FOXBURG — A hickory club golfer for years, Green Bay (Wisc.) resident Jim “Wally” Koss marks the same trip on his calendar every year.

Foxburg.

The 13th annual Foxburg Hickory Championship — a golf tournament using hickory clubs and golf balls as they were in the pre-1900's — took place Friday and Saturday at Foxburg Country Club.

Koss was one of 26 golfers from 11 states taking part in the 36-hole tournament.

“I never miss this one,” Koss said of the FHC. “It's the history here. This place was made for tournaments like this.”

Foxburg Country Club has been around since 1887. It still has stone blocks by the holes, with small basins holding water and sand used for construction of sand tees.

Regular tees are not permitted in hickory club tournaments.

“Those (stone) tee boxes are true artifacts,” said Karen Johnson, wife of FHC tournament director Tom Johnson. “They pre-date the USGA itself. It's the oldest artifact in golf and it's still here. That's amazing to think about.”

Koss formerly played golf in its modern-day form, but not recently.

“I haven't picked up a modern golf club in eight years,” he said. “Hickory is the only game I play. Back home, I probably play 100 times a year.

“You play against yourself. You're not trying to beat the other guy. It's the challenge of the game, the way it was meant to be played.”

Each golfer brings his own set of hickory clubs. “Gutty” golf balls — that travel half as far as a modern golf ball — are provided by the FHC. They come from the McIntyre Golf Company in Omaha, Neb.

“Those balls cost about $12 each. You don't want to lose one out there,” Johnson said. “If someone shows up without hickory clubs and wants to play, the other golfers have enough clubs that we're able to put together an extra set.”

James Kaiser of Louisville, Ky., plays in three hickory golf events a year — the National Hickory Championship, one in Eagle Springs, Wisc., and Foxburg.

“It's a humbling game,” Kaiser said as he left the No. 9 green Friday. “But I love these (hickory) tournaments. You have to think differently.

“You don't want a high drive in the air. You want to use some run if you can. These golf balls don't back up when they land, so you're always playing forward.”

Don Norstedt of Eau Claire, Wisc., agreed. He plays five or six hickory tournaments a year.

“It's a finesse game,” he said. “You plot out how you want the hole to go before you even tee off. If you try to kill the ball, you'll be in trouble.”

Portsmouth (Ohio) resident David Shultz began playing hickory tournaments 10 years ago.

Four years ago, he stopped playing golf in other forms.

“This is the way to play. It's the interesting people you meet,” Shultz said. “I try to hit the ball low and straight, take advantage of the runs on the fairways of a course like this.

“It's not hard to get hickory clubs. People are always selling them as the regular players accumulate a lot of them over the years.”

Dennis Meadows of Virginia Beach has been playing pre-1900 tournaments for four years. He's been a hickory club golfer for six.

“The guys are a lot of fun,” Meadows said. “There is such camaraderie here. You have to plan out each shot. You don't just step up and hit the ball as hard as you can. Sometimes you just want to punch the ball out there.”

Robert White made the trip to Foxburg from Centerville, Va. He treats the hickory tournament as a “celebration of golf.

“It's just good fun with good folks,” he continued. “These tournaments emphasize the traditional values of golf.

“My dad has played these events for a number of years. I get my clubs from him.”

Johnson said planning for the Foxburg Hickory Championships began in February. Golfers learn of the event through word of mouth or the Society of Hickory Golfers.

She said the Golf Historical Society has a website that advertises the events as well.

“The people who come here relish the history of the game and its origins,” Johnson said.

Golfers from Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Texas, Georgia, Washington and Iowa were on hand for the event.