Hickory Clubs in Action

Bill “Ernie” Ernst, the father of Peninsula State Park’s manager, will be part of a group of fellow Society of Hickory Golfers members who will demonstrate how to hit wood-shafted clubs from the 1920s and ’30s when Peninsula State Park Golf Course celebrates its centennial in late July. Submitted.

A park employee has helped to schedule an old-fashioned golf event as part of Peninsula State Park Golf Course’s centennial observation this year.

When course general manager Jason Daubner, park superintendent Eric Hyde and new park manager Matt Ernst met to discuss the July 28-30 celebration, Ernst had an idea: Why not invite players who use hickory-shafted clubs like those used in the 1920s and ’30s to play along with Peninsula Golf Associates members, guests and the public during a July 28 outing?

“The new park manager’s father is a member of the Wisconsin Hickory Golfers,” Daubner said. “When he found out we were having this celebration, he reached out to his father. His father said they had done this for other courses and would do the same thing for us.”

As of May, Daubner had not nailed down all the details and timing of the late-July celebration, but he was excited that 18 or 20 members of the Wisconsin association and the international Society of Hickory Golfers would join modern-era golfers in foursomes for a nine-hole outing and demonstrate how the clubs work.

Following the Friday event, Daubner anticipates a busy Saturday of open golf and centennial merchandise sales, the viewing of a history video and then a gala on Sunday for course donors, course members and especially the Peninsula Golf Associates: the nonprofit organization that took over the operation of the course and clubhouse during the early 1980s.

Hooked on Hickory

Matt Ernst said his dad, Bill “Ernie” Ernst, started “hickory golfing” around 2005.

“He ran into a group of buddies who’d kind of try out clubs here and there, and it slowly grew. Now he pretty much plays with only hickory clubs,” the park manager said. 

Matt Ernst said there would be plenty of players with hickory-club experience at the event to showcase the clubs and demonstrate the strategy and smooth swing needed to hit the ball with the tiny sweet spot in the middle. 

“With hickory, you’re not going full force. You kind of let the club do the work,” Matt Ernst said. “The clubs nowadays can cover up a lot of [mistakes]. If you hit a hickory-shafted club wrong, you’re going to know right away. With the wooden club, you’re hitting it a little bit lighter and focusing more on mechanics than you would with a modern-day club.”

Bill Ernst said that during the July 28 outing, members of his group will help choose the proper wood-shafted clubs for playing companions to try on a few shots. They’ll also take a couple of all-hickory sets, whether antique or reproduction, for anyone who wants to play the entire round with them.

“I would trust my hickory set of golf clubs as much as any modern set of clubs,” Bill Ernst said – noting, however, that he loses almost 50 yards off the tee with his wood driver compared to modern, high-tech drivers. 

Matt Ernst said he usually uses modern equipment, but when he golfs with his dad, he often uses the wood-shafted clubs for a few holes or a whole round.

“We always joke that it’s called ‘dress-up golf’ because they wear the attire from that era,” Matt Ernst said. “But it’s a unique thing. If you’ve never hit with a hickory club, I’d suggest you at least try it once. It’s a perfect feeling when you hit it right. The closest thing I can think of is when you hit with a wooden bat. You hit the ball right, you know it. And if you don’t, there’s a little shock to it.”

Bill Ernst has been playing almost exclusively with antique, wood-shafted clubs for the past 15 years. He just returned in May from a 15-day golfing trip to Scotland with other members of the Society of Hickory Golfers to play old courses with wood-shafted clubs.

Bill Ernst makes an exception when he’s playing in a scramble. Then he’ll use a modern driver out of a friend’s bag to get the ball out there 260-270 yards – 40-50 yards farther than he hits his wooden driver or 3-wood.

Old-Style Courses

Bill Ernst organizes the Wisconsin Hickory Open at the historical and completely original Lawsonia in Green Lake. He said he likes to find old, mostly original courses to play, where he and fellow hickory golfers can hit low, run-up shots – either old-fashioned courses without bunkers in front, or courses where they can plan their drives and approaches to steer around hazards guarding the greens.

“They specifically seek out these courses that have kept to their era of play,” Matt Ernst said. 

His dad said he has played Peninsula, and it fits what he and his group are looking for. He’s also played the front nine at Alpine, and he likes that Maxwelton Braes, south of Baileys Harbor, is mostly intact in its 1929 routing.

At Peninsula, the first hole remains much as it has since the late 1920s – except for the newly rebuilt green. Other holes that date back to the 1930s include the par-4 seventh hole; #17, which serves as a sledding hill in the winter; the dogleg-right 11th; and the famous, 69-yard eighth hole with the tee on the top of the bluff and the green down below.

Daubner chose this year as Peninsula State Park Golf Course’s centennial because 1923 was the first year when the course had nine holes – enough to host regulation tournaments or competitive rounds. Midwest pro Bim Lovekin did the design work to expand Peninsula from nine to 18 holes in 1930, and in the early 1960s, Lawrence Packard redesigned the course and rerouted holes such as #2, #10 and #12.

“There’s going to be a poster that has all of those layouts all combined onto one,” Daubner said.

As of mid-May, Daubner said the Friday outing should be open to the public, but he was not sure how many spectators would be able to attend because of parking limitations.