The Southern Hickory 4-Ball Championship is undergoing a sea change in 2025. It’s founder, legendary clubmaker and SoHG co-founder Tad Moore is stepping down as its host.
Moore, 83, said that a recent stroke (he’s fine) got him thinking about things and felt it might be time to hand off the long-running hickory “major,” one he established and has run near single-handedly since 2003.
“It’s about time,” he said “and it’s very difficult to run a tournament on your own.”
Tad Moore addressing the players at the 2022 Southern Hickory Four-Ball Championship.
Moore said he approached Rob Keeling, a good friend, retired PGA professional and club restoration expert, for any interest he might have in taking on the role and ensuring the tournament remains on the hickory golf calendar.
Keeling, who lives in Arab, Ala., about 160 miles north of Moore’s home in Selma, was interested but did not want to do it alone. He consulted Greg Smith, who lives in Wilsonville, Ala., and Greg Wise, an independent golf photographer and journalist who lives in Anthony, Fla., for their interest in helping out. With positive answers, Keeling set up a meeting with Moore and an agreement was reached.
Thus it is that the Southern Hickory Championship will be inaugurated April 2-4, 2025. Though Tad will will take a back seat, he will very much be the tournament’s central figure. The Alabama Hickory Golfers and the Mississippi Hickory Golfers are teaming up to take on the role as tournament hosts.
“It’s their deal to do,” Moore said, “and it sounds like it’s going to be pretty good. I’ll still play and I look forward to seeing everybody there.”
Keeling, who is taking the lead on the transition, said the restructured event will have a new format. “We asked a lot of people what they like about the Southern 4-Ball and based on their answers we’ve come up with a couple of new wrinkles.
Greg Smith, left, and Rob Keeling are co-ordinating the Southern Hickory Championship, formerly the Southern Hickory Four-Ball Championship.
“It will still be a team fourball event, but it will be flighted based on scores,” he said. “There will be no net divisions, rather, teams will be placed in flights on the second day based on their first-day scores.”
As well, there will be an individual component, so individual scores will lead to flights on the second day for individual competitions. “You’ll still play on your own team,” Keeling said, “but your individual score will place you in a certain flight.”
With rise in gutty ball interest, the revised event will include a 9-hole gutty component, offered on the Wednesday afternoon following the practice rounds.
Yes, you read that right. The new tournament will be held Thursday and Friday, not Friday and Saturday. Keeling and crew feel that this will aid in both travel plans and in working with the golf course and for event dinner planning. A larger tournament dinner for everyone is in the planning stages.
Speaking of a golf course, the new championship will have a new home – The Fields Golf Club in LaGrange, Ga.
“We are taking the event back to its home town in LaGrange,” Keeling said. “Tad started at LaGrange and we originally wanted to return there with the 25th anniversary of the event in 2027. But Mike Young, the owner of The Fields, really loved the idea and convinced us to go ahead and do it now. He is working with us and providing a number of concessions that will help us make the move. It’s a perfect hickory course and I’m sure the players will enjoy it.”
The Fields GC was designed by Young, an associate of Tom Doaks, in the late 1980s. After a number of ownership changes, the club was purchased in 2012 by Young who now operates it as a family business. Over the past couple of years, Young has spent not a few dollars to upgrade and renovate the course. Doak himself played the course in 2017 and made the following comments, which appear on the golf club’s website:
“It’s a cool atmosphere with its small clubhouse virtually surrounded by golf; most of the front nine revolves around a central hill, while the back side tangles with a couple of ponds created by damming a deep ravine. Several greens drain out to the back or to other interesting spots; it’s easy to tell the proprietor has always been a good player, but his course doesn’t pound you over the head as so many of today’s young architects tend to do.”
The Fields Golf Club clubhouse.
“The main thing that Tad wanted is to keep and maintain a classic fourball golf tournament and that’s what we intend to do,” Keeling said. “The Southern Hickory Classic will be an umbrella title and the fourball competition will be referred to as the Tad Moore Hickory 4-Ball Classic.”
The Southern Hickory 4-Ball has long been a classic hickory tournament and Tad a beloved event host. Though change is inevitable and the event will sport a new name and additional features, Keeling and his colleagues are keen that the feeling, the spirit of the event, continues for years to come.
“We know how much people care about this event and how much Tad means to everyone,” Keeling said. “We’ve just added a little extra and hope we can keep it lively and interesting.”
The interest is certainly there. Greg Wise has already sent around promotional posters and invitations to many on Tad’s mailing list and nearly 40 players have already signed up. This newest iteration of the classic Southern Hickory Championship has the support of its founder, a fresh team of organizers, and a ready field of players. What’s not to love?
Check the Tournament Calendar page of this website for information on registering for the new Southern Hickory Classic.