Bowral Golf Club, being one of the oldest in NSW, was the perfect venue to host the event. The hickory shafted clubs the players used were over 100 years old, and similar to the ones used when the Club was established in 1901.
The event is run by The Australian Golf Heritage Society, with players coming from far and wide including several ‘locals’ who used the hickory clubs for the first time.
The Bowral course was set up to replicate the distances played 100years ago and scoring was a modified Stableford.
It was a sunny spring Southern Highlands day with the course in pristine condition, when Bowral Captain Peter Cottee welcomed the players.
Most of the players adapted to the hickories, the locals using clubs provided by AGHS.
“When I finish a game with my regular steel clubs I think about my bad shots… when I play with hickories I remember the good shots”.
After the game the players enjoyed a lovely meal and discussed their round, particularly the good shots. One regular player was asked why they played hickory golf. The reply “When I finish a game with my regular steel clubs I think about my bad shots… when I play with hickories I remember the good shots”.
The overall winner was Tony Souter from Anthill Park with an unbelievable 68 points. This was doubly surprising as he had pulled out the day before due to a recent back operation. However, in the morning feeling fine, with some help, he turned up and had the game of his life. Runner up with 65 pts was David Rail.
Best woman, from Concord GC, was Kathy Every-Burns with 49pts.
Current Australian Hickory Champion, Tim Sayers, with a one under par, won Scratch. He also won last year’s NSW Hickory Championship at Bowral and commented that it was one of his favorite hickory courses.
The locals handled the hickories well, and many indicated they hit the ball more consistently than with their regular clubs. The player that handled them the best was Robert Shield with 62 pts. Some unkind person was heard to comment.. “well, he should be able to play with them as he grew up with hickories!!!” In fact when AGHS Captain, Les Browne, collected the loan sets he needed to check all clubs were there as some indicated “this is better than my regular driver!”
The event is again scheduled for 2025.
STORY: Les Browne | AGHS Captain