Northwest Hickory Players

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Tom Dunn, son of Willie Dunn, was a clubmaker and golf course architect.  Dunn competed only in The Open Championship during his lifetime, racking up four top-ten finishes (6th place, being the highest) in 1868, 1869, 1878 and 1884. He played in four others through 1886, never finishing outside the top 20, but skipped playing in eight-straight Opens from 1870 to 1877 only to come in 9th in 1878.   Early life Dunn was born in Musselburgh.  His father, Willie Dunn Sr, and his twin brother, Jamie, were notable golfers of their time, routinely playing against Allan Robertson and Old Tom Morris. Willie was apprenticed under the Gourlay family. At…

Lionel Freedman, former secretary of the Musselburgh Golf Club and founder of the World Hickory Open has passed away. Freedman, a warm and gracious man, was friend to many hickory golfers, worldwide, and made numerous trips to the United States to support the meteoric growth of the game on this side of the pond. Amid a lifetime of honors and volunteer positions to support the game of golf, Freedman served as the honorary starter and was recognized for his contributions to the game at the inaugural World Hickory Match Play in Philadelphia in 2014, by invitation of the Metropolitan Hickory Society and event-creator, Brian Schuman. NWHP co-founder, Robert Birman, recalls…

Born on March 1, 1959, golfer Perry Somers has been a staple of the international hickory golf scene for years.  A member of the Australian PGA, Somers holds titles across Europe and has won the Australian Hickory Championship in 2010.  The PGA of Australia wrote, “He is good at the game he plays, maybe the best going around.” Now based in Cologne, Germany, where he teaches at the Golf and Country Club Velderhof, while at the same time supporting his wife Henriette in her career with the Cologne City Council, Somers is a throwback to a time when golf was pure.  “I feel like I was born 50 years too…

Like something out of Loyal Chapman’s fantasy golf holes, the image on the cover of the April 14, 1927 issue of The Youth’s Companion magazine appears unreal. It depicts a young man teeing off a precipice facing Mount Rainier, located 85 miles from Seattle, Washington, and rising to some 14,000 feet above sea level. Is this for real? How long was that drive? Did he make par? Alas, no such golf hole existed on Mount Rainier in 1927. This was a staged photo opportunity. Yet, sometimes life imitates art, and in 1931 a nine hole golf course was indeed built on Mount Rainier. The Rainier National Park Company, which had…

The great Sandy Herd was runner-up at The Open Championship four times over 28 years but claimed the Claret Jug only in 1902 at Hoylake by a stroke from Vardon and Braid.  His victory popularized the new Haskell ball with a wound rubber core.  It was said to give 20 extra yards compared to the old gutty, but supplies were scarce in Britain at the time and Herd, like most, was skeptical until trying one out in a practice round with his friend John Ball, the Hoylake amateur, who had already adopted the ball.  Herd won the British Professional Matchplay at age 58 and still played tournaments to a high…

Mike Just, former owner and President of the Louisville Golf Company, passed away on October 2nd.  Northwest Hickory Players remembers Mike and his profound love of the game of hickory golf. Mike Just was selected in 2013 as the Mike Brown Award honoree by the Society of Hickory Golfers.  Why Mike?  Because, each year, the Society looks for its best representative of the hickory golf community that embodies the respect for the traditions of the game of hickory golf; one who exhibits a singular dedication to growing the game of hickory golf; and a candidate who exemplifies the passion for promoting lasting friendships through hickory golf.  That was Mike Just,…

By Douglas Seaton [adapted from North Berwick website] John Ernest Laidlay wad born on the 5th of November, 1860, at Seacliff House, two miles east of North Berwick.  His father was an Indigo manufacturer in Calcutta before he acquired the estates of Seacliff, Auldhame and Scoughall which then passed to John’s brother Andrew Laidlay who perished in a fire which destroyed Seacliff House in 1907. Johnny Laidlay dominated the Amateur Championship for seven years from 1888, winning twice in 1889 and 1891 and runner-up 1888, 1890 and 1893.  Laidlay was a member of a number of golf clubs and throughout his career won over 131 medals.  In 1887 alone he…

Dick Estey (1930–2016), World Renowned Golf Collector, Has Passed A giant in the world of golf collecting, Dick Estey, 86, died recently at his winter residence in Rancho Mirage, California, as a result of complications following a fall. A life-long resident of Portland, Oregon, Estey was an accomplished golfer from an early age.  He won the Oregon Junior Championship in 1946 and had aspirations to turn pro.  He was exposed to a pro’s life when he caddied for Sam Snead in an exhibition match in 1946 and for Henry Cotton in the 1947 Ryder Cup held at Portland Golf Club.  Perhaps sensing the difficult life of a golf professional, he…

James Braid won The Open Championship five times in the span of ten years, closing out his final victory there on the 50th anniversary of the championship.  Cool stuff! 41st Open – Muirfield 1901 The first of Braid’s five titles It was at the 1901 Open at Muirfield that a new challenger emerged to the domination of Harry Vardon and JH Taylor. The pair had won six of the previous seven Opens but James Braid beat both of them for the first of five titles in ten years. Such was the Fife-born golfer’s influence on the game that his name had to be bracketed along with the other two in…