THE RESULTS ARE IN!

The Inaugural Winter Park Hickory Classic is in the books and the winners are finding a place for their trophies right now. It was a fabulous weekend for all, with a great kickoff party Friday Night, 18 holes of hickory golf on Saturday, another nine holes on Sunday and a final Awards Party Sunday afternoon. The big winners are shown below and the rest are on the Results Page.

Tim Anderson (L) – Open Champion & Richard Boggs (R) – Net Champion
Natalie Wells (L) Open Champion & Marci Likens (R) Net Champio0n

 

Welcome to the Inaugural Winter Park Hickory Classic, a 27-hole stroke-play event to be contested at the Winter Park Golf Course. There will be Men’s and Women’s divisions, awards for both Gross and Net, cocktail parties, club swaps and a weekend of fun on a charming yet challenging 2,500-yard course that winds through picturesque Winter Park, Florida. If you’re lucky, a train will rumble past while you’re putting on the 6th green. Just like Scotland. Join Us!

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Schedule

FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2020

PRACTICE ROUNDS (ALL DAY) – Optional practice rounds are available for $20 by booking directly with the Winter Park Golf Course Pro Shop (407-599-3339). Tell them you’re with the Hickory Classic.

WELCOME RECEPTION & CLUB SWAP (6:00 PM) – Meet and mingle with fellow players at the WPHC Welcome Reception, located in the Winter Park Golf Course clubhouse just off the first tee. We’ll announce the next day’s pairings while you enjoy a hearty assortment of tasty treats for dinner along with beer and wine. If you have some hickory clubs to sell or trade, bring them along and join the club swap! Perhaps we’ll arrange a special guest speaker? Be ready!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020

FIRST & SECOND ROUNDS – Tee times start at 9:00 AM and we’ll be doing two loops on the Winter Park Golf Course’s historic nine-hole track. All men will play from the BLACK tees. All women will play from the WHITE tees.

SATURDAY LUNCH & DINNER – You’re on your own, so wander into downtown Winter Park and enjoy one of the many fine restaurants. Have YELP on your phone? Use it! There are a lot of food choices in the area.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 2020

THIRD ROUND (8:30 AM) – Our third round will be a shotgun format starting at 9:00 AM, so we ask everyone to be at the course at 8:30 AM in your Sunday best, ready to take a group photo. We’ll play the final nine holes and then meet back at the clubhouse to tally the scores and enjoy lunch.

Trophies will be presented to the winners and the losers…well, there won’t be any losers, right? How can you complain about a weekend of friends and hickory golf on a course hailed as one of America’s most fun nine-hole layouts? Answer – you can’t.

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The Course

“The Winter Park Golf Course, or WP9 as the locals now call it, is one of the most unique models for municipal golf in America. A round of golf at the WP9 will take you across streets, around a cemetery, and right up to the front porch of some of the most charming homes in Florida. The course has always been memorable for its setting, but a recent renovation has resulted in a world class golf experience that every golfer should visit. I spent a day at the Winter Park Golf Course and my experience was a revelation.” — Jay Revell, Medium Magazine

The Winter Park Golf Course traces its origins to 1914 when Harley A. Ward and Dow George were commissioned to lay out a 9-hole course on 25 acres at the north end of Winter Park, a charming little suburb of Orlando created as a haven for snowbirds seeking more hospitable temperatures in the cold months.

Over the years, the course grew to as many as 27 holes, closed, became a sheep pasture, reopened and eventually settled into the current nine-hole layout. For a long time, it was a gentle, flat track known locally as “The Old Man Walking Course.” It lost so much money every year that there was a serious effort to turn it into a frisbee golf course (Personal Note: I actually saw the equipment for this potential change in the back of the pro shop. Thankfully, the items were never installed).

In 2015 Winter Park officials took a bold step. They ignored the advice of developers hungry to replace the course with more homes and instead invested $1.2 million in a renovation. Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns, a pair of associate designers for Coore-Crenshaw, won the bidding and stepped out as course architects for the very first time. The revitalized Winter Park Golf Course, opened in 2016, has been a spectacular success since Day One. It’s showcased constantly as one of the best nine-hole layouts in the country and has become an inspiring model of what a successful municipal course can be. Instead of losing six figures a year, it generates healthy profits, enjoys 40,000 rounds annually and is a source of great community pride. Also…it’s a lot of fun to play!

The Winter Park Golf Course is located at 561 West Webster Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. The Pro Shop phone number is (407) 599-3419.

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News & Tee Times

SUNDAY TEE TIMES (June 19, 2020)
Everybody should show up by 9:00 AM for a group photo. After that, the tee times are as follows. After golf, we’ll have a lovely lunch in the clubhouse along with the Awards Presentation.

9:36
Marci Likens, Winter Springs, FL
Craig Coy, Stuart, FL
Jim Davis, Grand Rapids, MI
Natalie Wells, Winter Park, FL

9:45
Rich Grula, Winter Park, FL
Brian Schuman, West Palm Beach, FL
Bern Bernacki, Pittsburgh, PA
Tad Moore, Selma, AL

9:54
Mike Tracy, Lakeland, FL
Matt Hardisty, Chaplin, CT
JJ Jackson, Pinehurst, NC
Gunnar Eriksson, Woodstock, Ontario

10:03
Tom McCrary, Brandon, FL
Richard Boggs, Sanford, FL
David Dunnigan, Tampa, FL
David Schultz, Portsmouth, OH

10:12
Frank Flood, Avon, CT
Ross McLean, Edmonton, Alberta
Mike Stevens, Tampa, FL
David Webster, Winter Park, FL

10:21
Jim Wilhelm, Paris, Ontario
Tim Andersen, Pinehurst, NC
Erik Fretland, Ocala, FL
Alex Fretland, Ocala, FL v

HOTEL INFO

For those of you planning to stay local, there are a huge number of hotels in the area. Here are a few we suggest:

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Entry

FIRST, READ THE RULES

  • Since this is such a delightfully short course, there are only two divisions for the tournament – Men’s & Women’s. Each will have Gross and Net awards. Yardage for the Men’s Division is about 5,000. Yardage for the Women’s Division is about 4,500.
  • The Winter Park Golf Course is primarily a walking course and pull carts will be provided at no cost to all tournament players. A few riding carts are available but must be reserved in advance with the pro shop for an extra charge. The WPHC tournament can not promise that enough riding carts will be available.
  • Distance measuring devices of any kind are not allowed during the tournament. Lasers, cell phone golf apps, fancy GPS watches, talking hat clips and the like should not be worn or even brought out of your bag. Anyone using such devices will be disqualified from the competition.
  • Only hickory-shafted clubs approved for play by the Society of Hickory Golfers may be used.
  • Any USGA approved ball is legal for play, as well McIntyre Replica Golf balls and the Classic.
  • Traditional hickory golf clothing is strongly encouraged. BASEBALL HATS and SHORTS are forbidden. Have some pride.
  • No gimmes, no mulligans, no rolling the ball. Unless otherwise announced, everyone plays the ball down.
  • Every ball must be holed out and your full score must be recorded for every hole. It’s a tournament.
  • The standard Root Rule is in effect. If a player’s swing is impeded by a tree root, he/she can take the nearest point of relief no closer to the hole with no penalty. If a tree or bush impedes the swing in addition to a root, then the Root Rule can not be used. Instead, the standard rule for an Unplayable Lie should be used with a one stroke penalty.
  • Questions? Contact Bill Geisler at hickorybill1@gmail.com

OKAY, NOW THE ENTRY FORM

Please download the linked entry form below, fill it out and return it with a check for the amount of your total entry fees. Player entry fee is $200. Guest fee is $65 per guest (for Welcome Party and Awards Luncheon). Entering the event means you’ve read the rules listed above and agree to follow them.

WPHC_EntryDownload

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