Kickin' it old school
FOXBURG — Foxburg Country Club owns a tradition difficult to match and gives golfers a variety of ways to experience it.
The course celebrates its 125th anniversary this summer and also provides golfers with the opportunity to compete against that deep-rooted history.
The fourth annual Foxburg Hickory Championship will be conducted on the second weekend in August. The unique two-day, 36-hole tournament is played with the same equipment a golfer would have used back in 1887, when Foxburg Country Club first opened for business.
“They play with the old-fashioned Hickory clubs and the old golf balls,” said Foxburg Country Club general manager Mike Gardner. “We actually draw people from all over the eastern United States and Canada for that.”
The tournament has nearly doubled in size since its inception and its popularity doesn't appear to be slowing down.
“The first year we had it, it was probably 22 (golfers) or so,” said Gardner. “Last year was close to 40. This year, the feedback I'm getting is that it will probably be well over 40.”
Playing one of the oldest golf courses in America with the added challenge of old equipment has proved to have plenty of appeal.
“There's more guys playing Hickory than I even thought,” Gardner explained. “It's probably just word of mouth now with the guys who are playing it and they say, ‘Oh wow, you have to get in on that tournament in Foxburg,' and that's why it's growing.”
The history of the course keeps customers coming back for more.
Foxburg Country Club is America's oldest course in continuous use and features the American Golf Hall of Fame on the second floor of the clubhouse.
The course was founded when Joseph Mickle Fox returned from a cricket match in Scotland. He was introduced to golf by Tom Morris, Sr. at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Morris taught Fox the fundamentals of the game and the rest is history.
“(Morris) gave (Fox) a few sets of clubs and he brought it back to this area,” said Gardner. “It picked up and it's been here ever since.
“It's a short course just because of when it was built. This was basically designed from what he saw when he was over in Scotland,” added Gardner. “It fits well with the Hickory tournament.”
The American Golf Hall of Fame is a museum one can quickly walk through, but it leaves many visitors with a big impression thanks to its displays chronicling the evolution of golf.
Often times, visitors in the area will hear about the golf course and make it a point to swing by, even if they didn't bring clubs. The museum is worth checking out on its own.“Even though it's a small museum, it does show a lot of the history of golf,” Gardner explained. “Maybe they come down to the inn, spend a night and hear about the course. They'll come up and do the history part of it.”Foxburg Country Club can boast more history than just about any golf course out there. However, the course is also keeping the future in mind.FoxburgGolf.com has been redesigned and there are special offers on the website to make the golfing a cheaper experience. There is also a bar and grill under construction and could potentially make its debut this summer. The club hosts weddings, birthday parties and business events, as well.“We're one of the oldest golf courses, but we're still trying to keep up with the new ones,” said Gardner. “Almost every weekend there is some sort of event going on. Most of the time, once they (a business) start having their event here, they automatically want to keep booking it every year. So evidently, they must like the setup.”Of course, the biggest weekend of the year will take place in August with the Foxburg Hickory Championship.Using the old equipment tends to add some strokes to a golfer's score, but the challenge and the experience is rewarding. The Hickory clubs have no problem holding up, either, which was to the surprise of Gardner when he first started using them.“I was afraid to hit any of them,” he admitted with a laugh. “They're probably just as sturdy as today's clubs, but they just don't have the technology of what they have today to make the ball fly farther and straighter.”More and more golfers who belong to the club have given the Hickory equipment a try. As a result, more familiar faces are competing in the Foxburg Hickory Championship.“The first year it started off, three of us from the club played. This year, there will probably be six or eight. It's addicting, once you try it — actually experience the way golf used to be played,” explained Gardner. “It's growing faster than we thought it would.”
