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Hickory History, The design of Pinehurst and Mountain Lake
With thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society Two Visionaries, Two Winter Colonies The story of Mountain Lake is not simply the story of Seth Raynor. It is equally the story of Frederick Ruth—a developer whose ambitions rivaled those of James Walker Tufts a generation earlier. Both men recognized a profound demographic shift taking…
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Hickory History, The Open or the British Open? That is the question…..
With thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society Every July, as the world’s greatest golfers descend upon the links of Scotland, England, or Northern Ireland, an old debate resurfaces. Is it The Open Championship or the British Open? For some, using “British Open” is treated almost as sacrilege. Others insist it is simply a…
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Hickory History, the evolution of Par
With thanks to Conner Lewis of the Society From Ghosts to Standards How Bogey, Par, Birdie—and the Ball Itself—Redefined Golf Golf’s scoring language feels timeless, but it is anything but. Bogey, par, and birdie did not emerge as a tidy system, nor were they invented at once. They arrived in response to a changing…
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Hickory History, We are living in the great age of Golf design.
With thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society Why we may be living through the greatest era of golf design . Pine Valley Golf’s Golden Age: the sacred window between roughly 1910 and 1935 is supposed to be untouchable. It gave us the templates, it leaned in on strategy, width and angles, and a…
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Hickory History, When Augusta almost didn’t come back.
With thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society The Year Augusta National Almost Didn’t Come Back When people talk about the Masters, continuity is part of the magic. Same place. Same rituals. Same April rhythm. But there was a moment—quiet, unpublicized, and genuinely uncertain—when the Masters Tournament may never have returned at all. 1943–1945:…
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Hickory History, Walter Hagen
With thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society Celebrating Walter Hagen at 133: The Man Who Invented the Modern Professional Golfer Sir Walter Hagen 133 years ago, the great Walter Hagen was born, and with him came a transformation that still defines professional golf. Hagen did far more than win championships. He changed the…
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Hickory History, The golf tee, where did it come from?
Ever think where the humble golf tee came from? With thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society Dr. George Grant: The Forgotten Father of the Modern Golf Tee Dr. George Grant On December 12, 1899, a quiet but revolutionary moment in golf history took place—not on the links of Scotland, but in the United…
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The Anzac Flask
Hickory History in New Zealand Brothers in Arms, Rivals on the Links: The Enduring Trans-Tasman Battle for the ANZAC Flask at Christchurch Golf Club As the New Zealand Hickory Open approaches once again in January, a familiar tension begins to simmer on the rolling links of Christchurch Golf Club. It is a tension born…
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Hickory History, Collegiate golf in the US and how it started
The powerhouse of Collegiete golf in the US Thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society The First Collegiate Golf Match The Day College Golf Was Born: November 6, 1896 On a brisk Friday along the lower Hudson River, two Ivy League sides quietly made history. On November 6, 1896, Yale and Columbia met at…
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Hickory History, The end of an era, Musselburgh.
Thanks to Conner Lewis from the Society 1889: The End of an Era There are moments in golf history when the game itself seems to pause—when a single championship becomes a bookend for an entire age. The 1889 Open Championship, held at Musselburgh Links, was one of those moments. The famed Mrs Forman’s of…