By Jim Davis
Deal Hudson, a dapper gentleman who loves hickory golf and is a fixture at events throughout the Southeast as well as larger national tournaments, found himself at a loss recently.
Deal Hudson
“I was moving to Atlanta and realized there was no hickory golf organization,” he said.
When you like the sport as much as Hudson, that’s not a good thing.
Hudson lost not a moment in setting things to right. Knowing of other robust playing groups in the southern region, he thought to create an association that would invite all hickory golfers in the southern region of the U.S. to join forces. Thus was born, on Dec. 1, 2020, the Southern Hickory Golf Society (SHGS).
“I thought it would be better to make it regional,” he said, “so that the SHGS could coordinate its activities with other organizations in the South.”
The SHGS lists Hudson as its president, Tad Moore as honorary chair; Karl Nagy as vice president; Ben Hollerbach as event coordinator, Tyler Guthrie as membership coordinator; Mike Stevens as rules coordinator; and Claire Smith as secretary/treasurer.
The SHGS Mission Statement is given as:
The Southern Hickory Golf Society exists to promote competitions and friendships among hickory golfers throughout the Southern states. Along with other hickory golf associations, the Society will work collaboratively with the Society of Hickory Golfers. Our Society affirms the importance of tradition, sportsmanship, regular play, and competition.
“We want to recruit new hickory golfers, nurture existing hickory golfers, play more hickory golf, create more competitions, and grow a golfing fellowship,” Hudson says.
While the SHGS is meant as a collaborative group, Hudson says it is not meant to serve or act as an umbrella organization, but hopes to certainly coordinate activities with like-minded regional hickory golf associations in the South.
“We always need more and better communication,” he says, “and we will promote all that as well as the SoHG, and hope that it [the SoHG] will support our Society as well.”
Hudson said the SHGS plans to create a flagship annual tournament in Georgia and will help host the annual Southern Hickory 4-Ball Championship.
Here is Hudson’s invitation to join the Southern Hickory Golf Society:
A golf society should do all that can be done to promote the game of golf as it was played during the Golden Era from 1900 to 1939. The greats of that era included Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Ted Ray, Harry Vardon, Tommy Armour, and “Wild” Bill Melhorn. They played with wooden clubs, hickory to be exact, and they dressed to play as if the occasion was special, which it always was. In addition to plus-fours and tailored trousers, they wore two-toned shoes, a shirt, a tie, and, when necessary, a natty sweater. The game they played was infused with grace, manners, and good humor. The members of the SHGS will play golf with this paradigm in mind, not to be slavish imitators, but because it represents the best that our game has to offer and, it should be added, to restore the priority of play and friendship in the lives of golfers. Please join us and you will be made to feel most welcome. You can join on our Facebook page, Southern Hickory Golf Society.
The gentlemen and ladies of the Southern Hickory Golf Society are a most welcome addition to the national and worldwide community of hickory golfers. We wish them all the best and look forward to their success in the South as they continue our shared passion to “discover the playing characteristics of wood shaft golf clubs,” and to “promote the experience of golf in a manner consistent with how the ‘royal and ancient game’ was played in the hickory era.”
The SHGS Facebook page already has a robust activity and many new members. Be sure to visit, say hello, and, if you’ve a mind, join this great new Southern hickory group.
