Florida Hickory Golfers

Southport Springs – 1/2/2022

2022 began with the Florida Hickory Golfers inaugural Kick Off the New Year event at Southport Springs Golf Club managed by our own Earl Hines. It was a beautiful day on this fun track with lots of good golf. Will Peterson racked up 38 points and James Chambers was 11 points good to lead the way in quota differential. On the team side, Debs Harrington and Mike Stevens were plus 14 edging out James Chambers and Chris Celano by a single point.

Winter Park Hickory Classic – 1/22-23/2022

Well, it rained again on the first day, but that didn’t stop anyone. Boasting our largest field ever, the 2022 Winter Park Hickory Classic went off without a hitch for two January days in at the legendary WP9 golf course. Folks traveled from far and wide to hear their names called and tee shots made.

US Professional & Amateur Hickory Golf Championships – 2/21/2022 The Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club opened in 1922 and laid out by noted architect Tom Bendelow was a stout test for the century old clubs used. Daytona professional Thomas Garnier carded a fine 73 to have his name affixed to the John Shippen Cup dedicated to America’s first golf pro. The Oscar Bunn trophy goes to Eddie Peckels of Winter Springs who also recorded a 73. Oscar Bunn was a Shinnecock Indian who played in the first U.S Open along with Shippen in 1895. Jim Antos won the Heritage Trophy with a net score of 67. This was the 12^th edition of the championships.

Sanlan Golf Club – Lakeland – 3/30/2022 Great weather although a bit warm for this time of year greeted the Florida Hickory Golfers at Sanlan Golf Club in Lakeland. This was the first time the group played here, and all found it to be an interesting course and lots of fun. The par three holes were especially stout, and the par fives were certainly treacherous. That being said, Will Peterson navigated the links with 34 points clipping Bryan the Bruce by 5 points. Rich Grula took the Quota differential scoring 5 points above his requirement. The duo of Mike Tracy and Bernie Alessandrini teamed up in the blind draw winning a whopping $40. Great to see two of our lady members Marci Likens and Debs Harrington out with us both acquitting themselves in grand style.   

World Hickory Golf Day – Cleveland Heights- Lakeland – 3/1/2022 

Celebrating World Hickory Golf Day, the Florida Hickory Golfers hit the links of Cleveland Heights in Lakeland. On a beautiful sunny day, Will Peterson was on his game racking up 37 points a margin of 6 over Bryan “THE” Bruce of Sarasota. Mike Stevens was plus 5 to take top honors in the quota requirement portion of the event. Newcomer Xander Dobreff teamed up with Dan Capaz finishing the day at plus 8 winning the blind draw and $40. 

Florida Hickory Open – Bradenton CC – 5/23-24/2022

The second annual Florida Hickory Open sponsored by the Florida State Golf Association was completed May 24, 2022, at 1924 Bradenton Country Club. The course was in fantastic shape playing hard and fast like a Scottish links. Will Peterson held off a challenge from Bradley Turner to defend his title from a year ago at Sara Bay Country Club. FHG golfer Jeff Shafer topped the leaderboard in the Men’s Stableford division nipping a hard charging, Peter Herrington. Rich Grula last year’s champion finished in third. In the women’s Open division Bailey Wiegandt of Louisville, KY, defended her title while FHG’s Marci Likens won the Women’s Stableford competition.  

River Wilderness Hickory Classic – Parrish – 7/2/2022

It was a very enjoyable day at River Wilderness Country Club with several members of the club participating with us in hickory golf for the first time. That did not seem to faze Walt Wegner who tied Will Peterson for low gross honors with a fine 75. Unfortunately for Walt, Will prevailed in a score card match as he made par on the difficult 14^th hole even though he hit his drive in a hazard. Don’t feel bad for Walt however as he took home the net trophy in his hickory debut. It was great to see so many members willing to give our wood shafts a try and look forward to more next year. Big thanks to Xander Dobreff and the River Wilderness staff for being so welcoming and for the nice food presentation after the round.  

Temple Terrace G & CC – 3/31/2022

The always challenging course played tough again as FHG Captain Mike Stevens led the way with 20 points nipping James Chambers by 1 and Shawn Pierson and Lee Wilson by 2. Steve Haigler was a solid plus 4 to edge out Pat Sheffield at plus 2, the only players above the Mendoza Line. Two teams tied for first place both with even point differential – Pat Sheffield/Rosemary Pabst and Will Jacoby/Debs Herrington taking home $36 each. 

Clearwater Country Club – 9/25/2022

It was overcast most of the day, so the temperature was bearable for the most part. Several of the Clearwater members joined us for a crack at hickory golf and they did quite well in their first effort. Will Peterson led the FHG golfers with a strong round amassing 41 points while Dave Dunigan and Marci Likens were plus 10 in the quota differential. 

Clearwater CC		Clearwater CC	Plus/
	Points		Minus
FHG Members
Will Peterson	41	Dave Dunigan	10
Mike Stevens	26	Marci Likens	10
Bill Geisler	26	Will Jacoby	9
Marci Likens	25	Will Peterson	7
Dave Dunigan	22	Peter Herrington	6
Shawn Pierson	21	Stephen Bennett	5
Bernie Alessandrini	21	Steve Haigler	4
Stephen Bennett	18	Mike Stevens	3
Earl Hines	17	Debs Herrington	3
Steve Haigler	16	Bernie Alessandrini	3
Pat Sheffield	14	Scott Bowles	1
Peter Herrington	13	Shawn Pierson	1
Scott Bowles	13	Kirby Wilson	1
Kirby Wilson	11	Rosemary Pabst	1
Will Jacoby	11	Earl Hines	-1
Debs Herrington	6	Pat Sheffield	-1
Fred Feiler	6	Bill Geisler	-2
Rosemary Pabst	4	Fred Feiler	-13
Clearwater Members		Clearwater Members
Mike Riso	20	Jeff Jeziorski	13
Jeff Jeziorski	17	Jeff Jeziorski Jr	12
Marcus Robinson	16	Justice Mullin	6
Jeff Jeziorski Jr	16	Karen Jeziorski	5
Justice Mullin	15	Robert Knobel	0
Mark Robinson	10	Mark Robinson	0
John Sones	8	Marcus Robinson	-2
Larry Olesky	7	Mike Riso	-6
Karen Jeziorski	7	John Sones	-6
Robert Knobel	4	Larry Olesky	-12

Annual Championship – Mount Dora GC – 12/10-11/2022

The Florida Hickory Golfers ended the year with our annual championship at Mount Dora Golf Club. The weather was outstanding, and the play was spirited and friendly. Once again wrestling the Stevens Trophy from Will Peterson proved to be impossible as he amassed a total of 72 Stableford points. Will has had quite a year in capturing the Florida State Hickory Open Silver Club and the Mid Pines Hickory Championship. But I think his best moment was his trip with his mom to play at many of the historic links in the Highlands of Scotland. Congratulation also goes out to Cody Johnson who achieved a plus 21 to take home the Heritage Trophy for the coming year. Cody has spent a lot of time working on his game and it certainly showed over the course of the two-day event. All in all, it was a great ending to our hickory journey of the past year. We look forward to 2023 and venturing to some new venues and to a few of our old favorites.