"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.

What's the Lingo of Hickory Golf?

You've probably seen photos of 1920s-30s golfers similar to these, and you might have observed hickory shafted golf clubs on display in golf course lounges or in your buddy's den. But one of the most intriguing aspects of Hickory Golf is the unique terminology associated with apparel and equipment. Let's start with the pants you see in the photos above. While most of us just refer to them as "knickers", I've learned that the different lengths are denoted by descriptive names. If the legs extend 4" below the knee, those are known as "Plus Fours". Two inches below the knees? Why, "Plus Twos", of course! So, how about pants which end at the knee...are they "Plus Zeros"? Nope, they're called "Breeks", which makes no sense, but that is half the fun!

Even more awesome and unusual nomenclature is reserved for the different hickory shaft clubs. All my fellow modern golfers know that you've got irons, numbered between 1-9, wedges, which are either called by a name, like "pitching", "gap", "sand", or "lob", or are differentiated by degree of loft: 50, 56, 60,etc. What used to be called "Woods" (because the heads were made of...you guessed it...wood!) are called Drivers (usually tagged with a 1), and Fairway metals (carrying the numbers 3-7). Finally, you got your "Hybrids", which combine the qualities of fairway metals and irons. Pretty boring names, yes? Well, here's what hickory counterparts are called: "Brassie", "Cleek","Baffy" and "Spoon" are woods; irons have equally musical names, like "Mashie", "Niblick", "Jigger", and of course, "Mashie-Niblick". One thing that hasn't changed; "Putter" is still a putter. One of the most memorable moments from my first-ever round of hickory golf, was this exchange: "Brilliant shot, Dave! Did you employ your Niblick?" "Thank you, Tom, but I struck that with a cleanly-hit Mashie!"

Do I Have The Balls To Play Hickory Golf?

What the heck is "Hickory Golf"? More to the point, why is this worth a blog? Well, I'll start by answering the first question: Hickory Golf is the sporting equivalent to Civil War reenactment. You've seen those men, women and sometimes children who dress in uniforms and period dress of the 1860s, toting authentic reproductions of muskets, rifles, cap and ball revolvers, swords and sabers? Yep, the same folks who take over local parks and even Civil War battlefield sites, setting up Union and Confederate camps, playing "Dixie" or "Battle Hymn of the Republic" with fifes and drums, marching about in long ranks and pretending to shoot each other while yelling "Huzzah, Boys, Huzzah!"

Hickory Golfers do much the same thing, except instead of carrying muskets and sabers, they sling leather and canvas golf bags over their shoulders, filled with a mix of antique and reproduction hickory-shafted golf clubs. They fire reproductions of 1920s golf balls rather than black powder cartridges. The proper Hickory Golfer is decked out in "Plus-Fours", knee socks, dress shirts, ties, argyle sweater vests, leather golf shoes, and wool/cotton newsboy-style caps...no baseball hats allowed! You won't see laser rangefinders or GPS apps, nor any newfangled pushcarts...if you want to stand up your golf bag, just use a couple of sturdy sticks fastened together in an "X" as a bipod.

So now let me address my second question: Why is this outdoor pursuit worth a blog? Simply this...I'm a golf history nerd, and I suspect there are others out there in the blogosphere who might harbor similar tendencies. Since I'm just now discovering the world of hickory golf, I figured my voyage might be fun to document, and perhaps entice others to follow along the path of nerditude. So I invite you all to tee it up alongside me, and experience the delight of learning an old aspect to an even older sport!