Course conditions for the 2009 Mountain Valley Arkansas Hickory Open were much improved Sunday as wind and abundant sunshine helped dry out the sodden Stonelinks course. Even with wind gusts of sometimes as much as 20 mph, scores generally dropped on smoother greens and firmer fairways.
Saturday’s leading golfer in the Open division, Jeremy Moe of Fort Smith, continued his steady play on Sunday and posted a strong 75 in blustery winds to win over three close contenders with a two day total of 148. Second place was a three way tie consisting of last year’s Open Champ, Roger Andrews of Jenks, OK, and first time hickory tournament players Bobby Baker of Little Rock and Pat Sharpe of Hot Springs. (Editor’s note: Roger Andrews is a Louisville Golf customer!)
The 2009 Senior Championship was secured by three time Arkansas Senior Hickory Open winner Tad Moore of Selma, Alabama. Tad was closely challenged by Ralph Williams of Little Rock who took second. John Berggeron of Houston, Texas, who won the 2008 Arkansas Senior Hickory Championship, took home the third place trophy.
The Four Ball Championship was very keenly contested this year as the tournament director allowed persons competing in individual divisions to also team up in the 4-Ball competition. The winners of the 4-Ball Championship this year were Jeremy Moe and Hank Hankins who shot a two day total of 145. They barely edged out the teams of Sean Fister (Little Rock)/Randy Clark (Argyle, Texas) and Tad Moore/Roger Andrews who tied for second place 2 strokes back. The most interesting round of Sunday surely was posted by Tom Hamm and Joe Chancey. They improved on the 88 recorded on Saturday to a one under par 71 on Sunday! And, yes, there were witnesses!
Thanks to all who made this a great hickory tourney!
VISIT: The Society of Hickory Golfers website click here
Breck Speed, President, Mountain Valley Spring Company
150 Central Avenue
Hot Springs, AR 71901
bspeed@mountainvalleyspring.com
Where do reproductions fit in Hickory Golf? Here is how I would have to answer that. The majority of people who buy hickory golf clubs from us have never played hickory golf before. They are people who have become unfamiliar/estranged with the modern game and are looking for an alternative way to enjoy the game of golf. The majority of them never play in one of the many hickory golf events that are available around the country. I know this information because I ask them, I talk with customers and they are very clear about this. They are golfers who go out to the course after work in the evening and have a fun and relaxing time playing with hickory golf clubs. I think they enjoy it because they lower their expectations, and when they hit some good solid shots, they feel good. It is really that simple.
So the majority of the golf clubs we sell are geared to these people. They don’t want to spend a lot of money, so I try to offer a “basic” set of clubs – our Intro to Hickory Golf set. This set includes one wood, four irons, and a putter. I suggest a spoon for the fairway wood, a mashie, spade, mashie niblick , and niblick for the irons. This allows them to get around most courses. I sell the set at a pretty good discount to make it more reasonably priced. Most people are satisfied with this set. If they become more interested/passionate about hickory golf, they add some clubs to the set. Some of these people have gone on to show up at some hickory golf events.
Last year we helped introduce at least 150 new people to the hickory golf experience. These people didn’t have the knowledge or time to delve into purchasing original hickory clubs. But, now that they have a taste, my hope is that they learn about the history of the old clubs and continue their enjoyment of golf with hickory-shafted clubs.
There is a quote I heard recently that I think applies: “Don’t let perfect get in the way of good.” Yes, it would be perfect for there to be enough good original hickory clubs available for everyone who might have an interest in playing hickory golf to have original clubs, but that is not the case. The first irons I offered in hickory were refurbished originals, but I didn’t have enough good irons for the demand I had. I decided to do the best I could by offering replicas that were true copies of original irons. I chose what I thought was the best and most playable originals, and copied them exactly. The feedback that we have received for these choices in models has been very affirming and positive.
I admire people who have put together a good set of original hickory-shafted golf clubs. At every hickory event you will see guys showing a new-found original to another player. You don’t see players showing off reproductions. I wouldn’t want everyone to play reproductions, but without them some people would never play hickory golf. And while that is not perfect, I do think it is good. And again, my philosophy is to make the reproduction as close to the original as possible.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with my philosophy or point of view; I just wanted an opportunity to explain where I am coming from. You can either agree or disagree, and I will respect differing opinions. But what we are after most is the promotion of hickory golf as a compliment and even an alternative to the modern game, which for all its good has its share of unfortunate pitfalls. Maybe with this stance we can all get back to simply enjoying ourselves on the golf course.
Thanks for listening,
Mike Just
President, Louisville Golf
e-mail: mjust@louisvillegolf.com
