Hickory Golfer Tom Kennedy

by Brian Giboney
One of the things truly unique in being a hickory golfer is the people we meet at tournaments. Not only are people brought together on the golf course because of a shared interest in golf, but HICKORY golf.

One such person who stands out is Tom Kennedy. Tom has been involved in golf for FORTY years. He is a past president of Linden Country Club (est. 1924) and more recently has become interested in hickory golf. Tom has been active in local hickory golf events and was also a volunteer at the hickory booth at the Seattle Golf Show this past winter. Recently I had the opportunity to ask Tom a variety of golf related questions.

THC: By trade you are a Boeing engineer. It is rather interesting you have become fascinated with hickory golf considering the engineering of pre-1935 equipment is rather primitive.

Tom: At first glance it may appear that the new equipment is drastically different from the hickory golf era. Practically speaking, the hickory era has much more in common with the “Modern” era as one may think. I have a composite design background so the use of different materials, wood and metals, in the hickory era resembles the use of graphite, fiberglass, steel, and titanium in modern clubs. The main difference between the two eras is the availability of materials and the manufacturing techniques used. Obviously forging of irons was state of the art back in the day where investment casting, new forging methods, and engineering designs have made the modern equipment more forgiving.

THC: Wow, I would have pegged your engineering mind to be more attracted to the latest 2016 perimeter weighted designs or composite shafts. Are there some pre-1935 designs you admire for the genius of the era?

Tom: What is personally amazing to me is that a number of today’s club designs have been reused for over 100 years. Granted the materials and manufacturing methods have changed but the overall concept of rear weighting has been used since before the 1900’s. Many hickory woods of the day have rear and perimeter weighting to lower the Center of Gravity (COG) of the head and make the head more durable. Today’s marketing makes it seem like it’s a new concept but the club designers back in the day were already aware of the virtues of lowering the COG. For example my Brassie (13 degree, 3 wood), my Baffie (16 degree, 2 hybrid, 105 yrs old), my Cleek (22 degree, 5 wood) have combinations of metal base plates and rear weighting. Tom Kennedy with a hickory in hand and his WSU Cougar golf cart at Linden G&CC (photo by The Hickory Corner)

THC: Considering Linden is a hickory era course established in 1924. What was it like playing Linden CC all these years with modern equipment and then “replaying” it for the first time with hickories?

Tom: Linden Golf and CC has not changed much since being built with horse drawn carriages and skimming equipment. Over time we have planted some trees in places but we have also lost a few trees due to Mother Nature. Lengthening of the course has been minimal since we are limited in space. It’s a challenging course (slope of 122, 6,250 yds) and requires you have to think your way around, as well as, navigate the greens which have been molded by 90 years of golfer’s usage. Obviously, we are proud of our greens as some of the best in the south Puget Sound. With that said the course was originally and still designed with the original course designers intentions. Playing the course for the first time in Hickory mode enlightens you (and you) learn real fast as to why we try to play to a hickory yardage of about ~ 5,600 yards. This is a pretty fair distance for most hickory players. Even though I had hit the range with my hickory clubs before strutting out to the course. What really surprised me was the solid connection out on the grass. Granted, the sweet spot is smaller with the hickory clubs but the feeling of striking a great shot with a 100 year old club is an awesome feeling. Tempo is everything in Hickory and I am a firm believer that swinging Hickory’s makes your Modern swing smother and more consistent.

THC: Recently you have had some health struggles, but your love of golf has not wavered. Is there something about the sport that helps to keep you going?

Tom: I am a believer that we all are born with a certain amount of energy or better yet a certain amount of swings. I am always looking for that next hole in one, eagle, and fingers crossed albatross. I still have swings left in me.

THC: Any advice to someone considering hickory golf for the first time?

Tom: Though I have been interested in the legends of golf which included the hickory era I was not too sure how to go about buying 100 year old clubs that would hold up to playing in the modern era. With the resources that are discussed below there are a number of places to find clubs. You do need to be selective in buying good quality clubs but the price is fairly comparative to your modern individual club cost. It turns out there are a large number of Hickory Golf Society’s in North America, Europe, and Asia. One of the best is “The Society of Hickory Golfers”, https://www.hickorygolfers.com). Of course if you are going to collect unique clubs the cost tends to go up. In my case, I am lucky to know Dennis and Carl Paulson (XM Radio 92, Inside the Robes (ITR) radio show). As Dennis and Carl are past PGA touring pros and avid hickory players they introduced me to Tad Moore, noted golf club designer and maker of golf clubs. From there I asked Tad to make me a set of replica OA irons and woods. So, in other words, I took the easy route to buy a set of replicas so that I could start playing immediately. By taking this approach I then could buy older clubs at my leisure to put in my bag. Tad also recommended a few really great contacts in the Puget Sound area like Durel Billy (AP National Hickory) and Rob Ahlschwede (Northwest Hickory Players) to touch base with on society golf outings. From there I was amazed on how many great people, like Martin Pool (historian), Jack Wilson (collector), Jim Von Lossow (Von’s Golf & putter studio) that were involved in maintaining the roots of our Golfing heritage.

THC: Thank you for your contributions to hickory golf.

Tom: Thank you Brian for all that you do to spread the word of Hickory.

If this was your first read, welcome to The Hickory Corner.
Brian Giboney has been a freelance contributor to Parachutist magazine since 1999 and does freelance for Inside Golf as well.