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6th NZ Hickory Open
Entries are now open for the 6th NZ Hickory Open. The event is being held at The Shirley Links at The Christchurch Golf Club over the weekend of Saturday 30 January 2027 and Sunday 31 January 2027. The event will cap the fuller programme of hickory events being held in…
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From New Zealand to Gearhart, Oregon
Six days, four golf courses and the 2026 United States Hickory Open There are easier ways to prepare for a golf tournament than flying halfway around the world, discovering that 166 miles is considerably farther than 166 kilometres, and spending the best part of a week trying to understand what…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
