What is old is new
I didn’t throw that club. I was returning it to the woods … since its made of wood
- Happy Gilmore
Recreation is defined by an activity that is done for enjoyment when one isn’t working (Google it). The vast majority of Golfers are what I deem Recreational Players; in all reality they don’t care what they shoot, they care more about enjoying time on the Links with their comrades.
The first recording of the game of golf was when the King of Scotland, James II, banned in the game in 1457. He thought men should be focusing their time on Archery instead of wasting it on the links. That ban was done away with the gifting of clubs to James IV in 1504 & he himself like many other became addicted to the game.
The clubs they used then would more resemble canes or hammers than the modern clubs we use today. Back then a drive probably wasn’t going more than a 150 yards for a average recreational player and that is why we see course in Scotland that have been around for hundreds of years being shorter and maybe not quite 18 holes.
If you take to Instagram or YouTube you will find a small niche of golfer that are the Hipster class of Golfers. Whether its playing without a collard shirts, no golf shoes, or expensive Sunday bags … they’re finding enjoyment in the game beyond simply playing golf.
The craziest of all the Hipster Golfers are the ones who have now opted to quit playing with modern technology and start playing with classic clubs; Hickories & Persimmons. Opting to use a classic Tom Stewart Niblick instead of the New Bob Vokey Sand Wedge.
Having played courses that are over 100, if not 200 years old you begin to have a different thought on the game. What would be more fun … to blast a drive and chip on or swing four great shots to make a great mark on your card? If you look back on the game, the greats have done both and I don’t know if there is an answer to the question.
Ted Ray won the 1912 Open Championship at Muirfield. He can be touted as the originator of trying to hit the ball as far as possible. His philosophy on the swing was if you could not hit the ball hard, then try to hit it harder. It was record that he had many of drives over 250 yards and at times getting ones to go 280, 290, and even a few over 300. At his time in the game, they were playing drivers made of persimmon with shafts made of peach and hickory wood and wearing coats & ties. A good drive for a pro was handful of yards over 200. Yet this man knew something they didn’t. His logic was the closer he was from the hole after his tee shot, no matter the lie, he had a better chance of hitting the ball close on his next shot. So one the best players of that era happen to be one, if not the longest player in his era. Similar to Tiger, Jack, or Bobby Jones. They all to led their era in hitting the ball far.
In every era, the best players where the ones who hit it the furthest yet there is still a call to roll the ball back. The reasoning is that skill is lost in the game due less longer shots needing to be hit. The gripe is that Iron Play and Putting should determine a winner not a Long Drive Contest.
In 2022, I have begin to split my time playing Hickory Golf & Modern Golf. This is partly due to a friend and mentor in Clark Willard, founder of Hickory Revival . Last year, Clark lent me a set a Hickories on July 4 and I played Sand Valley with a dear friend and the rest is history.
I can remember the moment where it all made sense … it was hole 8, Par 3, 88 yards. Its a serve uphill shot to a front pin & it was into the wind. I was between hitting a Mashie or a Mashie Niblick. A Mashie is somewhere between a modern 6 to 8 iron and a Mashie Niblick is where between a modern 8.5 to PW. Now a days you would grab a Sand or Gap wedge give a firm swing and walk up and two putt. But with the Hickories, a decision had to be made. I choose Mashie as I could keep it lower into the wind and also it was quite the challenge hitting a 175 yard club … 80ish yards in the air.
After I hit the shot … walking up the hill … it all made sense. This is how the game gained popularity in its Genesis. That one shot brought me more joy than any other rounds I played in the last 5 years because it brought a Golfing Innocence that I haven’t felt since my youth.
Maybe this is the argument, the stewards of the game should make. Instead of saying hitting the ball far takes skill away from the game maybe they could argue the game has lost its innocence. No longer are players standing in the fairways debating with their caddie between clubs. Now they look at a chart, make a practice swing, and hit the shot. Yet it still takes them over 5 and half hours to play.
All can be gain what has been lost with a touch of the old which may recapture the game’s true test … having fun chasing a white ball hundreds of yards.
to be continued
