Hickory Golf – Playing Golf With The Clubs Of Days Gone Bye
Those among us who have an interest in collecting antique golf clubs have seen, heard, or read about the term hickory golf clubs more often than maybe any other collectible golf term. For most of us, our exposure is limited to precisely that, a club in our collection, a reference in an article, perhaps a conversation with a co-worker.
For others, it has become a passionate desire to go beyond talk and books, and display cases, and actually experience golf as it used to be, maybe so long as a few centuries back. Hickory Golf has turned into a keen spare time pursuit where fans of this vintage golf club really take to the course equipped with these historic masterpieces in pursuit of that feeling enjoyed by golfers of yesterday.
So what does it feel just like and in this day of outsized titanium drivers, what does it feel a bit like to play the game at its most basic level, with the most basic of apparatus. We believed we would check around and find out , perhaps getting our hands on a genuine hickory shafted club, and here's what we found, and what you should expect.
Immediately, anyone will see a big weight difference, with todays designs significantly lighter. Hickory Clubs had shafts which were surprisingly heavy by today’s standards.
Over the passage of time I might imagine that you would gain your “feel” and that your swing would tweak itself to fit with the heavier club, but initially, the difference is quite an eye-opener.
The second difference, which is just as obvious, and maybe more significant, is the scale of the club-head. A consequence of both the large club-head sizes available today, and the traditionally small wooden club head of a hickory golf club. One or the other on its own represents a meaningful difference; blend the effect and its like playing tennis with a ping pong paddle.
Overall, as it relates to the woods, it is popular consensus the course of flight is lower than a modern Driver, more looking rather like the ball flight of a green wood. Hickory Golfers, by design, tee the ball lower as a result of this. Hitting the irons, whether it be the Mashie or the Niblick, gives a very reliable result for the accomplished player. In other words, although distance may sometimes be compromised, these clubs provide true outcomes with respect to ball flight and direction.
Eventually, the traditional hickory putter, which as you would expect, was a steel forged, blade style putter. In the old days, hickory putters had some flat built in to account for greens conditions which often seemed unimportant in comparison to today’s meticulously devised and maintained greens.
Its straightforward to comprehend why Hickory Golf has become as well liked as it has , and why it is anticipated to continue to grow in popularity. For the true golfing lover, it allows one to experience the game in a way that raw ability matters exponentially more than it does today, as more apparatus enhancements make it harder to screw up. There will continue to be bad shots and the associated frustration, and there will be glimmers of excellence with fist pumps of joy, but at its core, hickory golf is a great experience that should be experienced at least one time by each serious golfer, weekend or alternatively.
Andrew Shea has been involved with Antique Golf Clubs, both on a personal level, and in a professional capacity for many years. If you have a question or are interested in vintage golf clubs generally, you are always welcome at his site.
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