Bill “Ernie” Ernst reports:
Marks, Burgland and Hackstock take top honors at the 10th annual Wisconsin Hickory Open, Aug. 26-28 at Lawsonia Golf course.
The Wisc Hickory Open is in the books. Congratulations goes out to our cChampion, Aaron Marks, who on his first trip to Lawsonia found the secret to success. A Colorado native, Aaron proved on two very challenging days of weather that consistency is the key. He shot two rounds of 78 and 79 to squeak by Ernie Ernst, our runner up, by two shots and Dan Hoffmann by three. Parker Elrod, another first time participant, won low net with a 72 and 67 score. His experience adds weight to the argument that sometimes you know too much about a course and that ignorance ( not knowing where trouble lurks) is a blessing.
In the Senior Division, repeat winner and old hand at Lawsonia, George Burgland posted an outstanding round of 75 the first day and withstood the charge of Dan Moore who was our Runner up. George Galligan took the Net Division.
Keeping with the New-to -Lawsonia theme, Nick Hackstock of Colorado, posted a two-day score of 77 and 79 to win the Legends Division over David Boyd who was our runner up. Sneaky Cal Whitman, fresh off a tour of Ireland, brought his new found skills back to Lawsonia to win the Net Division.
Thank you to Jacoby and Steurer for making a special 10th Anniversary golf bag that was won by Dave Long in our drawing. A quality red and white tartan, it is a beauty.
It was a challenging tournament of weather and extremes. Day one brought multiple thunder and rain storms as is common in the Midwest this time of year, which forced two weather delays, chasing everybody off the course each time. Day two brought sweltering heat and humidity that challenged the players again. After all this, the Friday night fish fry was a even bigger success that usual.
We look forward to doing it all again next Aug. 25-27, 2022. Please mark your calendars and come join us in Wisconsin. We also have a special Kohler Hickory Challenge scheduled for May 13-14, 2022. So as you are watching the Ryder Cup this fall think about how much fun it would be to challenge that course with hickories.
Open winners in the 2021 Wisconsin Hickory Open, from left: Open winners
Mike Brown (runner up Net), Parker Elrod (Net Champion), Dan “ The Milwaukee Missile” Hoffmann (3rd Place), Aaron Marks ( Champion), and Bill “Ernie” Ernst (Runner up).
2021 Wisconsin Hickory Open Senior winners, from left: Ed Horvat (3rd Place), Bruce Rashke (Net Runner up), George Galligan (Net Champion), Dan Moore (runner up), and George Burgland (Senior Champion).
2021 Wisconsin Hickory Open Legends winners, from left: David Boyd (runner up), Dan Norstedt (3rd place), Dave Zilisch (runner up Net), Nick Hackstock (Legends Champion), and Cal Whitman (Net Champion).
Dave Long won the Steurer & Jacoby 10th Anniversary golf bag.
Wouldn’t be the Wisconsin Hickory Open without a fish fry.