| JEKYLL ISLAND CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF GOLF
-
from SOUTHERN GOLF MAGAZINE |
A high point of the Jekyll celebration was an invitational tournament played over the Great Dunes course, a challenging nine holes with elevated tees, large bunkers and small sloping greens. There is plenty of golf history here, and Great Dunes was one of the last courses designed by the legendary Walter Travis.
To add to the flavor, players were encouraged to wear knickers and other attire worn by golfers in the 1890s. About 80 guests, ranging from golf and travel writers to local and state political figures, enjoyed a windy but pleasant day. Among the guests were Andy Bean, former Tour champion and Ryder Cup player. Andy’s father, Tom, was an honored guest along with his wife.
Tom was a golf pro at Jekyll Island from 1956 and 1968. Andy received early golf training on Jekyll’s courses and starred on the Glynn Academy golf team in nearby Brunswick before his family moved to Lakeland, FL, where they currently reside. A few years earlier, another Tour player, Steve Melnyk, played on the same high school team.
To add authenticity to the event, players were required to use hickory-shafted clubs and gutta percha, or gutty, balls. Guests had to overcome the same difficulties old-time golfers faced in playing the game.
Reproduced antique golf clubs and gutty balls were supplied by Old Hickory Golf Company of Portsmouth, Ohio. The company was started a few years ago by golf enthusiasts Tom Book and his son Todd in anticipation of golf clubs that had already planned or would be planning centennial observations.
If
you
are
too
young
to
have
ever
played
with
hickory-shafted
clubs,
you’ll
have
to
adjust
your
attitude.
You
will
experience
more
torque,
or
club
head
twist,
than
with
steel
or
graphite
shafts.
Wooden
shafts
require
a
slow,
smooth
“buttery”
swing.
You’ll
also
need
a
flatter
swing
plane
to
avoid
wild
shots. The great players of the early part of the century hit more with their hands but without quick movements. Forcing a shot usually produced disaster. Old Hickory’s guide sheet explained that even great players of 100 years ago were usually pleased when they broke 80.
Old hickory also warned quests of anticipated hazards with antique equipment. Hickory shafts were tough, but not as tough as steel or graphite, they could break. In such an event, club heads might fly off ahead of players. Partners were asked to stand behind the shot maker.
One shaft broke when a player took an extra large divot. No one was hurt, and Todd explained that this happened once in a while. It was important to save club heads since new shafts could replace old ones fairly easily. Old Hickory hoped few gutty balls were lost. Each costs $8.00 to replace.
The players at Jekyll Island had a great time using the old equipment, and they came away with a new respect for golfers of the last century who mastered the game with the antique clubs and low-compression balls.
Before the Friday night banquet, quests had an opportunity to view artifacts gathered by staff and volunteers. The exhibits included a Walter Hagen sand wedge subsequently banned by the USGA, a 1900s Uni-Club adjustable to eight positions and a Tom Stewart mashie-niblick stamped “R.T.J.” for Robert Tyre Jones, Jr. So many of these appeared on the market in the 1920s that Jones had to warn the St. Andrews club maker to desist, or he’d find a new supplier.
The husband-wife team of Jekyll Island residents Jean and Gene Walden supervised this exhibit and should be singled out for special praise.
Jekyll Island is probably not the oldest golf club in the South, but there couldn’t have been many that came earlier. Most of the first clubs in the United States were concentrated in the Northeast. One is Shinnecock Hills in Long Island, NY, designed by “Young Willie” Dunn in 1891.
Dunn, a Scot, was brought to America by William Vanderbilt, who met him in Biarritz, France. Dunn designed the Shinnecock course and remained there as a combination pro and greenkeeper. He won the U.S. open in 1894 and is listed in Cornish and Whitten’s monumental book on golf course architecture as designer of the Oceanside course on Jekyll Island. (It was recently restored to its original name of Great Dunnes). Travis remodeled the course in 1926. Vanderbilt was an original member of the Jekyll Island Club and was probably instrumental in adding golf to the club’s attractions.
The golf complex on Jekyll Island is now the largest public golf resort in Georgia with 63 holes, including the Great Dunes nine-hole course and three 18-hole courses. The weather is usually fine, the natives are friendly and golfers who stay on the island from November to March 15 enjoy $12 green fees.