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 From left: Hickory golfers Jeanette Gilliand, Chris McIntyre, Jessica Delaney and Jason Egnatz. Gilliand, Delaney and Egnatz are employees at Rancho Bernardo Inn. Sweet spot? The size of a nickel. Long drive? Maybe 220 yards. In the bag? A fairway wood, four irons and a putter — all lacking grooves. When Jason Egnatz first spotted a golfer carrying hickory clubs, he asked: “You’re not going to hit with those, are you?” But Egnatz was intrigued enough to accept an invitation to play a round of hickory golf. Eight years later, hickory-shaft clubs are the only ones he uses. His personal set is by Tom Stewart, who made clubs for Bobby Jones before striking a deal in the 1920s to design for Spalding. Egnatz, director of golf at Rancho Bernardo Inn, now hopes to grow the ranks of Southland hickory golfers by launching a league dedicated to how the game was played before 1935. “Playing with hickory clubs reminded me of why I like golf in the first place,” Egnatz said. “Hopefully, I can bring my passion for hickory golf to club members and guests.” The idea to start a league germinated last October when Rancho Bernardo Inn played host to a tournament and trade show for the regional chapter of the Golf Collectors Society. Sporting knickers and wielding niblicks, mashies and brassies, players took to the fairways while visitors perused items offered by 25 collectors of vintage clubs, apparel and other golf memorabilia. Egnatz is a friend of GCS regional director Chris McIntyre, a Rancho Bernardo resident who began collecting hickory clubs nine years ago and founded McIntyre White Authentic Golf and sister company Play Hickory Inc. in 2004. As McIntyre built his hickory club collection, Rancho Bernardo Inn became an “R&D lab” of sorts, said Egnatz, who provided feedback on McIntyre’s slight modifications to the antique clubs for their use by modern golfers. “Today, golf is about the power swing,” Egnatz said. “There’s no feel to the game. The romance is gone.” Hoping to spread the love, Egnatz has set Tuesday, March 2 as the start date for a weekly nine-hole event at Rancho Bernardo Inn, with play beginning at 4 p.m. The $40 fee includes the use of rental hickory clubs that have been slightly modified. “The results are quite good when you make good contact,” Egnatz said. “You get a lot of vibration and shock when you don’t, because the sweet spot is much smaller.” Egnatz anticipates offering a range of hickory golf events and formats, including match play, skins games, foursomes and partners, as well as charity tournaments with “beat the pro” contests during which the pro plays with hickory clubs. He believes Rancho Bernardo Inn is the ideal home for a hickory golf league, given the facility’s reputation for originality. The resort keeps a 1,900-bottle wine cellar, bakes its own bread, creates natural elixirs for the therapeutic treatments at the spa and maintains an herb garden for its El Bizcocho restaurant. Players can sign up for the hickory golf league by calling the pro shop at (858) 385-8733 or by sending Egnatz an e-mail at jegnatz@jcresorts.com. |
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RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
If I lived closer, I would like to try this league. However, in NC, it would be a litle far.
I have over my fireplace, my grandfather's set of clubs, all restored and mounted.
Good luck Jayson!!
| Comment at 2/4/2010 |
