Our Origins & History

Modern hickory golf in the United States grew out of so-called “hickory hacker” events held in conjunction with annual meetings of the Golf Collectors Society (GCS). The GCS was founded in 1970 by Joe Murdoch and Bob Kuntz to share their passion for golf history and the game’s collectibles and memorabilia. Only a few dozen people were initially involved, but the idea caught on and more people joined the GCS.

As it grew, the GCS began to hold annual meetings at various venues throughout the U.S. Eventually at these meeting, a few collectors who were trading old wood-shafted clubs wanted to get out and try hitting them – at least clubs not considered rare or highly collectible. In the early 1990s and later, such “hickory hacker” events evolved into annual GCS golf championships. On their own, the more curious and passionate of these hickory players would occasionally meet at their own home clubs for informal hickory golf outings. Tad Moore, one of the earliest U.S. hickory pioneers along with Randy Jensen, Ralph Livingston III, and Roger Hill, estimates there might have been perhaps 15 hickory golfers in the U.S at that time.

In 1999, following a GCS annual meeting in Lexington, Kentucky, a group of players met to discuss a rules controversy that had arisen following the hickory golf event. They developed a set of rules and standards of play for hickory golf events.

In 2000, realizing the growth in hickory golf and understanding the need for standards for tournament play and guidelines for equipment and rules, a group of players met following the GCS annual meeting in Virginia Beach, Va.  At this meeting were Tad Moore, John Sherwood, Ralph Livingston III, Chuck McMullin, Roger Hill, Randy Jensen, Winfield Padgett, and John Crow Miller.  They are recognized as the founders of the Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG) and Ralph Livingston III is recognized by founding members as the inspiration for the SoHG and modern hickory golf.