf gains more converts, SoHG members
share their tales of getting started.
In fact, for those of you who may not be familiar, I humbly
reign as the 2005 National Hickory Champion, Reserve
Division. Ah, the very sound of it: National Champion! The
whole week following the NHC last year, I was walking around
my house saying to the wife “the national champion would
like his eggs over easy this morning,” and “the national champion
would like you to change the TV channel.” That was, of
course, immediately before the frying pan and the remote control
(respectively) hit me in the (somewhat over-inflated) head.
Of course, this new found hubris has come at a cost. Some
unsavory members of my club got me drunk (I assure you, they
put me in a head lock, and the damnable crew forced the offending
scotch right down my gullet!) And, in this compromised
state, I let slip that “Reserve Division” is an indicator meaning I
got the “low net” prize. Upon learning this, they teased me mercilessly
– but deep, deep, down I could sense the teaming froth
of their inner jealousies! Never mind. Upon the completion of
the Orvis Cup last month, I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal
and shown on New England Sports Network TV holing out a
12-foot putt – a treacherous downhill breaker. “When,” I regally
sniff at my celebrity-challenged compatriots, “was the last time
you were quoted in the press about your golf game?” [Cricket…
Cricket...]
MattheW doddS
chieF BrandthroPoLoGiSt
why i took uP hickory golf?
I first hit a hickory club at the collectors meeting in Louisville
and really enjoyed it. I played off and on with hickories just to
sharpen up before hickory events. However, the more modern
equipment I tried, the less enjoyment I was getting out of the
game. Last fall I started playing only with hickories and just find
that golf is more fun and interesting with this equipment. Ninety
percent of my play is for social reasons so I want to use equipment
that is going to give me the most pleasure. Hickory clubs
do that.
How hickory golf changed my swing?
Actually, my swing has not changed. The only thing I had to
adjust to is length. It has improved my tempo because on longer
holes, I realize I may not reach the green, so I tend to overswing
less and rely on my short game more.
How hickory golf has increased my enjoyment of the game?
Tremendously. I find great appeal in the uncertanty involved
in the equipment and the challenge involved in striking the ball
well. The game is just more interesting to me. There are many
more varieties of shots in a round of golf now and that makes it
fun.
Swing tips that have helped my hickory game.
12

Keep good swing tempo and balance. Don’t try to hit the ball
to hard.
Other thoughts.
People should play golf in whatever manner gives them the
most pleasure. Hickory golf may not be for everyone but however
you play, enjoy it and don’t take it to seriously. It’s a game
and as my favorite golfer, Walter Hagen said, “Stop and smell
the flowers now and then.”
Mike StevenS
temPo and enjoyment
I recently took up hickory golf after many years of collecting.
Playing with hickories has really helped me with the tempo of
my swing and the overall enjoyment of the game. I’m looking
forward to playing in more events next year and finding a good
putter and sand club to fill out my set.
tiM FLynn
rediscovering delight in golf
I actually played my first golf with hickory clubs. First, a
cut-down and then because I couldn’t afford second-hand steel
shafted ones!
I kept my old mashie and a couple of years ago ‘refound’ it
and decided to hit a couple of balls with it. What a delight!
I was getting increasingly disillusioned with golf; I didn’t realize
it at the time, but my hightech clubs were to blame. Trying to
maintain distance as I got older I was trying to hit the ball hard,
and the forgiveness of my irons allowed me to get away with bad
swings – also there was no difference in feel between a good and
a bad shot, hence no feedback, and my swing, which at one time
had been good enough to sustain a scratch handicap, became
uglier and uglier, and my scores became worse and worse.
Wth hickories of course there is instanteous feedback together
with that ecstatic feeling that one gets when hitting the ball in the
sweet spot!
Of course my tempo has improved, and on the few occasions I
play with regular clubs, I score better.
As for hickory golf increasing my enjoyment of the game,
well, for a start one meets a great bunch of guys (and gals), real
golfers who really love the game; I really enjoy stringing the
ball; I have rediscoved the joys of the pitch and run; I get to play
great courses as they were designed to be played; and I get to
manufacture shots instead of just “dialing in a distance.” Oh! and
I aso enjoy the club repair aspect, although for any fancy stuff I
send it off to the real experts.
Frank BoUMPhrey
golfing journey leads to love of hickory
I came to hickory as a way to relax after the regular tournament
season of modern golf and as a vehicle to play with my
children. I knew nothing about this segment of the golfing world
and bought a set of smooth faced replicas and two long neck
woods from a manufacturer in Scotland, which I noticed on the
Internet. The clubs were not cheap, but the day they arrived, I
took them to the Zanesville Country Club for nine holes and shot
37 from the championship tees of 3,500 yards and was hooked. I
even contemplated using them in an inter-club scratch match the
13
following week, but felt it might be an insult to my competitor.
Well, that level of prowess did not continue, but I found early
evening rounds to be quite enjoyable with the hickories.
My good friend, Dennis Paustenbach, had some old hickories
and he gave me a few of them to display in my condo in
Pinehurst. I am not one to collect things but it was fun to see
them in a rack with some other memorabilia from my personal
golfing journey of persimmon woods and the J driver which was
one of the first metal heads on the market.
Dave Ellis had some old clubs and we decided to play hickory
together off and on and then we heard about the Hickory Open
in Pinehurst and planned to attend in 2004, but a foul weather
report kept us at home. In 2005, we determined that we would
attend and asked Jim Clawson from the University of Virginia to
join us. I contacted Mike Just of Louisville Golf and bought four
irons and two replica woods, and had him re-shaft several old
clubs that had nice heads. One was a Stewart mashie niblick and
he told me that I had a nice club, but I did not know why.
We played the fousomes event at Pine Needles and Dave and I
experienced the strain of alternate shot with hickory to a smooth
92. During the competition at Mid Pines, I struck the ball beautifully,
but had 42 putts for a first round of 87, followed by a second
round of 81 with better putting.
During the club show, I talked with Scott Patrick from
Scotland, which whom we had played alternate shot, and first
became aware of the significance of Tom Stewart as a club
maker. Chris McIntyre befriended us and joined us during the
final round and I began to be educated about hickory golf clubs.
continued, 14

STARTING UP
continued from 13
We had so much fun at the event and loved seeing the old
clubs at Donald Ross’ home during a cocktail party.
Breaking clubs became an issue and we found a skilled club
maker in Zanesville, who had never worked with hickory. He
attended the Dayton show in January and became intrigued with
the way things were done and Joe Lawler has become our resident
club physician, taking Tad Moore hickory and putting them
back into play in short order. We now had a sustainable system
of procurement through e-Bay and local repair. I took my hickories
to Arizona in December 2005 and broke several on the hard
desert floor. A trip to Florida with friends was more suitable with
only one casualty.
In less than a year, I have accumulated at least four full sets
of Tom Stewart irons and assorted woods from E-bay, Chris
McIntyre, Randy Jensen, and John Sherwood. My hope is to
have sufficient clubs so that I can provide the hickory experience
to golfing friends when we visit Pinehurst on golfing holidays.
I will also have to admit that procurement of hickory clubs can
be addictive and as they say in the lottery, “Please play responsibly.”
My wife is now a bit concerned when the long cardboard
shipping boxes arrive from UPS.
I can honestly say that the fun I have had with hickory ranks
with any other golfing experience I have had. Clubs have personality,
they have a history, they give you honest feedback on
your swing, and you get a knot in your stomach when one shatters
on a fat hit. But when you tee it up, and feel the release of
the hickory into the ball at just the right time, there is nothing to
14
compare to it. I will continue to play both modern and hickory,
depending on the occasion, but there is no doubt that most of my
pleasant memories going forward will be with the old clubs. I
hope to return to Scotland to play the historic venues with hickory
and to tackle the wind, rain, sand and gorse. tanner SteWart
new found enjoyment and a smoother swing
I received my first exposure to hickory golf at the AGM of
the British Golf Collectors Society three years ago at Royal
Liverpool, site of The Open this year. My foursome partner was
the BGCS Captain. I was the only one in my group playing modern-day
clubs. I was intrigued by their shotmaking, and attracted
to the fact they were only carrying six or seven clubs. As the day
wore on, I found myself more and interested in their shots and
less and less interested in my shots.
Four months later while in Scotland, I decided to head to The
Old Course at Musselburgh Links to try a round with my very
own rental set. After paying my eight quid to play and 22 quid
for the rental clubs, I was off to the first tee. The young lad in
the starter’s building gave me three golf balls and mentioned if
I returned all of them, I could keep one. I wondered how many
returned none and kept three? Two hours and 18 holes later, I
returned with three balls in hand, and excited about pursuing this
hickory thing further.
When I returned home, I obtained some clubs, and have been
enjoying golf in a new light ever since. I played a lot of golf in
my 20’s, but had been playing less and less the last five to 10
years. A big part of that was getting married and more recently,
the birth of our daughter. But an even bigger part of it was the
back pain I had been experiencing. I live in Texas and things are
pretty warm here. Despite the heat, I felt tight while I was playing,
and would be stiff and sore after playing. I noticed with the
hickories that I didn’t experience any back pain while playing or
after I played. I am not sure if it is a result of swinging a little
slower, carrying fewer clubs, a renewed interest in playing the
game, or some combination of the three.
I mentioned swinging a little slower. That is probably the only
thing I think I have changed. I am a feel player. I don’t get too
technical, and don’t really understand that part of the game. It
is obviously very important to hit the sweet spot, so I tend to
concentrate on making solid contact, and to slow the swing down
just a bit. I don’t try to force things, and always take more club
and choke down on the grip just a bit.
The enjoyment I get out of playing hickories has been profound.
I find it to be a great joy to get together with people from
all over the world who share a love for the game and respect its
history. It really makes me appreciate how good Harry Vardon
and Bobby Jones were. Take into consideration not only the
clubs, but the ball they were playing, the condition of the links
and the difficulty traveling. Things were very different for them.
I recently played a round with my father. He played with his
modern day clubs, I played with my hickories. When we reached
the 18th tee, my father asked if it would be OK for him to play
the hole with my clubs. I encouraged him to swing away, and
down the fairway we went. We ended up playing the 18th hole
three times. My hope is that he will join me for a hickory event
sometime in the near future.
Mark WehrinG

LINKS
continued from 3
Musselburgh Links from his book “Golf
Courses of the British Isles,” published
in 1910. He writes, “But while we are in
hail of Edinburgh, we must pay a visit to
Musselburgh, the home of the Parks and
once the home of the Championship, now
shorn of its honour and little more than a
name to golfers.” Only 21 years after last
hosting the Open, Musselburgh was in
decline!
Through the 20th century, this decline
continued. Much the same can be said of
the Racecourse (1816) which surrounds
much of the golf course. However, during
the 1980s, the racecourse saw a revival
of its fortunes and soon after, its potential
was realised. Today it is arguably the best
small racecourse in Britain. At the same
time as the fortunes of the racecourse
started to improve, the Musselburgh Old
Course Golf Club was formed (1982).
This very event was probably one of the
major reasons for marking the end of the
decline. It is interesting to quote from the
original minutes dated 30th March 1982:
“A meeting was held at the Wire Mill
Club, Musselburgh and it was unanimously
agreed to start the above Golf Club.”
Officebearers were elected, 14 people were
present. The only other business dealt with
read “Dangerous tee opposite the third
green. Once we are formed as a Club there
will be more supervision of the course.”
From 1982 until 1993, the Club resided
in a makeshift clubhouse next to the
grandstand at the Racecourse, before
moving to the former Edinburgh Burgess’
clubhouse built as such in 1873. This
move to a historic building has done much
to establish the Club.
Many of you will have visited the
Course in the ’80s and ’90s. Most would
have been disappointed: Some never to
return, but others who have visited in more
recent times will have found a refurbished
historic Clubhouse gradually acquiring
its own memorabilia and a golf course,
though not yet as it should be, much more
improved and well worth a visit.
Having taken over the reins as Secretary
in 1999 and later adding Treasurer to
my remit, the Club was beginning to be
run on a more professional basis. It had
grown from around 100 members in 1993
to around 300 today. It features a full
fixture list and hosts “The Musselburgh
Challenge,” now in its seventh year,
when all the great Clubs associated with
Musselburgh play a hickory competition.
The Royal and Ancient, Bruntsfield,
Burgess, Royal Musselburgh, Prestwick,
Honourable Company and the local
Musselburgh Club along with British
Collectors and the home Club take part.
The format is two pairs playing nine
holes of foursomes medal with hickory
clubs and guttie balls. The competition
was first played for at a celebration day
of Musselburgh’s Golfing Greats in June
1999 when there was also an unveiling
of the commemorative plaque of the Five
Musselburgh Open Champions, carved
into the face of the clubhouse.
The club now has a clubhouse to be
proud of. It needs a course that its members
and visitors will want to play, not
only for its historic value but also to be in
the condition it deserves.
Having been involved in the club since
I joined in 1998, then as Secretary and
Treasurer, many changes have taken place.
The membership growth, the clubhouse
refurbishment, improvement in Club
finances from deficits to healthy surpluses
along with improved relations with the
Racecourse management and East Lothian
Council, have led to an improved profile
of the Club. This has brought about a reestablishment
of relations with the R&A
and the great and good of the game. The
British Golf Collectors and The Society of
Hickory Golfers now look on the course
in better light, with the result that it has
hosted the hickory international between
England and Scotland. The B.C.G.S.
continue to have their Scottish stableford
foursomes competition at the end of May
and also The Bruntsfield Allied celebrated
its 150th anniversary over the old links. In
July, 2005, we held the inaugural World
Hickory Open; a humble start that was
repeated more recently at Craigielaw,
Aberlady, in a much more substantial
manner, supported by the PGA, East
Lothian Council and various sponsors.
Without the Musselburgh influence this
tournament would not have got under
way and it is hoped, some day, should
the development take place, to return it to
Musselburgh.
For four years I have attended discussions
with the Racecourse and East
Lothian Council as the various plans for
the changes and extensions evolved. There
15
have been many changes of direction
and very early into those discussions, I
involved Donald Steel, one of the leading
links architects, to advise on all matters to
do with changes to the course and design
of the new nine holes.
I include here my letter written to
“Through the Green,” 2005 issue:
“I write to update B.G.C.S. members
on developments at Musselburgh. As you
know I have been a keen supporter of any
initiative that could raise the profile and
status of the Old Course. Our Club has
been very involved with negotiations with
East Lothian Council and Musselburgh
Racecourse and with Donald Steel’s help
we have produced a plan with sympathetic
alterations to the old nine, which I
am pleased to say has the approval of our
members. At our recent Special General
Meeting the membership voted overwhelmingly
in favour of our position and
authorised us to continue. To summarise
the position, the Club and I feel that the
promised improvements far outweigh the
losses to the course and on balance have
our support. Donald has managed to take
the all-weather race track out of play
to the extent that only three holes will
have it in play. Currently, seven of the
nine are compromised by the track. This
means that the golf course will have its
own boundaries and not share land. This
should alleviate the claustrophobic feeling
that the racecourse sometimes gives. The
greens that suffered at previous developments
will be replaced and rebuilt with
the existing greens and re-create the ambience
that the course deserves. Another
benefit is that the course will have a
much-needed increase in yardage (currently
2,874 yards) to 3044 yards. With new
practice facilities and a six-hole junior
course, the opportunity exists to develop
what we have into a more golfer-friendly
environment. The second phase of the
plan allows for a brand new nine holes to
complete the project and offer all golfers
a unique experience with the blending of
a modern golf facility with the character
and antiquity of the old. Donald Steel has
said ‘Of all the sites for new golf courses
that I have seen in the last forty five years,
the land for the possible extension to
Musselburgh Old Course, is as exciting as
any .What is more,Musselburgh is senior
to all the clubs or courses in East Lothian
see LINKS, 16

LINKS
continued from 15
and, with the possible
exception of North
Berwick, a marketing factor
that is a matter of envy.
However, the scenic
splendour of the new land at Musselburgh
is what really appeals. It is unsurpassed
by any of the links of East Lothian. Views
of Edinburgh and the green hills of Fife
combine with a marine landscape that takes
the breath away. Golf has been introduced
to every conceivable kind of landscape
throughout the world. Proof of its global
impact and popularity, but nothing can
match its traditional setting beside the sea.
For the majority of the rank and file
golfers, the game is an escape, allowing
access to some of the most beautiful surroundings
at the same time. To add such a
scenic dimention to Musselburgh’s proud
heritage is manna from heaven. Coupled
with the opportunity to establish extensive
practice facilities and a six-hole children’s
course, the result can only be a significant
boost to its already much-heralded image.
The concept of creating a centre of excellence
is a good vision to hold’.
With regard to the floodlighting we
have achieved a major success in negotiating
the positioning of the floodlights to
the outside of the racecourse, therefore
well away from the playing surface.
Further to this, I have never taken for
granted that my opinion was sacrosanct.
Other than involving Donald Steel, I also
invited the Development Director, Duncan
Weir of the R&A and his counterpart,
Kevin Weir of The Scottish Golf Union to
see the plans. They gave their approval to
my stance, as did Archie Baird, golf historian,
who stated:
‘In my opinion there is no damage to
the historical claims of Musselburgh Old
Course as a result of this development.
Indeed a lot could be done to reclaim
much of its historic reputation should the
from the tee
of The Barracks
Entry, No.3, the
view looks back
across holes 2
and 1 with the
Musselburgh Links
Clubhouse in the
distant center,
behind the two
golfers.
No. 1 - The Short Hole (146 yards - Par 3)
Most of the players played a cleek to this hole as
the ground was usually dry and hard in this area
and the best results were usually achieved with a
running type of shot. The green was situated on a
plateau and an accurate shot was required to finish
on the putting surface.
No. 2 - The Graves (344 yards - Par 4)
It has been suggested that this may have been a
burial ground for soldiers who died at the Battle of
Pinkie in 1547 and were buried there to discourage
golfers, as golf was frowned upon at that time.
No. 3 - Barracks Entry (314 yards - Par 4)
Called Barracks Entry due to it being opposite the
road leading to the barracks in Pinkie Road.
No. 4 - Mrs Forman’s (424 yards - Par 4)
Mrs Forman’s hostelry behind the green. This was
a most popular resting point on the course and
drinks used to be served to the golfers through a
window adjacent to the green.
No. 5 - The Sea Hole (178 yards - Par 3)
This hole has been copied and incorporated in
many courses (more than any other hole on the
Links) with sleepers protecting the green.
No. 6 - The Table (323 yards - Par 4)
The formidable “Pandy” (a euphemism for pandemonium
bunker). Willie Park Junior used to enjoy
playing this hole as he was a long hitter and could
easily carry “Pandy” bunker and he normally played
his second to the foot of the table plateau green.
No. 7 - The Bathing Coach (476 yards - Par 5)
This hole received its name because a bathing
coach stood near to the green for many years.
No. 8 - Hole Across (237 yards - Par 3)
This hole had a number of bunkers in various
places for the unwary, but a good drive, well positioned,
could set up a birdie chance.
To Top
No. 9- The Gas (366 yards - Par 4)
This hole was so called due to the gasworks being
situated behind the green.
16
course be allowed to develop
as many other ancient
links of Scotland.’
David Hamilton, author
of ‘Golf, Scotland’s Game’
states:
‘A convincing case for
change.’
George Colville in his
book “Five Open Champions and the
Musselburgh Golf Story” chapter 26 referring
to use the lagoons as a sight for an
additional nine holes states:
“It is many years since the first opportunity
arose to extend the links to 18 holes.
I feel this opportunity must not be missed
as it could be the last. The authorities will
stand condemned as their predecessors
were for their lack of foresight if they do
not grasp the opportunity. Musselburgh no
longer holds an honoured place as a golfing
centre, but some of the former glory
could be brought back by the suggestion I
have put forward.”
With reference to the article in last
spring’s “Wee Nip,” I do not think the
alarms mentioned have a great deal of
merit. It is true there will be alterations,
but they will be sympathetic, do much
to improve the course and certainly not
threaten its existence. There is no doubt
that local opinion is divided but should
the development go ahead the best ever
opportunity for a course in suitable condition
for its history will appear. There
will be very little loss of golf with the
extra racing taking place on dark winter
evenings. The racecourse will make a
substantial investment to improve the Old
Course, plus East Lothian Council have
put aside £1.5 million to build the new
nine. It is difficult to believe that Donald
Steel, and protégé Tom Mackenzie would
put their names to any plans which would
desecrate the Old Course. They feel, as
I do, along with many others, that the
disadvantages of change will be far outweighed
by the advantages.

Shivas Irons ‘Journal’
a compelling read
for the literary minded
A
By JiM daviS
s a charter member of the Shivas
Irons Society, I looked forward
to the publication of its first “Journal”
in May 2004. As it is an offspring, so to
speak, of author Michael Murphy’s now
classic “Golf in the Kingdom,” it held the
promise of further explorations into the
nature of golf and the elusive qualities
it occasionally shares with those whose
minds and hearts are open to receive
them. I was not disappointed.
The Journal, published yearly, is a fine
addition to the genre of golf literature and
shows every promise of developing into a
fine read for golfers who are searching for
further insight into the game, its history
and its soul.
Many of you will be familiar with The
Shivas Irons Society, or have at least
read “Golf in the Kingdom.” The society
is based on the protagonist in the book.
The non-profit organization is based in
Carmel, Calif., and is devoted to exploring
the mysteries and furthering the pleasures
of golf, while honoring its traditions
and Scottish roots.
It how has more than 1,100 members
representing all 50 states in the U.S. and
14 additional countries. Its advisory board
includes PGA and LPGA touring professionals,
golf club professionals, past
presidents of the USGA, and a Hall of
Fame golfer. Its members share a common
love for the game and a respect for golf’s
deeper dimensions.
Among other activities,
the Shivas Irons Society
has established a scholarship
to support youth
golf and provide summer
golf camp experiences
for at-risk youth as well
as events designed to
further its mission. These
include symposia held at
Stanford University that
bring together leading
thinkers in sports, learning,
and spirituality to
examine the qualitative
factors of transformative
education.
Among future topics
are an “exploration of the
architecture of the game
in relation to the spiritual
and mystic relationship to
the land and its environment.”
The society annually sponsors the
Shivas Irons Games of the Links, originally
at the Pebble Beach Golf Links
and more recently at Bandon Dunes in
Bandon, Ore. More than 30 local and
regional events are designed to be educational
as well as enjoyable, and can
provide a platform to benefit local community
programs.
In May 2004, the society began publication
of The Journal of the Shivas Irons
Society with a stated mission to “contribute
to the enrichment of the culture of golf
and to make manifest the virtues
for which the Shivas Irons
Society stands.”
Golf has a long and very rich
tradition of excellent writing and
beautiful images that are typically
overlooked by mass media.
The Journal seeks to honor that
tradition and help keep it current
by providing a forum for today’s
writers and artists.
Educated and thoughtful golfers
who appreciate great writing,
fine art, and honest criticism
will find it valuable; especially
18
those who understand that golf is more
than a game, that it can be a window into
themselves and others.
The Journal is a non-profit collectorquality
publication, intended as a vehicle
for all of the creative arts inspired by the
game of golf, with contributions from outstanding
writers, artists and photographers
– new and renowned – from around the
world.
Its content features original and historical
writing, commentary and criticism,
dialogues, profiles and interviews.
Original and historical artworks will
include golf illustration, photography,
memorabilia and cartoons.
It should appeal to the casual reader as
well as the discriminating collector.
For information on the society or its
Journal, contact:
The Shivas Irons Society
PO Box 222339
Carmel, CA 93922 USA
Email: shivas@shivas.org
Tel: 831-899-8441
Fax: 831-899-8453
The Journal of the Shivas Irons Society
Email: editor@shivas.org

Book Review
By Frank BoUMPhrey
love books about golfers and the his-
I tory of golf and I love reading how
great players managed a particular round;
I love romances and tragedies; and I love
psychological stories. This novel has all
three and, taken separately, two of the
three are all splendid reads, but mixed as
they are in this book, the result is initally
somewhat confusing. I was reminded of
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Love in the
Time of Cholera” – it wasn’t until about
page 70 that I realized exactly what was
going on. However, from there forward
the book was a page turner. The same
could be said of the “Caddy Who Knew
Ben Hogan.”
My confusion arose because the author
uses the literary device of the reminiscence
to mix three story lines, four if
you include the life of the narrator, Jack
Handley.
Jack Handley is invited to speak at
a famous country club about the 1946
Chicago Open where, as a 14-year-old,
he had been “top caddy” and had caddied
for Ben Hogan. The assistant pro, Matt
Richardson, is young and handsome and
potentially a great golfer, but makes the
mistake in those class-conscious times of
falling in love with the club president’s
daughter, Sarah DuPree.
The secondary story line takes off when
Hogan arrives to play a practice round for
the upcoming Chicago Open. Interactions
between Jack and Hogan, and between
Hogan and his young opponent in the
practice round, Matt, are used to paint
a picture of Hogan’s game, philosophy
and character. Coyne is at his best here,
describing how Hogan plays his shots,
thinks his way around the course and
intimidates his oponent.
The third story line is the account of
Jack’s narration and the reaction of the
club’s members as some of the skeletons in
their closets are outed. We also learn why
Jack had been invited to tell his tale in the
first place. This particular story line is made
easier to follow as it is placed in italics.
“What emerges is a wonderful
thumb-nail sketch of Hogan, his
shot making and his philosophy. “
The Caddy Who Knew Ben Hogan
by John Coyne
Thomas Dunne Books
St. Martins Press New York
ISBN 0-312-35523-8
www.thecaddiewhoknewbenhogan.com
Looking at the Hogan story line first –
in this reviewer’s opinion, the best part of
the book – Ben and Valerie Hogan arrive
unexpectedly at the Fictional Country
Club where the Chicago Open is to be
played the following month. Fourteenyear-old
Jack is the star caddy and jumps
at the chance to carry Hogan’s bag. The
description of Hogan’s first nine is riveting
and includes the reasoning behind the
shots he plays. Matt joins Hogan on the
back nine, and the great professional sets
out to teach him a tough lesson. It is well
known that Hogan had friends, but never
played a friendly golf match! Such is the
case with this nine holes! I will not tell
you any more as this would spoil the fun,
however, I will note that Hogan is as nice
as can be to Jack.
Was this in character? Probably. It is
known that Hogan was absolutely charming,
communicative and helpful to the
19
lady professionals of his day; and having
been a penurious caddie himself, was
always good to caddies, especially to
those from “the wrong side of the tracks.”
But, with potential male rivals he would
be non-communicative. Would he have
imparted his philosophy readily, and over
the course of 18 holes, to a 14-year-old
caddy? Probably not, but this is fiction,
and an author’s literary license must be
allowed. What emerges is a wonderful
thumb-nail sketch of Hogan, his shot
making and his philosophy. The description
of the course is so real one feels that
the author is using a real course as his
backdrop. Which course? Only the author
knows, but here are three candidates.
Hogan did win three Chicago Opens,
but 1946 was not one of those years. He
won the Western Open in 1946 at the
Sunset CC, St. Louis, Mo., one of his
13 wins that year. He won the Chicago
Victory Open the following year. In
1948, the Chicago Open was held at the
Midlothian Country Club where Coyne
himself caddied. (Of Hogan’s three
Chicago Open wins, two came in the ’30s
and the other was in 1947.)
The author’s account of Hogan’s swing
and thinking are authentic, but I can’t help
but feel that the author is under-clubbing
him. Sure, Hogan could hit a seven-iron
180 yards, but he preferred a five-iron for
this distance. This is a minor nit, though,
and perhaps the author is right – after
all, the action takes place in 1946 when
Hogan was younger and stronger and
before his car accident.
The sub-plot romance of Matt and
Sarah proceeds along traditional Romeo
and Juliet lines. The author probes the
mores of 1946 country club life and is
good at highlighting the priggishness and
self-satisfaction of a certain class – those
who, as it has been so aptly put, “were
born on third base and think they hit a
triple.” Sarah’s father, the club president,
and his boozy wife try to scuttle the
romance and try to enlist Jack as an ally.
see CADDIE, 21

By JiM aPFeLBaUM
Special to Society of
Hickory GolferS
The chorus singing
Tiger’s
praises is
not unexpected nor
without merit. History
in the making, clearly. He’s doing remarkable
things. All anyone can ask of a competitor,
in any sport, is to succeed against
those lined up against him.
His run should also serve yet again to
remind us that comparisons across time
are folly. No less than Jack Nicklaus, who
knows something about weathering bestever
praises, was recently quoted saying,
quite sensibly, that, “It’s a different era,
it’s a different game, I don’t even relate to
it. The golf that Tiger (Woods) has been
playing lately has been phenomenal. I
can’t imagine beating all the players in
the world hitting irons and leaving all the
woods in the bag like he did at the British
Open.” You’ll remember it was Jack who
one of the magazines went to great pains
to coronate as THE, not just now but,
greatest EVER.
How about some other expert opinions?
Walter Hagen, Henry Cotton, Herbert
Warren Wind, and Arthur Tillinghast constitute
a fairly august selection panel, can
we agree?
Each man sat down to consider the
question of relative greatness. Each publicly
offered up his selections with a parenthetical
thought or two. These are briefly
noted alongside the picks below. With
typical bluster, The Haig wrote that he’d
“gladly challenge a team of Snead, Hogan
and Cary Middlecoff…against Bobby
Jones, Gene Sarazen and myself…” going
so far as to guarantee victory “if the good
Lord could cut a couple of tens off the
years of my team.”
Posing a question without an answer is
ultimately a fruitless exercise, but in this
case it’s harmless fun. Let’s compare lists,
shall we?
The greatest
of all time
Walter Hagen,
Henry Cotton,
Herbert Warren
Wind and
Arthur Tillinghast
constitute a fairly
august selection
panel.
A.W. Tillinghast
1. Harry Vardon
2. Bob Jones
3. Walter Hagen
4. Tommy Morris
5. J.H. Taylor
6. James Braid
7. John Ball
8. Johnnie
McDermott
9. Willie Anderson
10. *
* “The picking of the first nine is duck
soup, as the saying goes,” Tillie wrote,
“but the tenth brings us right up to the
greats of the present day and really one
might well put down a dozen names
and simply say – “That one, if he gets
the breaks and carries a hot putter for
the day.” He then name-drops: Cotton,
Guldahl, Nelson and Picard. (He was writing
in December, 1939; Ralph Guldahl
was about to finish his run as The Man,
having that June nearly won his third consecutive
U.S. Open, despite an onerous
pace of play and lackluster personality.)
(Source: Reminiscences of the Links,
1998)
Henry Cotton
1. Joyce Wethered
2. Harry Vardon
20
a.w. tillinghast
henry cotton
3. J.H. Taylor
4. James Braid
5. Robert Tyre Jones
6. Walter Hagen
7. Abe Mitchell
8. Gene Sarazen
9. Lawson Little
10. Sam Snead
Our distinguished international panelist
makes an intriguing top selection, which
he bolsters with wonderful companion
photos of Lady Heathcoat-Amory hitting
six-irons solely with her left hand,
under the master’s approving eye of her
technique, to nearly 90 yards. Bob Jones,
I believe, agreed that her swing was faultless.
“In my time, no golfer has stood out
so far ahead of his or her contemporaries,”
Cotton explains. That was good enough
for him.
He didn’t stop with just 10: Sam Snead
(10), George Duncan (12), Tommy
Armour (15), Sandy Herd (21), Byron
Nelson (24) and Ben Hogan (25) rounded
out his top 30. “Golf is still developing
as the most international game of all,” he
noted in closing. Looking both forward
and back, it was but one of many salient
observations from this gifted player and
prolific writer.
(Source: This Game of Golf, 1948)
Herbert Warren Wind
1. Young Tom Morris
2. Harry Vardon
3. Walter Hagen
4. Bobby Jones
5. Gene Sarazen
6. Henry Cotton
7. Byron Nelson
8. Sam Snead
9. Ben Hogan
10. Arnold Palmer
11. Jack Nicklaus
12. Gary Player
herbert
warren
wind

The great essayist insisted on submitting 12 nominations, with
the following proviso: “I have three main criteria in my selection
of the players: tournament record and particularly major championships
won; technique, style and command; and, to a degree,
longevity.” Young Tom’s score of 149 for 36 holes in 1870,
he could not overlook - “one of the most remarkable golfing
achievements of all time – his career record is remarkable too.”
Cotton, he added, was in his opinion “one of the three finest
strikers of the ball I have ever seen.”
(Source: The Book of Lists, 1977)
Walter Hagen
One-iron – Denny Shute, Billy Burke, Jimmy
Demaret
Two-iron – Henry Picard, Craig Wood,
Bobby Jones
Three-iron – Tommy Armour, Alex Herd,
Ben Hogan
walter
hagen
Four-iron – Billy Burke, Francis Ouimet,
Jimmy Demaret
Five-iron – Willie Macfarlane, Harry Vardon, Bobby Locke
Six-iron – Jock Hutchison, Ralph Guldahl, Lew Worsham
Eight-iron – Chick Evans, Leo Diegel, Julius Boros, Sam
Snead
Nine-iron and wedge – Gene Sarazen, Johnny Revolta, Ben
Hogan
CADDIE
continued from 19
Will they succeed? The story has at
least three possible endings. Looking at
the book with my “romance reader” hat
on, I was turning the pages rapidly and
then was bitterly disappointed that the
author tips the ending with his tertiary
story line! To me this rather detracts from
the book’s overall pleasure. Indeed, I’m
not sure why the tertiary story line is there
at all. It is weak, it does not add much or
anything to the primary and secondary
plot, it detracts from the secondary plot
and, even allowing for literary license, it
is quite unbelievable. I don’t believe that
even in this day and age a lecturer would
expose a family’s “dirty linen” in public,
and I know for certain that in my country
club no one would listen to someone talk
for three to four hours!
So how does this book match up?
As a Hogan fan, I found this book an
absolute page turner when reading about
“the Wee Ice Mon.” The writer’s style was
lucid, his knowledge of golf superior and,
as a Hogan fan, I appreciated the subtle
facets of Hogan’s character that were
revealed. As a scientist, I will have to test
the theory that a looming shadow over a
hanging putt can cause a ball to drop into
the hole (you will have to read the book
to find out what I am talking about). As a
self-confessed romantic, I was entranced
by the “romance novel” until the premature
revelation of that storyline made it
nothing more than an interesting read.
All fans of Hogan should read this book;
those who like a good love story can also
read it – but skip those italics!
John Coyne has written or edited more
than 20 books, including three books of
golf instruction. He is best known for his
horror stories and many of these have
been on the best-sellers’ list. (There are
no accounts of yips or socket shots in
the book, although duck-hooks are mentioned!)
He caddied at the Midlothian
Country Club south of Chicago in the
early ’50s, becoming the caddy master
by the age of 16. He has a lifelong love
of golf, although this is his first golfing
novel. He is preparing a second novel that
features Walter Hagen.
21
Chip – Jim Barnes, Fred McLeod, Mike Brady, Byron Nelson
Putter – Ted Ray, Cyril Walker, Bobby Locke, Horton Smith
Driver – Al Watrous, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan
Brassie – Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson
Spoon or four-wood – Paul Runyan, Harry Cooper, Johnny
Farrell.
Push come to shove, a slightly discomfited Walter wouldn’t
deign to pick in order. “From my nineteenth-hole position,” he
wrote, “that would be an impossibility. Every one of them had
his day on the course when he could take all contenders. So,
duffers and free-swingers, I’ll let it go at that.” Fair enough. He
does offer up an intriguing list going through the bag, nonetheless,
with surprising modesty: his name is omitted. Perhaps we
could insert it under a category he failed to include, that elusive
quality commonly referred to nowadays as “game.”
(Source: The Walter Hagen Story, 1956)
In conclusion, there are other similar lists that are at least
worthy of a glance. Bobby Locke in his 1954 book, On Golf,
goes through the bag as Hagen did. Surprisingly, especially for
one deemed so deadly with the putter, he picks Ben Hogan as
the best with the flat stick. It just goes to show how fleeting the
passing of time can be to one’s memory and perception. Bob
Jones looking at Jack Nicklaus could appreciate the parade’s
passing, just as Jack now can cast an objective and admiring eye
on Tiger. And, someday, Tiger too will look on from the gallery
only to privately wonder where things might have stood with his
successor if indeed the field could be leveled.
Frank Boumphrey grew up worshiping
Ben Hogan and attempted to learn golf
from his “Power Golf.” He also listened,
spellbound, to the tales told by a friend
of his father who was the marker when
Hogan won the Open at Carnoustie.

‘They take a little getting used to.’
One golfer’s personal account of
the 2006 World Hickory Cham-
pionship ProAm at Craigelaw,
Scotland.
By nick tUrnBULL
editor, “playinG around”
The first tee is actually the third.
Such is the nature of the shotgun
start. The bell rings, the 12-bores of the
East Lothians presumably busy elsewhere
on the Lammermuir Hills, blasting away
at the hapless grouse.
“Good luck.”
The voice is unmistakably Lothian.
Paul Wardell. The Whitekirk professional.
Encouraging his team at the start of the
first ever World Hickory Championship
Pro-Am. ‘First ever,’ Despite the chill
of a damp, autumn afternoon on the
southern edges of the Forth, the day does
seem to carry a sense of occasion. Even
history, perhaps. The following day
would surely usher in the main event, the
Championship itself, but for the moment,
dull would he indeed be of soul who
failed to understand the magic of these
opening hours.
“The first use of hickory in golf club
manufacture is difficult to trace but Philp
clubs surviving from the 1800’s show
such hickory shafts.” The words are taken
from David Hamilton’s thoroughly excellent
book, ;Golf, Scotland’s Game’ and
although Hamilton doesn’t actually say
which of the 1800’s he might be talking
about, the inference is the clearly the early
years of the century, since Philp went off
to the great golf course in the sky in 1856.
Hickory was to entirely replace the
traditional ash shafts of earlier years and
since it was sourced in the forests of the
deep South, it’s reasonable to think of
it as America’s first ever contribution to
the game. That phrase again. First ever.
Along with the gutty and the feathery, the
word ‘hickory’ seems to drill down to the
very heart of golf and it was precisely that
spirit that was now invoked on the autumn
slopes of Craigielaw.
“They take a little getting used to.”
Alan Minto, Golf Development Officer
for the East Lothians, striding down the
fifth fairway, pushing his mashie back into
an improbably modern shoulder bag. As
no more than five clubs are allowed, it is
a little like the proverbial sledgehammer
and the nut but the canvas bags of yore
left precious little room for such things as
water bottles or even an umbrella. Talking
of which, the first showers of the day
were now drifting across the Forth.
“What does such a person do?”
“Which person?”
“A golf development officer.”
Minto smiles, pausing to gaze across
The curious thing
about Minto’s
approach to the
ninth was that he
hit the green.
the shoreline links of Kilspindie and the
distant contours of the legendary Gullane
headland.
“I spend my life encouraging the world
to come here to play golf.”
A flock of Canada geese fly silently
overhead. There are indeed such things as
a job made in Heaven.
Originally, the Championship was to
have been held at Musselburgh. The oldest
continuing playing surface in the
world and therefore an appropriate host.
But there was talk of redevelopment.
Traffic. And the inevitable, if muted,
chorus of dismay that must always greet
a new initiative. Doubtless, there were a
thousand and one other reasons why the
Championship should slowly but surely
inch its way up the A198 but inch its way,
it certainly did. Which is why, on this
autumn morning, Craigielaw’s splendid
clubhouse and car park had been overrun
with every golfing fashion known to man.
And woman. Stately Edwardian. Discreet
neo-Victorian. Flappers. Bobby Jones.
Walter Hagan. And others of indefinite
vintage but owing much to both Hercule
Poirot and Old Tom Morris. The invitation
22
to the day had suggested that the fancydress
was optional, which had no doubt
brought a sigh of relief to the guests of
a more modest inclination. But for those
of more heroic persuasion, it had been a
call to arms and, if the colourful and often
outrageous jackets, dresses, hats and curiously
patterned socks that now tacked this
way and that across the Craigielaw greens
kindled a sense of the surreal, then they
were also hugely welcome. An entirely
appropriate and timely reminder that golf
can also be fun.
The curious thing about Minto’s
approach to the ninth was that he hit the
green. This despite playing of the side of a
slope and an unpleasant sound of breaking
wood. Nothing lasts forever. Not even a
hickory club.
“Oh dear.”
Bend a metal shaft round a tree and so
what? Simply throw it away. Split a hickory
and there’s a sense of loss. Not that
Minto needed to have worried for, in the
shadows of a small green hut sitting fortuitously
just beyond the green, there waited
the redoubtable Christopher ‘Hickory’
Homer. For anyone brave enough to
put that monicker on their calling card,
Minto’s broken club was never going to
be a problem. Homer’s in the business
of hiring out hickories for festivals and
competitions the length and breadth of
the land and since he’s been plying this
singular trade for some ten years, there’s
little he doesn’t know about these remarkable
clubs.
“I have to confess I was worried about
the Championship. I mean, there was
always going to be some strong players
taking part. Big golfers. Big swings. Big
hitters.”
Fortunately, Homer’s fears were to
prove groundless. Some mighty players
there may well have been, Alan Minto
among them, but a touch of rocket science
reveals that, despite an average of
eighty-five thousand, six hundred and
eighty shots being played over the two
Championship days, only seven clubs
were broken. Proof, if proof were needed,
that hickory stands the test of time. And
they are easily mended.
“We’re thinking of taking the kids over
there one day.”

Euan Findlay walks slowly
down the eleventh fairway,
looking across to the Forth
and at the distant shadows of
Kirkcaldy, obscured by the
low-lying rain clouds. For the
moment, Craigielaw seemed
a better bet than the northern
shores.
“Where does it go to?”
“Zeebrugge.”
Kids or no kids, another
equally good bet is that
Findlay will be taking his
golf clubs. Another man with
a job dreamt up behind the
Pearly Gates, Findlay travels
American golfers in and out
of Scotland’s courses and
hotels and, when he’s not making sure
that Uncle Sam has everything he wants,
Findlay’s playing the courses and staying
in the hotels just to make sure they’re up
to scratch. It makes sunbathing look like
hard work.
“The Americans would have loved
today.”
Findlay’s right. Despite somewhat
flimsy evidence of 18th century courses in
Charleston and Savannah, the man credited
with founding the game in America is
John Reid, a local Dunfermline lad and a
founder member of New York’s legendary
Apple Tree Gang. More formally known
as the St. Andrew’s Club of Yonkers, if
such a name can be considered formal.
Reid’s initial inspiration quickly led to
a veritable flood of East Lothian golfing
professionals eager to satisfy the voracious
appetite of an American dream that
had grown from a single apple orchard
to over one thousand courses in just over
twelve years. The Eastern sea-board is
littered with the Dunns, McDonalds and
[Parks…….] of this world and that infusion,
in turn, brokered the clear affinity
that American golfers have for their perceived
Alma Mater. The East Lothians.
Quite apart from their enthusiasm for the
hickory game, the Americans would have
indeed loved Craigielaw this afternoon.
Despite the dreich, that curious mix of
drizzle, broken cloud and chill eddies of
wind that turn up the collar and sharpen
the appetite.
“It’s not so bad. Maybe another couple
of holes with three points?”
Wardell smiles, his words typically
understated, the encouragement of the
professional for his amateur colleagues.
photo/courtesy tony marsh
classic golf at Graigielaw Golf Club, near Aberlady. Mike Stevens (Hickory Club champion
of the U.S.A.), right, watches as Gordon Hillson takes a putt at the World Hickory Open
Golf Championship.
Entirely appropriate to the spirit of the
day and, indeed, to the two days of the
Championship itself that would follow.
Elsewhere in the golfing world, the hullabaloo
and razzamatazz of international
competition beckon. The sometimes
mawkish flag-waving, cheer-leader conventions
of the Ryder Cup and the almost
frenzied applause that follows the closing
holes of the Open when enthusiasm borders
on delirium and the will to win has
been brought to the level of an art form.
No harm in that. This mayhem has been
going on since Hagan and Jones first trod
the boards.
And who could argue that a golf course
peopled with golfers of all years, many
dressed as if to remind us that the pantomime
season is nigh, isn’t also eccentric?
Even if only mildly so. The spectator with
the purple umbrella revealed as none other
that David Hamilton himself. Bernard
Gallagher talking with a would-be
J.H.Taylor, whilst Vardon and Roe compare
notes by the PGA leaderboard. And
everywhere, the talk of mashies, niblicks
Everywhere, the
talk of mashies,
niblicks and
spoons, whilst
Astons gently roll
to a halt in
the car park...
23
and spoons, whilst Astons gently
roll to a halt in the car park
and the sophisticated, glassed
corridors and bars of the clubhouse
provide a backdrop for
the party.
All, yes, mildy eccentric but
what sets this Championship
very much apart and what will
distinguish it for many years
to come is, quite simply, its
humanity. There are no gods
or demi-gods to be found here.
Just people. And perhaps the
greatest lesson exported by
the Scottish professionals all
those years ago is that golf is
very much a people’s game. A
game without regard for age,
religion, sex or nationality. The slopes of
Craigielaw might not easily be described
as a level playing field but they will nonetheless
serve as a metaphor, as will the
hickory clubs themselves, repositioning
the game as being one simply of skill.
“I’m not entirely sure why we had the
idea of doing it. Maybe it’s just that we
thought it would be fun.”
Lionel Freedman has the broadest golfing
smile since Woods won his first green
jacket. The last players of the day’s Pro-
Am are leaving the eighteenth and, almost
as if in congratulation, the early evening
sunshine breaks through at last. There will
be many behind the scenes whose efforts
made the World Hickory Championship
the massive success it would finally prove
to be but, for his vision and tenacity,
Freedman’s name must be very near the
top of the list.
To Freedman and to his colleagues, as
they tidy away their tables and chairs,
gather in the last clubs and finally close
the clubhouse doors, a sincere vote of
thanks from all one hundred and eightyfive
golfers who took part in three of the
best golfing days of this golfing year.
“Do you know what they were saying
as they handed in their clubs?”
“No.”
“That they’re all coming back next year.
And they’re bringing their friends.”
Lionel, why the look of surprise? To
echo Paul Wardell, whose team including
Alan Minto and Euan Findlay, went
on to win the Pro.Am, “It’s not so bad,”
No Paul it isn’t. It fact, it was very good
indeed.