Heading For My Hickory Rehab Assignment!

The reason I haven't posted anything in three weeks is two-fold: I was up in the Toronto area, undergoing a candidate assessment for an international disaster response team, followed by a family reunion in Sacramento, Californinia...AND I returned home to undergo surgery to remove a badly-infected gall bladder.

Both events combined to keep me from taking part in this summer's premier Pacific Northwest hickory golf tourneys; The AP National Chambers Bay Invitational, Gamble Sands Invitational, and the Gearhart Links gathering. All were held in excellent weather and course conditions, and I'm quite envious of the participants!

On the other hand, I was able to vicariously stay involved with the world of hickory golf, thanks to Inside Golf publishing an article I wrote about the attractions of our sport.
My article appears on page 11.

So now that I'm recovering slowly but surely from last week's surgery (shout out to Dr. Gatta and the amazing staff at Allenmore Hospital, by the way!), my hickory clubs are sitting forlornly in the corner, silently begging me to get them outside for some work. While I took a couple of my wedges and a modern putter down to the course for some gentle efforts this morning, I'm thinking that doing the same thing tomorrow with my old clubs might be in order. "Slow and Smooth" pays off when swinging the hickory sticks, and it's definitely how I should be taking my rehab work.

Okay, then, I've convinced myself...some easy hickory work is in order, either tomorrow or Monday! (It's another advantage to working at Chambers Bay; free range time!) By the way, while working myself back into playing condition, I've volunteered to guide a Canadian golfer around the course for his first time playing Chambers, next Tuesday. I won't be carrying his bag or raking bunkers for him, but I will give him course advice, and read greens...I hope to make his first round at Chambers Bay a memorable one!

Far and Sure!

Hickorookies (and a veteran) Hit Chambers Bay Today!

Taking advantage of an unusual dry day in this Monsoon April, I joined my hickory golf mentor, Tom Kennedy (Twitter handle: @Golf_Pig_1) and a friend of Tom's, Augusta resident and former Augusta National Golf Club caddie/current co-founder of the awesome Tour Junkies website/fantasy golf handicappers David Barnett. (@Tour_Junkies), for a round of hickory golf at Chambers Bay.

Sorry for that last mother of all run-on sentences...

Anyway, it was a double first for David Barnett: First time playing Chambers Bay, and first time playing with hickory-shaft golf clubs. David's a very social media adept individual, and also a very skilled golfer. For a hickorookie, he picked up the nuances of our century old clubs faster than most. (I'm not even going to compare his first performance to mine, which was definitely less than impressive!) While we made our way around my "office", David broadcast live video (called "periscoping", for any of you readers belonging to my demographic), via his Twitter account. Those videos will be up on Twitter for a few days, so check 'em out!

I'll post photos later, but thanks again to Tom and David for a thoroughly enjoyable day on the links!

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I shot a 99. Those guys scored considerably better.)

Caddie Dreams

I'm on track to begin working as a professional caddie this summer, at Chambers Bay...just part-time, mind you, when it gets really busy.The regular veteran caddies at Chambers are a really talented bunch of folks, and several have offered to take me under their wing and train me how to do it right. (I'm really grateful for this, fellas!)

Anyway, since I've been reading a lot of golf-related books this rain-sodden springtime, a suggested title popped up in my Amazon feed; "An American Caddie in St. Andrews", by Oliver Horovitz. I'm about two-thirds of the way through it, and thoroughly enjoying the read! So, what does this have to do with Hickory Golf? Well, many of my mentors have mentioned their intention to play The Old Course at St. Andrews with their hickory sticks as well as with modern clubs, so I thought I'd add this to the pre-trip reading list. Oliver Horovitz's insights into how Old Course caddies view their golfers are hilarious, and dead on. His efforts to gain acceptance into the exclusive "inner circle" are also worthwhile lessons for anyone considering becoming a paid caddie.

Since I plan to fulfill my dream next year and play a couple of rounds at St. Andrews, including (God willing) the Old Course, I'm glad Oliver Horovitz pulled back the curtain just a bit, so that I can hopefully avoid being "That Golfer" who fails to take full advantage of thais "Round of a Lifetime" opportunity.

Hickory Golf "Fashion", or "How To Look Like A Bond Villain Without Even Trying"

My wife and I were watching the 1964 classic James Bond film, "Goldfinger" last night. One of my favorite scenes takes place on a golf course, where Sean Connery (Bond) and Gert Frobe (Goldfinger) play a match for a substantial wager. While I was engrossed by the action, my Spousal Unit looked over at me and started to chuckle. "What's so funny?", I asked. "Did you ever think that you would intentionally play golf dressed like Goldfinger, rather than James Bond?" she snorted.

Well, crap.

Reaching Out to Another Hickory Rookie

My regular golf buddy and I were playing a standard round of golf, using modern clubs, at Meadow Park Golf Club in Tacoma. As we were getting ready to tee off on #17, I noticed a fellow on the adjacent 9-hole executive course, carrying what looked like hickory clubs. Being the friendly sort that I am, I ambled over to him, said "Howdy, those look like hickorys you're playing." (Yep, we old cops are what's known as "trained observers"!)

The gentleman returned my greeting, although he seemed much too sad for someone out enjoying a traditional golf outing. This fellow, who introduced himself as "Ernie", soon explained the reason for his lack of cheer: "I got these clubs years ago, and this is the first time I've used 'em," Ernie said. "I think they're good clubs, but I already broke one." Ernie pulled the remains of a shaft, and the broken off head of the mashie, and held them out like a dead squirrel. He added, "These are Tom Stewart clubs, which are supposed to be pretty good." Well, that's an understatement...I've learned that clubs made by the great Scottish craftsman Tom Stewart are very rare, and even the ones manufactured with his trademark (a pipe) go for a whole lot of money.

This is where some of the values taught by my hickory golf mentors kicked in: I asked Ernie if he knew anyone who could repair and refurbish those fine clubs. He shook his head, so I handed him my business card, and offered to put him in touch with folks who could fix him right up. Ernie brightened up, and asked if he should keep the broken off mashie head, or toss it. "Good lord, man, don't toss it...one of those club repair geniuses can replace the shaft, and it'll be good as new!"

Now whether or not Ernie ever follows through is up to him. The point of my story, however, is that the creedo of hickory players is different from the majority of recreational golfers. Heck, how many times have we encountered someone with a busted Callaway or Taylormade club, and not given it a second thought? I know I have, probably more times than I can remember. Yet from everything I've experienced from the hickory golf community, it would be an exception if somebody DIDN'T reach out to a fellow hickory hacker and offer assistance and support. And THAT is why I'm drawn to this subset of the golf universe!

Old Skills For Old-Style Golf

Just sharing another photo of Hickory Golf's excellent representatives..."Billy Bogey" and "Tommy Tuttle" aka "Golf Pig"...to lead off a brief commentary about another discovery. What I've learned after a short time pursuing this sport is that I don't have to spend lots of money to do this. (My Spousal Unit endorses this approach, by the way, which is essential to my continued participation!)

I've previously pointed to examples of cost-saving, like converting thrift store trousers into Plus Fours (Total cost: $3). Well, my latest experiment was to construct a bipod stand to hold up my golf bag. These are listed in the spendy golf bag catalogs for $45, and they are very nice...but I can't afford that. So I stopped by the local Home Depot yesterday, and for a total cost of $6.27 I purchased a couple of 3/4 inch square dowels, some brass machine screws, washers and nuts, and made my own set. Since this was a trial run, I didn't varnish the dowels, but I will make another set later this season with all of the steps. As for the golf bag, although the kind gentleman who sold me my clubs included a very lightweight vintage canvas bag, I needed something sturdier. While eventually I may end up ordering one of those top-end leather and canvas reproduction bags ($200 at a minimum), I got a nylon-canvas "pencil bag" for $20 on Amazon.com...and then my regular golf buddy happened upon a vintage but good condition leather pencil bag at a thrift store, which he acquired for me...$5! So now I'm fully outfitted to stroll alongside the Hickory OGs without looking like a complete "Hickorookie"...even though that's who I am!

"Golf Pig" and "Billy Bogey" Recruit Again!

I did promise pictures in my last post...Here's a photo of yours truly,getting ready for my first full round with a highly-motivated AND motivational Hickory Golfer, who goes by the alias of "Billy Bogey" (He's the young fellow on the left). B.B. is a sparkplug who gets rookies like me charged up to play golf in a 1920s fashion.

Having received my initial invitation to the "Hickory Golf Family"from a first class gentleman by the nom de plume of "Golf Pig",I've enjoyed seeing first-hand how he and "Billy Bogey" pull in legions of recruits to the sport of Hickory Golf. (Photo credit: Tom Kennedy) This photo was taken on the 17th tee at The Home Course today...This is Winter Golf in the Pacific Northwest, with a nice vista of the snow-capped Olympic Mountain Range behind us!

"New" Clubs and 18 Holes of Fun!

Thanks to a very nice fellow in North Bend, Oregon, I took a major step forward with my career as a Hickory Golfer. I might have mentioned here that I wasn't planning to buy a set of hickory-shaft clubs, due to their great expense. I had been haunting local thrift stores, just in case someone donated what they thought were "cast-offs", but no joy. But earlier this week, I was perusing the listings on EBay, and a refurbished matched set of clubs caught my eye. While these clubs aren't the rarities sought after by collectors, what stood out about these irons was that they were ready for play. As you can see from the photos, the seller had restored these clubs to "almost new" condition, and he was asking a very reasonable price. Considering that I'm on a very tight budget, I didn't expect to have such an opportunity to own a ready-to-play set anytime soon, especially one as nice.

Thanks to my supportive Spousal Unit, I was able to acquire these beauties, and joined a bunch of veteran Hickory Golfers at The Home Course in DuPont, WA, for my inaugural round with my VERY OWN CLUBS! The fellowship was genuine and convivial, weather conditions were ideal (mid-40s and partly sunny), and best of all, my new clubs played better than I expected. I did chunk and shank a number of shots at first, but by the last holes, my ball was flying pretty much where I wanted it to go. By the way, if any hickory club collectors or historians are out there, I'm curious to find out the background of these clubs. They are marked "Hinsdale ***"and while I can't find a reference regarding which company manufactured them, I suspect that there might be some connection to the venerable Hinsdale Golf Club, near Chicago. Action photos to follow soon...perhaps even a short video, if I don't look incredibly awkward. (So, don't expect the video...)

Any re-enactor worth their salt knows that the attire worn during the re-enactment must appear authentic. This is much easier to do as a Hickory Golfer, especially when the Hickorookie is a senior citizen, like I am! The outfit I'm wearing in preparation for my second group outing tomorrow consists mostly of stuff I already had on hand...yep, geezer attire...The "Plus Fours" are merely a pair of wool dress slacks I purchased at the Goodwill Industries store for three bucks. I just cut off about three inches, and used some old Army "blousing bands" to secure the legs at the proper length. A Brooks Brothers dress shirt, sweater, and a Filson wool hunting vest completed the outerwear; Army cold weather socks, and my well-worn tweed cap from Scotland finished off the reasonably authentic attire. My shoes, alas, aren't replica 1930s golf footwear, but they are leather, so that should suffice! Though I possess quite a few wool plaid tartan ties, I'm going casual tomorrow...because I hate wearing ties.

The club I'm holding in the photo is my only purchase: It's a 1932 Spaulding "Kro-Flite" driving iron, which I found on Ebay for $20. It's in pretty good shape, and I've already learned to hit it pretty well. (It is the best chipping club a player could want...I've been sinking 30-40 foot shots on a regular basis!) Of course my wife's first words to me this evening when I appeared before her, dressed up like the ghost of Bobby Jones, were simply, "You're actually planning to go out in public wearing that get-up?" Why yes, my dear...Yes I am. I will post photos from tomorrow's event, which will be at the golf course I work at part time during the summer. I'm expecting sarcastic comments from most of my co-workers, but I know that they'll secretly be full of envy.