The Hickory Corner: Hickory Hub is a place to learn

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Updated: April 4, 2016

By Brian Giboney, Special to Inside Golf
One of the growing segments within hickory golf is current and former PGA professionals. In previous articles we have discussed the winner of the last three United States Hickory Opens is a PGA Professional (Jeremy Moe). Recently, Charlie Rymer of The Golf Channel hit hickory golf clubs on live air with club maker Tad Moore. At the PGA Merchandise Show in Florida long time PGA Tour player Chris DiMarco was spotted hitting hickories with PGA Professional Mike Stevens.

This brings us to The Hickory Golf Hub which is a golf website run by Richard Bullock and his wife Kathy. Richard was an All-American golfer at Purdue University and later became a mini tour player who qualified and competed in the 1994 & 1995 USGA Senior Open’s at Pinehurst and Congressional. Richard also teaches golf to select students out of Sun City, Florida. Kathy Bullock is a fiction writer under the pseudonym K.L. Nappier. She has had several books published (you might recall her supernatural thriller Full Wolf Moon). Together through their combined love of golf between the 1890s and 1930s, developed The Hickory Golf Hub. So what is The Hickory Golf Hub? It is the place many of us hickory aficionados go to find the latest hickory club news, tournament announcements, tournament results, and social events I reached out to Richard and Kathy to gather their thoughts on hickory golf and their hub.

THC: What do you want people to know about The Hickory Golf Hub?

Kathy: The Hickory Golf Hub is a true, hickory community. We’re here to share, to learn and to receive news from every interested hickory player and organization. So come one, come all and send us your news, your photos and your organizations’ web links.

Richard: One of our most popular sections is “On the Shoulders of Giants” featuring writing from such greats as Harry Vardon, James Braid, Jim Barnes and Francis Ouimet with very insightful articles written at the turn of the century. Hickory golf club maintenance is also popular and our “Hidden Gems” series explores a number of courses found to be hickory friendly.

THC: Advice to new hickory golfers?

Kathy: My advice to new hickory golfers is to immerse themselves in the community, because hickory golf is so much more than a niche style of the game. It may be cliché to call it a way of life, but it’s very hard to describe it any other way.

Richard: Keep the club under control by not using quick take-aways and to keep a manageable and consistent tempo. Also, the clubs will tell you what they like you to do and what they don’t. But, mostly, they’ll “tell” you to just have fun.

THC: How do you describe hickory golf to a person who has yet to take their first swing with a wood shafted golf club?

Richard: Great Question. It can take you back to a simpler time, especially when playing one of the old courses. You are literally treading ground that the early greats of golf walked and played, using mashies and cleeks.

THC: Using your crystal ball, what future do you see for hickory golf?

Kathy: A bright one! We’ve seen the spark ignite in the eyes of golfers as young as twelve and as old as…well, pick a number. It seems that either a player picks up a hickory stick once and never takes it up again or that player is hooked for life – which makes for a fiercely loyal lover of the game.

Before we retire this article, April 2016 marks the 100th Anniversary of the PGA of America. In the Seattle area several PGA Pro’s will be gathering to celebrate the way the game was played in 1916, which was of course in hickory style. These PGA pros who play hickory, or have an interest in it, are also available to you for lessons or if you just want to talk hickory golf. Josh Immordino at Riverbend; Chris Getz at Glendale Country Club; Jim Von Lossow of Von’s Golf; Colin Gants at West Seattle Golf Course; Gabe Tonan at Port Townsend Golf Course; and Don Mojean at Highlands Golf Course. Good Seattle area resources for us interested in hickory golf.