LinkedGolfers World Hickory Open to take place

A field of international amateur and professional golfers tee-off on Tuesday 2nd October at Kilspindie, Aberlady in the 13th LinkedGolfers World Hickory Championships. This year the event is being held over Scotland’s Golf Coast’s unique assembly of hickory-bespoke links featuring some of the world’s best layouts.

Hickory Golf is played with original or pre-1936 replica hickory shafted clubs and yet skilful players such as last year’s winner and former Masters Champ Sandy Lyle are still able to hit their drives close to 300-yards yards and record scores of as little as 67, although this has only been achieved twice in the tournaments 12-year history.

The organisers will be delighted with support from more than a dozen countries – some which will surprise golfing aficionados. Out of the 120 competitors, 28 are scheduled to arrive from Switzerland, where their game is centred on Engadine near St Moritz, where members also tend indulge in toboggan racing in the winter on the infamous Cresta Run.

Paradoxically, the game seems to appeal to all except Scots. For example, Sweden is the other European country to embrace hickory golf at a very accomplished level. With literally thousands playing the game back home. The World Hickory welcomes 19 of them this year.

The next largest team is not unsurprisingly from the USA, where former champ and one the world’s best known known hickory adherents, former US champion Mike Stevens, comes from. In addition, England led by Andrew Marshall from Norfolk will be well represented this year. Andrew was our Open champion at Carnoustie in 2015. Other nations entered include both Austria, Denmark and another half dozen countries, emphasising the rapid growth of the game at a European level.

Scotland will be represented by a small team of talented international junior golfers from Loretto’s much vaunted Golf Academy, led by former Hickory Champion Rick Valentine.

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A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.