The second annual United States Professional Hickory Golf Championship is scheduled for Feb. 20 with each player using authentic or replica pre-1930 equipment provided by Dr. Jay Harris ofPinehurst,N.C.and balls by McIntyre Golf inSan Diego,Calif.
The tournament is dedicated to preserving and honoring the history of golf inAmericaand to the memory of John Shippen with the winner’s name engraved on the John Shippen Cup.
The Championship will be played over the Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club course site of the 1925 Florida Open that had a field of the best golfers of the time including Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen. The 1922 Tom Bendelow design will play to 6,400 yards, to the same as in 1925.
In 2011, the first U.S. Pro Hickory Championship was won by Leroux Ferreira of Kingwood,Tex.with a score of 79 beating Champions Tour veteran David Frost by two strokes. For his victory Ferreira earned $1,500, the same first place money as Leo Diegel for his 1925 win. The 2011 field of 26 included one female professional, Jennifer Cully ofApollo Beach,Fla.
John Shippen (1879-1968), the man who is honored by the John Shippen Cup, was a groundbreaking golf professional with an enduring love of the game. As the son of a black minister of the Presbyterian Church and a Shinnecock Indian mother he persevered the prejudice of the time and became a top player. He began as a caddy while his father was serving on the Shinnecock Reservation located on the eastern tip ofLong Island. Young Shippen drew the attention of the club’s professional Willie Dunn, a fine player and one the many expatriate Scottish professionals who migrated toAmerica, who taught him to play. Shippen played in five U.S. Opens and spent more than fifty years as a club professional.
The American Lakes Wounded Veterans Golf Course inTacoma,Wash.will receive a donation from the proceeds from this years Championship. The United States Professional Hickory Golf Championship is the creation of Mike Stevens, teaching professional at MacDill Air Force Base inTampa,Fla.and the 2010 National Hickory Open Champion.
Related posts:
- 2012 United States Professional Hickory Championship
- Ferreira Pro Hickory Champion
- Stymie Rule Revived at the Hickory Heritage Classic
- Deutsche Bank Championship "Road to the Championship" Viewing Party
