Hickory Golf returns to La Belle Golf Club – Home of the La Belle Legends

Aug. 7, 2017 – A group of golfers from the Wisconsin Hickory Golfers recently took their game to La Belle Golf Club in Oconomowoc. La Belle has a long history dating back to 1896 and had such famous golf professionals as Willie Anderson and Alex Smith.

Bringing Hickory golf back to La Belle (1896) was a pleasure for the players. The course has tight fairways and wonderful greens to challenge the players.  A video by Mike Kopacz, club historian at La Belle, tells part of the story of great times and challenging shots the players encountered.

Fine play was reflected by the scores which included a 69 (Two under par) by Ernie Ernst, a par round of 71 by David Guerard (yes the same David Guerard who recorded a 1st place finish in the net division at the U.S. Hickory in 2016) and a newcomer to hickory golf,  Brian Weis, shot an impressive 72 (net 61) to win the net award. The group also played a four-man best ball game within the foursomes to add some entertainment to the matches.

Thank you to La Belle and its staff for a wonderful day of golf and friendship, the two key ingredients to playing hickory golf.

By the way, the Wisconsin players would like to create a trophy for this outing using a Willie Anderson- or Alex Smith-stamped hickory club from La Belle. It would be a rare find, but should you have a lead on such a club, please contact Ernie Ernst at  bernst@new.rr.com.