U.S. Hickory Open Visits Kenosha Country Club for 17th Annual National Championship
The annual U.S. Hickory Open hosted by the Society of Hickory Golfers is scheduled for Sept. 9-10, 2024, at Wisconsin’s Kenosha Country Club in Kenosha, Wisc. It is the second visit to Wisconsin for this premier event in the nation’s hickory golf schedule. The first was in 2016 to the Links of Lawsonia in Green Lake. That tournament saw Arkansas golf professional Jeremy Moe earn his fourth consecutive USHO title in a one-hole playoff squeaker with Los Angeles amateur Cliff Martin.
This year’s event holds the promise of an equally tough competition with some of the country’s best hickory players. Among them are past USHO champions: Richard Woeckner of Garrettsville, Ohio (2010, 2019), and Taylor Jones of Decatur, Ala. (2018, 2020).
The Women’s Division features top Nebraska amateur and 2023 USHO Women’s champion Jane Pohlman (Omaha), the 2022 World Hickory Open women’s champion Sue Tracy (Star, Idaho), 2020 USHO champion Susan Marchese (Omaha, Neb.), and the 2022 Women’s champion and 2023 runner-up Rylee Stovall (Litchfield Park, Ariz.)
The U.S. Hickory Open is the premier hickory tournament in the U.S., open to all members of the Society of Hickory Golfers and contested in both Open and Net divisions in four categories: Open, Senior, Super Senior, and Women. It rotates to venues throughout the country based on four geographical regions. Past sites have included the Donald Ross Course at French Lick, Ind., the Country Club of Ashville (N.C.), Miami Valley CC (Dayton, Ohio), Del monte GC (Monterey, Calif.), Sedgefield CC (Greensboro, N.C.), Belvedere GC (Charlevoix, Mich.), Happy Hollow Club (Omaha, Neb.), Gearhart Golf Links (Gearhart, Ore.), the Mission Inn Resort (Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.), and Inwood CC (Inwood. N.Y.). The last, in 2023, was timed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bobby Jones’ first U.S. Open victory which took place at this club in 1923. That tournament was won by Matthew Hoffman, an assistant golf professional at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V.
All players use either authentic clubs made prior to 1935, or replica clubs approved for play by the SoHG’s tournament and equipment committees.
Local USHO Organizing Committee Chairman Bill ‘Ernie” Ernst knows the Kenosha course well and is excited about the visit of the country’s top hickory players. “They’ll find plenty of challenges on this Donald Ross layout,” he said. “The course was designed during the golden age of golf architecture. It will take a little focus and course management, but with the field we have, we’ll see some great scores and tight competition.”
Ernst is one of the co-founders and organizers of the Wisconsin Hickory Golfers, a regional hickory golf association with more than five dozen members who gather seasonally throughout the state for hickory golf competitions and socializing. Hickory golf groups such as the Wisconsin group, are found throughout the U.S. and abroad in Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Japan.
Past U.S. Hickory Open venues:
2008-2010 – Mimosa Hills Country Club, Morganton, N.C.
2011 – Donald Ross Course, French Lick Resort, French Lick, Ind.
2012 – Donald Ross Course, French Lick Resort, French Lick, Ind.
2013 – Bay Course at Seaview Resort, Galloway, N.J.
2014 – Country Club of Ashville, Ashville, N.C.
2015 – Miami Valley Country Club, Dayton, Ohio
2016 – Links Course at Lawsonia, Green Lake, Wisc.
2017 – Del Monte Golf Club, Monterey, Calif.
2018 – Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, N.C.
2019 – Belvedere Golf Club, Charlevoix, Mich.
2020 – Happy Hollow Club, Omaha, Neb.
2021 – Gearhart Golf Links, Gearhart, Ore.
2022 – Mission Inn Resort, Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
2023 – Inwood Country Club, Inwood, N.Y.