Honors & Awards

SoHG’s Mike Brown Award

Mike Brown was an avid hickory golfer who died suddenly in February 2010 in his hometown of Indianapolis. His passing left a void in the hickory golfing community and a sense of personal loss to everyone who ever came in contact with him.

At the time of his passing, he was serving on the SoHG Board, on the SoHG Executive Committee, and was chairman of the Equipment Standards Committee. He worked tirelessly to promote hickory golf and was constantly bringing new people into the hickory playing community. Once you met Mike, you gained a friend for life. He was exceedingly knowledgeable about the history of hickory golf and was a strong voice in maintaining the ancient traditions of the game.

The Mike Brown Award honors the memory of Mike Brown and his many contributions to hickory golf. It shall be presented annually to a hickory player who shares Mike’s:

• Respect for the traditions of hickory golf;
• Dedication to growing the game of hickory golf; and
• Passion for promoting lasting friendships through hickory golf.

The physical award is Mike’s favorite Tom Stewart mongrel mashie, which is housed in a case on permanent display at the Mid Pines Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C. Annual awardees shall have their names engraved on a plaque and will receive a specially engraved SoHG gold medal recognizing the award. The award will be presented in conjunction with the Mid Pines Hickory Open in November.

Eligibility

Annual awardees will be current or former members of the SoHG who are recognized as part of the hickory playing community and who have made substantial contributions to hickory golf. Awardees shall clearly exemplify respect for the traditions of hickory golf; dedication to growing the game of hickory golf; and passion for promoting lasting friendships through hickory golf. No one shall win the award more than once.

Nominations

The president of the SoHG shall annually request nominations for the Mike Brown Award. Any current SoHG member may nominate one or more eligible players by submitting the form developed by the Award Committee. Those making the nomination shall clearly and concisely document specific instances of the nominee’s contributions to SoHG and to the game of hickory golf and persuasively make the case why this nominee should come under consideration.

The Award Committee

The award committee shall consist of three people – the current SoHG president who shall chair the committee and two previous recipients of the Mike Brown award. The committee chair shall be ineligible for consideration of the award in the year in which he serves.

Nominations shall be submitted directly to the committee chair. The chair will forward nominations to the committee members. All proceedings of the committee are secret and nothing shall ever be published or divulged regarding nominees or the proceedings of the committee except essential files which are intended to pass on to subsequent award committees. The committee shall decide, on its own discretion, who is to receive the award. Deliberations and final decisions should be made before July 1 so as to ensure sufficient time to order, personally engrave and receive the SoHG gold medal from Scotland.

The award committee shall also draft an appropriate announcement for posting on the SoHG website and in a future E-Nip, or monthly newsletter.

The 2027 nomination deadline is June 15, 2027.

Past Mike Brown Award Winners

2010 – Tad Moore and Frank Boumphrey
2011 – Roger Hill and Ralph Livingston III
2012 – Bill Engelson
2013 – Mike Just
2014 – Ken Holtz
2015 – Lionel Freedman
2016 – Robert Ahlschwede
2017 – Mike Stevens
2018 – Bill Reed
2019 – Randy Jensen
2020 – Chris Deinlein
2021 – Tom Johnson
2022 – Dr. David Brown
2023 – Dr. Jay Harris (posthumously)
2024 – Jim Davis
2025 – Bill ‘Ernie’ Ernst

Honorary Lifetime Members of the SoHG

The SoHG’s Constitution empowers the Board of Directors to confer honorary “Lifetime Member” status to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding efforts promoting hickory golf. The following individuals have been honored in this manner:

James Davis, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Roger Hill, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Randy Jensen, Omaha, Neb.
Chuck McMullin, White Post, Va.
Tad Moore, Selma, Ala.

In Memoriam
Win Padgett, Dallas, Texas
John Sherwood
Ralph Livingston III