May 27, 2021
Denny Olson reports:

I’m glad to report our 2021 Mid American Hickory Open was a success in several ways. Held at the Soangetaha Country Club in Galesburg, Ill., the weather and the course were great.

Although our number of traditional participants was down to 19, we had an additional turnout of 17 local members, including eight ladies. That group participated in an 18-hole scramble on day two, playing with hickories. It seemed everyone had a great time and we succeeded in introducing hickory golf to many new players.

In our traditional 36-hole format we had some predicable results. Gary Youngberg won the Open Division with Bill Ernst winning the Reserve title. In the Seniors Division, George Burgland was the winner with Joe Deets taking the Reserve title. In the Statesman Division, Greg Smith was the winner with Dennis Olson winning the Reserve.

The scramble winners were John Kessler, Joe Radosevich, Dave Wood, and Mike Wood with a score of 60. The winning ladies group was Janet Whitman, Cheri Hosteng, Jody Rinker and Barbara Ball with a score of 73 and yes, that Janet Whitman is Cal’s wife who is also our group’s talented photographer.

Thank you to all who participated: Bill Reed who brought rental clubs, George Burgland who invited us to his home course, and to Head Professional Kirk Hosteng who did our scoring.