The Tournament Committee consisted of Rich Grula, Natalie Wells, Marci Likens and Bill Geisler (left to right) with Dennis James and Mike Stevens missing from the above photo.

Let’s start with other hickory-friendly golf courses in the area.

DUBSDREAD GOLF COURSE
Dubsdread has been Orlando’s home golf course since 1924. It’s set on a rolling Florida layout between the houses of the College Park neighborhood. It looks easy, but it’s not. Lots of open fronts for rolling approach shots. The Tap Room is a great bar restaurant right off the practice putting green.

MT. DORA GOLF CLUB
Mount Dora Golf Club is billed as “the longest 5,700 yards in Florida,” which is high praise for this par 70, 88 acre challenge with both down and uphill lies, to keep the best golfers on their toes.  Not fancy, but lots of fun and always reasonably priced.

PINECREST GOLF CLUB (Avon Park)
A mostly unrenovated Donald Ross gem located about 90 miles southwest of the WP9. Not a cookie-cutter Florida course. Very good club restaurant.

DINING OPTIONS
Winter Park has a lot of great restaurants. Here are a few we recommend.

• THE COUP – Comfort food and Southern fare from the folks that brought us 4 River Smokehouse
• 4 RIVERS SMOKEHOUSE – probably the best place for smoked meats in Winter Park. The Fairbanks Ave. branch is on the way for anyone who has to get on I-4 to go home.
• BOSPHOROUS TURKISH CUISINE – Amazing Turkish food. Lots of outdoor seating on Park Ave.
• THE RAVENOUS PIG – An American gastropub with a large outdoor beer garden/dinning area.
• ANTONIO’S – Italian & pizza in nearby Maitland. Upstairs is fancy, downstairs and outside casual.
• OLEA MEDITERRANEAN GRILL – Imagine a Mediterranean version of Chipotle. Easy, tasty and casual.

The entry form for the 2023 Winter Park Hickory Classic will be posted soon. The rules will be the same as below.

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 car. 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, we play 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 Hickory 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.
• There will be a hard card at the event to cover local rules.
• Questions? Contact Bill Geisler at hickorybill1@gmail.com

OKAY, NOW THE ENTRY FORM

Please download the linked entry form below (coming soon), fill it out and return it with a check for the amount of your total entry fees. This year, you have the option of signing up for the full two-day event or either day. Entering the event means you’ve read the rules listed above and agree to follow them.

There were clouds when we started and more clouds when we stopped. In between, there was a little bit of rain, some cool breezes and a whole lot of great golf! A full field of 44 ladies and gents teed off to play two nine-hole rounds at the increasingly legendary Winter Park Golf Course (aka, the WP9). Most people walked and in between rounds, enjoyed a truly fabulous lunch catered by Ghost Kitchen Orlando. After the scores were posted and the winners announced, everyone got to pick up a WPHC ball marker and a lovely tee gift from Will Jacoby from Steurer & Jacoby.

Big thanks to all those who attended, Jake and Maddy for scoring and the staff at WP9 for helping to make this a great day amid an ongoing pandemic. Below are photos taken by Greg and Beverly Wise and Rich Grula. You can find our full collection of photos here. If you have photos from the event you’d like to share, send them to grula@pobox.com. Feel free to download for personal but please do not use any photos in publications without seeking permission.

Thanks from the WPHC Committee (Bill, Rich, Marci, Natalie and Mike)

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Well that was fun, right?

Despite some cool weather and brief sprinkles, the 2nd Annual Winter Park Hickory Classic went off without a hitch and everybody seemed to enjoy the one-day, 18 hole format. Maybe we’ll keep it in place for next year! Let’s talk about winners shall we?

On the Ladies side (left to right), it was Marci Likens taking the 1st Place Open Award, with Natalie Wells grabbing 1st Place Reserve and Beth Chambers winning 2nd Place Reserve.

On the Men’s side in the Open Division (left to right), it was Will Peterson (71) followed by Gil Feagin (73) and Joe Foguth (75). In the Reserve Division, Tom McCrary took 1st Place honors in a scorecard playoff over Dave Webster (below) and Dan Capaz was only one stroke behind in 3rd place.