The following members have added their names for nomination to the SoHG Board of Directors, terms to begin on Jan. 1, 2021. Three seats will come vacant. Leaving the board are Rob Ahlschwede and Bo Turocy. Greg Smith’s term will also end at the end of 2020, but he has agreed to a 1-year term as an at-large director. Below are photos and brief statements submitted by the candidates.
SoHG members, please become familiar with the candidates through their information below and be prepared to vote when the ballot comes your way via email on Nov. 16.
Contact Jim Davis, jdavis2364@gmail.com, with any questions.
Robert Birman
Port Townsend, Wash.
Robert Birman
Robert Birman, 53, was first introduced to hickory golf at a charity event at Valhalla Golf Club in 2011 in Louisville, Ky. He met Mike Just, parred the first hole with hickories, and was hooked for life. He joined the Society that year, has been a frequent contributor to A Wee Nip, and has played hickories exclusively for nine years. A native of suburban Philadelphia and non-profit arts CEO, Birman leads a large, multi-disciplinary arts organization in Port Townsend, Wash., and has 30 years of executive management, leadership, and fundraising experience. He has played in hickory tournaments in 10 states and is a co-founder of the Northwest Hickory Players. Birman helped support corporate underwriting for the USHO at French Lick (Indiana) in 2012 and was on tournament organizing committees for the 2017 USHO at Pebble Beach Resort (Del Monte, Calif.) and serves as the West Coast Tournament Media Manager for the 2021 USHO at Gearhart Golf Links in Oregon. He’s an avid fly fisherman and collector of pre-1900 smooth-face clubs. He has served on and led numerous boards of directors. He would love to work on ways to support publishing hard copies of a quarterly, printed hickory golf journal; a regular podcast for SoHG; and the modernizing of the website
Xander Dobreff
Washington, Michigan
Xander and Jennifer Dobreff
Xander Dobreff, 32, is a pharmaceutical representative serving clients throughout the U.S. He is a devoted Christian and believes his values inform both who he is and how he tries to live his life. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, 6 and 8.
Xander writes:
“Hickory golf is very important to me. It allows me to relive the feelings of heroes from worlds past. It’s part of my mission to empower and push hickory golf forward by reaching new members, growing the game, and representing it the way players of the past have done. Golf has been part of my life since age two. Before a car accident in 2009 I wanted to be the best golfer who had ever lived! After the accident I realized that my purpose was to be the best version I can be and to leave earth a better place than I found it. I have served on, and currently am on, other non-profit boards that give me the experience to get things done. If chosen to the SoHG board, it is my full intention to bring great partnerships, reach a new demographic of members, and support the current board to reach positive conclusions for progression of the SoHG.”
Malcolm Duck
Aberlady, Scotland
Malcolm Duck
Malcolm Duck is the founding chairman of Scotland’s Golf Coast and current steering group member / press spokesperson and representative on the Scottish Golf Tourism Development Group. He is a board member of Scotland The Home of Golf Marketing Group. He has been a restaurateur / hotelier (Ducks Inn) for 30 years, and is founding chairman of The Edinburgh Restaurateurs Association.
Malcolm has been playing golf since he was a young lad in Troon, playing Loch Green with his Uncle Dave. He now plays off a 7.6 handicap and his home club is Renaissance Golf Club in East Lothian. He is also a member of Archerfield Golf Club in East Lothian and The St Andrews Club in St Andrews. He played in the first World Hickory Championship at the Old Course Musselburgh, organised by the late Lionel Freedman and Graham Wilson, and in subsequent events. On the WHO’s return to East Lothian, Malcolm was asked to help deliver the 2019 event on behalf of the shareholders alongside John Anderson and Boris Leitzow.
Over the years he has gotten to know a number of the hickory golf community, also playing in the Jack White Trophy over the past few years, run by Boris Leitzow (Jack White) in Gullane. Together with John Anderson, Jürgen Mueller, Christian Juel, Bill Geisler, and Rick Adams, Malcolm is looking at how we deliver a World Hickory Golf Tournament in 2021 and build on the foundations already laid.
Joe Hollerbach
Greensboro, North Carolina
Joe Hollerbach
Joe has been playing golf for 63 of his 68 years. He played competitively as a junior, through college, and as an amateur until his mid-30s when he could no longer compete with the college boys. “I was introduced to the hickory game by my son, Ben, whom many of you know, at the 2011 U.S. Hickory Open at French lick,” he says. “I have been an avid participant ever since.”
Why hickory?
“I love the simplicity of the game, the purity of that one extraordinary shot,” Joe says. “The honesty of that shot and that it was you and your skill that accomplished the result, not technology masking your flaws. I love the endless options and the opportunities for creativity that hickory golf offers. Hickory golf is so much more entertaining than modern golf AND so much more rewarding. Additionally and possibly more important, I enjoy the people that this game attracts. As a whole, the SoHG membership represents the finest group of individuals I have ever had the pleasure of joining. We certainly have a unique and common passion. But the friendliness, open, and genuine friendship consistently displayed is very uncommon. As much as I love the competition, I equally enjoy seeing old faces, meeting new ones, discussing so many varied topics, and enjoying a wee nip and a cigar. It doesn’t get much better than that!”
Joe says he has much to offer SoHG members based on in-depth experience with SoHG events from regional to international. “My nine years as a member have given me time to observe and reflect on the events where I have played, the local involvement, the culture, and the passion displayed by so many members. I am in total agreement that the Society’s place is in growing and enhancing the membership and the overall enjoyment of its members. It should remain as an advisory element and as a supporter of existing regions as well as be there to assist developing regions, whether domestic or international. The SoHG is that resource where regional organizers, or an individual, can go to become involved. It is there to expand the opportunities for everyone to experience the unique pleasures that hickory golf provides.
“I have reaped the benefits of previous individuals and the past boards for nine years now. It is time to give back when and where I can. I am retired and have the time. I do not have any agenda that I intend to carry to the Board other than that expressed above. I believe my golf experience, both past modern and currently hickory, gives me a unique perspective and that I can be a valuable resource on the board and to the Society’s membership.”
Don Madelung
Windsor, Wisconsin
Don Madelung
Don was born and raised in the Midwest and is a descendant of Swedish Immigrants who farmed in north-central Wisconsin. He attended high school in Rock Island, Ill. and attended college at Augustana College, Ill., earning a Masters at the Univ. of Missouri –Kansas City. He has been active in many sports including swimming (both high school and college), semi-pro baseball, soccer, recreational basketball, and golf.
Don and his wife, Sandy Rossmiller, have been married for 46 years. Sandy is retiring at the end of December 2020 from a very successful teaching career in dental assisting. Their son, Drew, 34 is an avid golfer and new father. Daughter Britt is married to Jon Resheske. They are enjoying their dogs Dublin and Hudson.
Don is the the former president of Herzing University where he served as a campus president for 22 years. He is currently the vice president for Pierce Mortuary Colleges (Atlanta, Dallas and Jeffersonville, Ind.). He works from home administering admissions, marketing, career services, professional development and student retention. He’s also an elected Trustee for the Village of Windsor, Wisc., having served for over 20 years.
As for golf and hickory golf, Don writes:
“I got involved in golf as a teenager, took a long hiatus from the sport and seriously took it up again at the age of 35, taking my handicap from 25 down to 7. I got infected with hickory golf when Greg Smith, current SoHG president invited me to a tournament in the Missouri Ozarks over 10 years ago. I met some marvelous people who shared their passion for this renaissance golf game. Seems the infection can affect you in different ways and eras of golf. My first set of vintage clubs were some 1920s A.G. Spaulding Bros. clubs. I built a complete set from there, learning to re-wrap grips, care for the wood and, in the process, learned about the history of the Spaulding Bros. I started collecting, collecting and collecting – putters and jiggers the most. I upgraded to some MacGregor rustless clubs which are very beautiful. Recently I played in my second National Hickory Championship tournament and realized I loved gutty golf and so had to assemble another set of my own clubs complete with long nose driver and fairway wood and smooth face irons.”
Why Serve SoHG?
“I, like many of you have a passion for hickory golf, the history, the collecting and the camaraderie of the friendly competition. I am at a stage of my life (now playing in Super Senior, Legends, or other respectful names they give us) where I can give back some of what I have gleaned from my personal and professional life lessons and my golf experiences.
I would appreciate your support of my nomination.”