Equipment

Q&A: The rise of hickory golf, its origins and appeal

Published

11 years ago

Mar 13, 2015

CNN recently titled an article “Hickory golf: The ultimate hipster sport?”

While I’m not sure ironic mustaches, craft beer, and obscure music snobbery jive with the use of wooden-shafted clubs and the donning of period attire to better appreciate the game, I wanted to get to the bottom of the phenomenon.

I spoke with Mike Stevens, executive director of the Professional Hickory Golfers Association, about the growing phenomenon that is hickory golf and his work organizing hickory tournaments and preserving the rich history of our singular game.

Stevens has been playing golf for nearly 55 years. The western Massachusetts native went to college in Florida. After playing golf collegiately, he was drafted into the military in the early 70s. He began teaching in the evenings while on base.

I asked him how he got started on the hickory and plus-fours side of things.

From left: Brian Schuman, director of Metropolitan (NY) Hickory Association, Lionel Freedman, director World Hickory Open and Mike Stevens.

MS: My dad took me out to the course when I was nine. He gave me a Sam Snead Blue Ridge iron…he put together a little set for me and one of the clubs in the set was a hickory-shafted 3-iron. I used that set almost up until I was in high school, and I loved that club.

Fifteen or 20 years ago, I was rummaging around in a flea market and there was a barrel of hickory clubs, and I thought to myself: I’m just going grab one of these clubs to have as a reminder of that club I had when I was a kid. When I went to the counter to pay, I asked the guy if he had an old leather grip. He said he didn’t, but [I could] probably get one from the Collectors Society. I had no idea that they existed. I looked them up online, and I joined the society, and I went to one of their annual meetings where people come in with all of their clubs they’ve collected over the years.

They also had a tournament at their annual meeting where you played with hickory clubs. I ended up playing in the tournament and just enjoyed it so much that I put together a set for myself and started playing with them. More and more collectors started playing and they started to organize tournaments around the country…I played in the first National Hickory Championship.

I enjoyed playing with them so much that, eventually, all I played with was hickory clubs. I don’t play with modern equipment at all. But I play sensibly: I play on older golf courses that were built for that type of equipment. Generally, those of us that play try to keep the distance between 5,800 and 6,100 yards.

Hickory golf’s organizing bodies

MS: We have what we call the Society of Hickory Golfers, which is a national organization. There are several world organizations, and I’d estimate there are 2,500 people in the world right now that play hickory golf on a regular basis.

How it really got started? Collectors saying, “Hey, I wonder what it would be like to play with this stuff.” They started playing and realized you can play just as well with these clubs as you can with modern stuff.

It’s a fledgling organization. Right now, we have basically two tournaments in the world with a professional purse. My tournament, which is the United States Professional Hickory Championship … has a $5,000 purse, and it was patterned after the 1925 Florida Open. All of the top professionals in the country came to Temple Terrace and played in that tournament…Walter Hagan, Gene Sarazen, Jim Barnes…when I decided to grow the hickory game a little bit, I thought it would be good for the pros to get some experience with it since a lot of people follow after what the pros do.

I started the tournament five years ago, and I had something like 30 pros come and play, including David Frost. It’s grown slowly over the years. I’d like to have a bigger purse to attract more pros, but at the same time, I want it to be a tribute to the game and how it was first played and make sure we don’t forget how it all started because the more we move into the modern era, nobody remembers any of that. This kind of continues the tradition. That’s really why I started it: to pay tribute to the history of the game.

The other tournament that we have is the World Hickory Open, which is played every year in Scotland, and that also has a $5,000 purse.

What the response has been like

The response has been more positive than anything. Everybody enjoys the experience. Most of the people come back each year. I’d say 80 percent of the people who played in the first tournament come back each year.

The encouraging thing is that I had four or five young guys play last year and they absolutely loved it—I’m talking like 21, 22—and they just had a blast and they’re coming back next year. And I’ve got four or five more young guys trying it for the first time this year.

But everybody who plays had a very positive experience and enjoyed it very much. I’d like to get more pros playing to re-establish that they’re the caretakers of the game and they should be passing it along to everybody.

What it’s like to play hickory golf

Everybody wears a shirt and tie, usually. You don’t have to wear knickers, but a lot of people do. In the era, everybody wore a shirt and tie, which gave it sort of an elegant look.

The actual play: Everybody talks about the modern swing and things of that nature. But the ultimate test is if you can get the club squarely on the ball. It doesn’t really matter how you do that. When using a hickory club, if you hit it well, there’s not a whole lot different from a modern club other than distance. The feel and the trajectories are all pretty much the same. If you mishit, however, then it’s really bad. So, precision is a little more involved…but it’s more satisfying when you hit a good one. That’s part of the enjoyment: When you hit a good shot, you know you made a good swing.

A few of hickory golf’s good things

It brings back a lot of memories of when I was playing as a kid. So, a lot of it’s nostalgia. Part of nostalgia is it makes you feel good. That part lifts my spirits a little bit when I’m playing.

And the other nice thing about playing with hickory is, it doesn’t take long. You’re playing on shorter courses. You’re playing on courses that aren’t overly penal; they always give you an opportunity to make some kind of a recovery shot. You can usually buzz around an older course in 3.5 hours to 4 hours, maximum.

For more, check out the PHGA, the Golf Collectors Society, and the Society of Hickory Golfers websites.

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Ben Alberstadt

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

12 Comments

Greg V

Mar 16, 2015 at 12:42 pm

Tom Duckworth –

It is quite OK to use antique clubs, but most hickory players will re-glue iron heads on old clubs, particularly if there is a bit of a rattle when you tap the head on the ground.

If you go to the section on this site: Classic Golf and Golfers – Hickory, Persimmon and Classic Clubs – you will find a thread on Playing Hickory Golf. In that thread, say withing the last 3 or 4 pages, there is valuable information on how to re-glue and pin old iron clubs. Also there is some good information for restoring wood clubs.

Old shafts can break, and new shafts can break as well. There are people who will sell replacement shafts. Tad Moore is one such person.

I know of a local club repair person who has done a nice job of re-gluing, re-gripping and restoring my hickory clubs. At this point I chose to play them, but I leave the repairs to an expert. You may be able to find one in your area.

Reply Report comment
Tom Duckworth

Mar 14, 2015 at 6:42 pm

It sounds fun I would have liked a bit more information on equipment. Is it OK to use old clubs or are they too fragile? I have some around that seem pretty solid and will modern golf balls hurt these old clubs?

Reply Report comment
Ronald Montesano

Mar 14, 2015 at 6:17 pm

Sprinters finish in under 3 hours. Sprinters who have no interest in camaraderie, etc. Sprinters who play alone, or perhaps with a fellow sprinter, get around in under 3 hours. Golf in the USA has a social element to it. There is no reason a 4-hour round should be denigrated. Folks who operate on the extremes are snobs by nature and definition.

Reply Report comment
gvogel

Mar 14, 2015 at 9:20 am

There are two companies making reproduction hickory clubs: Loiusville Golf and Tad Moore Hickory. Tad is a frequent contributor to this site. He was an early adaptor and founder of hickory golf, and still continues to play at a very high level in hickory tournaments.

Reply Report comment
Tony Tubrick

Mar 13, 2015 at 11:44 pm

I enjoyed this article very much. I am an almost lifelong resident of Omaha, Nebraska which has its fair share of hickory golfers and excellent hickory-friendly courses to play at. In addition I am kept busy at Classic Golf restoring and repairing hickories for players around the country and even the world.
I’ve seen hickory golf grow dramatically in recent years. It’s encouraging to see the sport grow in this direction and I highly recommend golfers try it not just because it is the business I am in but to experience a bit of the roots of this game the way it was played over 100 years ago. Quite addictive. I find when I do get out and play that I choose to play my hickories much more often than my modern clubs. It’s simply more fun and challenging.

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Dan

Mar 13, 2015 at 8:00 pm

I live in a Detroit suberb. We have a group (The Wyandotte Hickory Organization, Wyandotte, MI) with over 60 members from 5 states and Canada who play hickories 1-3 times per week. We have 2 tournaments every year where we wear knickers (some guys wear kilts), ties, period hats, and we are lead onto the course by a bag piper. We also play several matches every summer against a group of players from the other side of the state, Grand Rapids (The Michigan Hickory Tour). Great fun.
My hickory handicap is about the same as my modern club handicap. Hickory play has actually improved my handicap because tempo is so important in hickories. Every year we play a hickory match against the local high school varsity golf team. Yes, they use some of our extra player sets,,,and they have a ball. They can’t go out for a beer after with us,,,but someday.
If anyone reading this lives in Michigan or Northern Ohio and would like to try hickories we have a lot of play sets. Contact me at: danielriley9807@att.net.
Oh, the cost of joining the WHO (our mascot is obviously an owl) is the cost of a shirt and a hat and a round of drinks.

Reply Report comment
Jim

Mar 13, 2015 at 5:00 pm

Good information. Lots more can be found on the website of the Society of Hickory Golfers. Look under “Resources” and you’ll info on finding hickory clubs and putting together a starter set. Good fun learning about this style of golf. One thing for sure, it’s a lot more fun to play.

Reply Report comment
cody

Mar 13, 2015 at 2:58 pm

nice write up. The only thing that I would have included would be where can you acquire the gear?

Reply Report comment
RI_Redneck

Mar 13, 2015 at 10:58 am

LOL. Great first post there bud. On a serious note, I hope to acquire a couple of sets so my son and I can start participating in this. I love the old stuff and trying Hickory is #1 on my bucket list. Love to play in Scotland at that tourney. That would be the BEST!!

Reply Report comment
U3

Mar 13, 2015 at 9:47 am

3.5 hours to 4 hours is TOO LONG playing on shorter course with hickory. You should be getting done in under 3 hours.

Reply Report comment
- Jon
  
  Mar 13, 2015 at 10:41 am
  
  U3, if you believe that rounds played with hickory should take less than 3 hours then shouldn’t we all be playing hickory instead of modern equipment? The courses I play our 4-somes can get around in about 3-3.5 hours with modern equipment. If we switch to hickory we should be able to finish in about 2.5 hours. Please explain so I can better understand the logic.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Dan
  
  Mar 13, 2015 at 8:04 pm
  
  It takes us no longer to play a round with hickories than to play a round with modern clubs. Time is a function of the player, not the clubs.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Tour Edge unveils all-new Exotics mini driver

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tour Edge Golf has today introduced the all-new Exotics mini driver, engineered to deliver a powerful combination of speed, control, and versatility in the long game.

The Exotics Mini combines a titanium face with a stainless-steel body in design to balance ball speed with stability and control, creating a versatile option at the top end of the bag.

At the core of the design is Tour Edge’s proprietary Combo Brazing technology, a high-precision thermal bonding process that seamlessly fuses a titanium cup face to a stainless-steel body into a single, continuous structure. By eliminating energy loss found in traditional multi-piece constructions, Combo Brazing is designed to deliver faster face response, more efficient energy transfer, and a uniquely powerful yet controlled feel.

The multi-material construction also allows mass to be positioned lower and deeper in the head in a bid to increase stability, while the thin titanium face is engineered to maintain ball speed across a wider impact area.

“While the initial goal was to enhance control and versatility in the long game, Combo Brazing ultimately drove measurable gains in ball speed and distance within the mini driver category. In robot testing, we’ve documented higher ball speeds, higher launch, reduced spin, and increased carry and total distance compared to leading models.” – Vice President of R&D Matt Neeley

In addition to distance performance, the Exotics mini emphasizes forgiveness through a heavier stainless-steel body that shifts mass toward the perimeter. This configuration increases MOI relative to traditional all-titanium mini drivers, helping preserve ball speed and directional stability on off-center strikes. Paired with Pyramid Face Technology from the Exotics metalwood line, the design is intended to support consistent speed across the face.

To further enhance MOI, a lightweight carbon fiber crown frees additional mass that is strategically repositioned low and deep in the head in design to improve stability and promote optimal launch with controlled spin.

“We designed the Mini to be about five millimeters shallower than other mini drivers on the market. That change improves playability off the deck. From a clean fairway lie, it can function as a strong 3-wood alternative while still providing control off the tee.” – Tour Edge CEO David Glod

An adjustable hosel system allows for loft and lie tuning to dial in trajectory and shot shape, while a fixed 13-gram rear weight helps stabilize the head through impact to improve dispersion consistency. The Exotics Mini Driver is available in 11.5 and 13.5-degree lofts in right-handed models.

Pricing & Availability

The Exotics Mini Driver is available for pre-order beginning today for $399.99 USD at touredge.com, and will be available for purchase at retail outlets worldwide on May 22, 2026.

Equipment

Srixon ZXi combo or TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been pitting a Srixon ZXi combo against a TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo. WRXer ‘edutch22’ is on the hunt for a new set of irons and kicks off the thread saying:

“Looking at picking up a new set of irons and think I’ve narrowed it down to Srixon ZXi combo or Taylormade P7CB/770 combo. I am currently a 5 cap and allbeit I feel irons are my weakness. My miss is a little to the toe side. I am decently steep at 4-5 down. Always thought I am high spin but recently on trackman my 7 was spinning at 5800 roughly.

My question or looking for thoughts on which one would benefit me more from a forgiveness standpoint? Or is there another iron is should be looking at entirely? I only get to play about once or twice a week, if I am not playing a 2-3 day event. Thanks in advance.”

And our members have been sharing their thoughts and suggestions in response.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

manima1: “You just can’t go wrong with Srixon ZXi7.”
MattM97: “You have to hit them to know, the V-Sole on the Srixon can be make or break for many.”
dmeeksDC: “P7CB is more forgiving for me than ZXi7 because my main miss is low middle and the P7CB still flies and spins great on that miss. These are both really nice irons but I like the P7CB more than the Zxi7 and the P770 (or P790) more than the Zxi5. The Srixons are larger so if that gives you confidence that is the way to go. I don’t feel like I get any benefit from the V-sole and the P7CBs live up to their high Maltby forgiveness rating so the TaylorMades have been great for me.”

Entire Thread: “Srixon ZXi combo or TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo? – GolfWRXers discuss”

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: 2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade combo

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @pianoman0123 has a 2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade combo up for grabs.

From the listing: “2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade Combo. 4-8 irons are CB’s and the 9,PW are Blades. 5-PW have Project X 6.0 Shafts and the 4 Iron has a Steelfiber CW110 Stiff Shaft. Standard Length, Lie and Lofts. These are in very good condition the shafts just don’t work for me. Like new Lamkin Grips on the 5-PW and a stock Golf Pride on the 4 Iron. $525 OBO.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules