High-tech nostalgic golf

The annual Gutty Golf Spectacular, just in its fifth semester, was born to honor golf while proving that the sport in ancient times can still be played on modern golf.

The tournament takes place at Shadow Mountain Stadium in California, with players from teenagers up to 80 years old. Shadow Mountain was designed by legendary Gene Sarazen. He used the hickory cane to win majores in the 1920s.

At Gutty Golf Spectacular, golfers used head-to-handle hickory clubs, made before 1900. The ball is a replica of the original gutta percha gutta percha balls. Typical rubber in India and Malaysia.

With the tool of the last century, the kick can reach 160 yards. Now, with the latest release clubs, it’s not uncommon for people to be in the group of golf entertainment with a high level of 300 yards.

Today’s golfer can play with a bag of up to 14 sticks – the maximum in the rules of the game. Shadow Mountain golfers use only four or five trees, including the club. “This is a reenactment of golf history and also for more fun with the sport. We still have a modern club user, but not always,” said Eddie Breeden, President of the Pacific Coast Timber Trade Association. of America – share. Breeden attended the tournament in Shadow Mountain, wearing a traditional Scottish men’s dress.

In Gutty Golf Spectacular present several hickory trees in the first 30 years of last century. It was the second hickory era, but not as expensive and durable as before 1900.

“The quality of the commercial wood is one of the most important. The first wooden sticks are taken from perennials, imported from the United States to be crafted in the UK. They are very durable. not equal, “explained player Kurt Olsen. This golfer is inherently trendy. Once playing in a group with the golfer hickory, Olsen initially pouted at you. Then, out of curiosity, he tried the old goods and it became his passion for it. “Now I have 300 hickory trees before 1900,” Olsen revealed of the “ancient treasure”.

Rylee Stovall, 13 years old, is the youngest player in the tournament. She started golf when she was 2 years old, competed when she was 8, and started using hickory at 10 years old. “Over the past few years, I have been playing hickory. I have had a few friends in ancient golf because I think it’s cool. Some people seem puzzled but I think this school is fun and it’s pure golf,” Stovall said. .

Ray Tokareff lives in Oregon but is on vacation in Coachella Valley, California. At the age of 50, he was new to golf and first hit hickory when he was about 70 years old. “I spent eight months searching on eBay and finally bought 60 hickory. They are cheap, the color has faded but still delicious,” Tokareff, now 74, of a passion for neck sticks.

Belongs to antiques, but the price of hickory sticks is not too expensive. The second generation row, today classified as massively available, is only $ 20-30 when purchased online or at golf displays. The previous generation, there are trees more than 100 USD.

The US has about 3,000 hickory players, making a huge association. In old golf, most go online and look to Louisville Golf in Kentucky and Tad Moore Hickory Classics in Alabama. These are the two leading manufacturers of hickory replicas in the US. Tad Moore alone harvests commercial timber grown in the early 1900s, even 1800s to make sticks, so the quality is in the top class. Hickory sticks from a renowned manufacturer today are less than $ 1,000 for a set of seven, $ 1,500-2,000 for a set of 14.

It is the best first step to being “genuine” and certified by the American Association of Golf hickory. After that, players can learn more and collect them through professional groups and events. The eBay site is full, but the products have not yet verified quality and must have a professional eye. “A 100-year-old hickory, if well maintained, can last a hundred years,” Bill Geisler, former president of the American Golf Association of America, told Golfweek.

This organization opened the US Hickory Open. The high-level pro and amateur group stage is 6,000-6,100 yards long. Particularly sunny and windy Florida, the yard is usually about 5,800 yards. Meanwhile in Vietnam, the length of the yard for modern entertainment, the male group is from medium to nearly 6,300 yards – Tan Son Nhat yard, Ho Chi Minh City.

Correlation of hickory sticks from modern times Brassie – driver or wood number 3 Spoon – wood number 5 Medium iron – Iron number 2 or 3 Iron Mashie – Iron number 3 or 4 Mashie – Iron number 5 Spade mashie – iron number 6 Mashie niblick – Iron number 8 Niblick – Pitching wedge

Quoc Huy

Photo link:

https://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/2020/11/10/hickory-golf-clubs-passion-young-and-old-palm-desert-tournament/6192985002/

http://pacifichickory.com/Home_Page.php

Society of Hickory Golfers: Where old clubs, period clothes, wooden shafts are the norm