Links Golf with Hickories at Brora - Hickory Golf Course Vlog #51

A shot-by-shot hickory golf course vlog featuring Long Island, NY-based hickory golfer Christian Williams playing pre-1935 hickory golf with fellow golf historian Andy Grow at Brora Golf Club in the Highlands of Scotland.

Williams is an interactive golf historian with a high handicap, sharing his passion for the game through this channel where he shows how to collect, repair, and play with antique, wood-shafted golf clubs. In this round, Williams, is using four authentic wooden-shaft golf clubs from around 1930 along with a customized Titleist TruFeel ball that's been remolded with an antique mesh pattern (details on clubs and ball below). Welcome to the channel!

Brora Golf Club dates to 1891 with golf being played first on a 9-hole layout that was eventually stretched to 18 holes in 1900. The current 18-hole layout at Brora dates to 1924 and was designed by famed architect and 5-time Open Champion, James Braid. A member of "The Great Triumvirate" with Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor, Braid was a very active course designer when he wasn't playing and played a role in the design or redesign of more than 400 courses.

Prior to 1891, there's documentation of an active golf community in Brora as early as the mid-1700s. It's unknown whether they played on the current site of the golf course, but there is evidence of golf being played at nearby Dornoch as early as 1619. In his seminal history of golf "Chronicles of Golf: 1457-1857," Alastair J. Johnston writes that in 1769, there was correspondence between families in Brora discussing how they were spreading the game in the New World. As Johnston writes, "Robert Ross introduced the game to his friends at Plymouth in New England; Angus Mackay requested that his brother send golf balls to New York for the use of his friends; one of the Sutherland family wrote of playing golf in Georgia."

This round was played by Williams and Grow during their hickory golf trip to the Highlands and Moray regions of Scotland in May 2023. Follow Andy and his hickory golf travel writings on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hickories_and_links/

"What's Under the Arm?" sponsored by Steurer & Jacoby (use the promo code HICKORYHACKER23 to save 10% on any purchase at http://www.steurerjacoby.com ):
- Circa 1930 Tom Stewart driving iron, 19 degrees, D1, 39-1/2 inches
- Circa 1930 Tom Stewart mashie, 35 degrees, D6, 38 inches
- Circa 1931 Walter Hagen Iron Man sand wedge, 55 degrees, G+, 34-3/4 inches
- Circa 1931 Tom Stewart R.T.J. putter, 5 degrees, C8, 34 inches
- Titleist TruFeel ball remolded with a mesh pattern formed by an antique cast-iron mold

If you're interested in trying pre-1935 hickory golf, Williams builds authentic and affordable starter sets. Please reach out to him by email at thehickoryhacker@gmail.com for more information.

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