The following two articles were prepared and published for the Butler Eagle, the paper of record for the Butler, Pa., area. They describe the 2021 Foxburg Hickory Championship held in nearby Foxburg, Pa.
HICKORY ROUND
Golf tournament features pre-1900 rules, clubs to preserve tradition
John EnriettoEagle Staff Writer
August 12, 2021 Amateur Golf
Tom Johnson is director of the Foxburg Hickory Championship. The championship is one of 40 such events held across the country in a series overseen by the Society of Hickory Golfers, an organization designed to preserve the tradition of the game.
FOXBURG — When it comes to hosting a historical golf event, Foxburg Country Club seems like a proper home.
It will be Friday and Saturday as it hosts the 13th annual Foxburg Hickory Championship.
The FHC is one of 40 such events held across the country in a series overseen by the Society of Hickory Golfers, an organization designed to preserve the tradition of the game.
“This tournament is even more unique because it is a pre-1900 event,” tourney director Tom Johnson said. “There are only three of these east of the Mississippi.
“Since Foxburg Country Club has been around since 1887, there is no better place to hold this event.”
The only other two pre-1900 hickory tournaments on the schedule are the National Hickory Championship (slated for a few courses) and the Wisconsin Gutty Challenge.
Johnson said there will be 30 golfers participating in the Foxburg Hickory Championship with another 20 to 25 guests. The golfers will play 18 holes Friday and Saturday, with shotgun starts at 9 a.m. on both days.
“This will be a throwback to the way golf was before 1900,” Johnson promised. “Golfers are encouraged to dress the part.
In terms of equipment, they will definitely be playing the part.
“People who come out will feel like they’re going back in time. It is a fantastic experience,” Johnson said.
“Sliced neck” hickory golf clubs will be used. These clubs are longer than basic clubs used today.
Gutty balls from the pre-1900 era — provided by the McIntyre Ball Company — will be supplied for the golfers. These synthetic golf balls are made from a gummy, rubbery substance.
“They travel about half as far as a regular golf ball would today,” Johnson said. “A good drive in this tournament would be 145 to 150 yards.”
Tees are not permitted. Golfers may strike the ball off the ground or use a sand tee to gain some leverage.
“Foxburg still has the sand and water tee boxes from when the course was first built,” Johnson said. “There is so much history there.”
Emlenton resident John Brosnahan, 69, will be playing in his eighth Foxburg Hickory Championship.
“Some other Foxburg members I know were playing and asked me to try it with them,” Brosnahan said. “That’s how I got started. It’s a unique event.
“There are people in this tournament who only play hickory stick tournaments all year. They believe this is the way golf is meant to be played.”
While Brosnahan uses eight clubs when he plays a hickory event, he said golfers can get by with only four clubs in the bag.
“I have two putters — a greens putter and a wooden mallet. Both come into play,” he said.
Hickory tournaments are played from the forward tees.
Brosnahan said a used hickory club can be purchased for $50, “or they can cost up to $500 or $600, depending on the quality you’re looking for.”
John Lavendoski — the 2020 National Hickory Champion — won the Open Division (pre-1900 gutty) of the FHC here last year. His two-round total score was 165.
Tim Flynn was first in the Senior division and James Kaiser first in the Braid (pre-1900 equipment) division. J.W. McMath won the Fownes (post-1900 equipment) division.
“The key to success (in hickory play) is keeping your ball on the fairway. You need that run,” Brosnahan said.
Johnson said that 1850 was “around the time golf became a big draw, going from a gentleman’s game to a commoner’s game.”
He relishes this annual gathering at Foxburg.
“Just a tremendous, nice group of people who truly appreciate the history of this great game,” Johnson said.
He added that at least 10 states will be represented, including Ohio, Washington, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Kentucky.
(This is the second of two articles posted by the Butler Eagle.)
Hickory tourney big hit at Foxburg
John EnriettoEagle Staff Writer
August 14, 2021 Amateur Golf
John Crow Miller tees up on the No. 6 hole during the Foxburg Hickory Championship Friday at Foxburg Country Club. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle
FOXBURG — A hickory club golfer for years, Green Bay (Wisc.) resident Jim “Wally” Koss marks the same trip on his calendar every year.
Foxburg.
The 13th annual Foxburg Hickory Championship — a golf tournament using hickory clubs and golf balls as they were in the pre-1900’s — took place Friday and Saturday at Foxburg Country Club.
Koss was one of 26 golfers from 11 states taking part in the 36-hole tournament.
“I never miss this one,” Koss said of the FHC. “It’s the history here. This place was made for tournaments like this.”
Foxburg Country Club has been around since 1887. It still has stone blocks by the holes, with small basins holding water and sand used for construction of sand tees.
Regular tees are not permitted in hickory club tournaments.
“Those (stone) tee boxes are true artifacts,” said Karen Johnson, wife of FHC tournament director Tom Johnson. “They pre-date the USGA itself. It’s the oldest artifact in golf and it’s still here. That’s amazing to think about.”
Koss formerly played golf in its modern-day form, but not recently.
“I haven’t picked up a modern golf club in eight years,” he said. “Hickory is the only game I play. Back home, I probably play 100 times a year.
“You play against yourself. You’re not trying to beat the other guy. It’s the challenge of the game, the way it was meant to be played.”
Each golfer brings his own set of hickory clubs. “Gutty” golf balls — that travel half as far as a modern golf ball — are provided by the FHC. They come from the McIntyre Golf Company in Omaha, Neb.
“Those balls cost about $12 each. You don’t want to lose one out there,” Johnson said. “If someone shows up without hickory clubs and wants to play, the other golfers have enough clubs that we’re able to put together an extra set.”
James Kaiser of Louisville, Ky., plays in three hickory golf events a year — the National Hickory Championship, one in Eagle Springs, Wisc., and Foxburg.
“It’s a humbling game,” Kaiser said as he left the No. 9 green Friday. “But I love these (hickory) tournaments. You have to think differently.
“You don’t want a high drive in the air. You want to use some run if you can. These golf balls don’t back up when they land, so you’re always playing forward.”
Don Norstedt of Eau Claire, Wisc., agreed. He plays five or six hickory tournaments a year.
“It’s a finesse game,” he said. “You plot out how you want the hole to go before you even tee off. If you try to kill the ball, you’ll be in trouble.”
Portsmouth (Ohio) resident David Shultz began playing hickory tournaments 10 years ago.
Four years ago, he stopped playing golf in other forms.
“This is the way to play. It’s the interesting people you meet,” Shultz said. “I try to hit the ball low and straight, take advantage of the runs on the fairways of a course like this.
“It’s not hard to get hickory clubs. People are always selling them as the regular players accumulate a lot of them over the years.”
Dennis Meadows of Virginia Beach has been playing pre-1900 tournaments for four years. He’s been a hickory club golfer for six.
“The guys are a lot of fun,” Meadows said. “There is such camaraderie here. You have to plan out each shot. You don’t just step up and hit the ball as hard as you can. Sometimes you just want to punch the ball out there.”
Robert White made the trip to Foxburg from Centerville, Va. He treats the hickory tournament as a “celebration of golf.
“It’s just good fun with good folks,” he continued. “These tournaments emphasize the traditional values of golf.
“My dad has played these events for a number of years. I get my clubs from him.”
Johnson said planning for the Foxburg Hickory Championships began in February. Golfers learn of the event through word of mouth or the Society of Hickory Golfers.
She said the Golf Historical Society has a website that advertises the events as well.
“The people who come here relish the history of the game and its origins,” Johnson said.
Golfers from Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Texas, Georgia, Washington and Iowa were on hand for the event.