Stu Upton’s life of hickory golf

By Neville Idour 

Stu Upton is a key figure in the hickory golf scene in Christchurch. 

He collects and refurbishes hickory golf clubs that become available from all over New Zealand. He then makes them available in sets for players who want to become part of the hickory golf scene renaissance that is fast growing throughout New Zealand and overseas.

It was good to catch up with Stu and talk about his golf involvement. We asked how it all began. 

“I have been playing golf since I was about 11 years old. I just love the game and play to a reasonably competent level. Now at nearly 60 I’m on a five handicap.''

So how did the hickory involvement begin? 

“In 2010 I was at an antique fair in Akaroa (near Christchurch) and I picked up an old putter with a hickory shaft and no grip. 

``I said how did they play golf with this stuff? That was my first club and I still have it. 

``It sparked an interest that is now more of an addiction than an interest. I probably have close to 650 clubs and 80 or so bags plus merchandise. 

``I have 56 right-handed sets and seven left-handed. The higher lofted clubs are harder to get. Anything left-handed I grab real quick as they are scarce.”

Upton said New Zealand online auction website Trade Me is his main source over the 13-year period he has been seeking hickory clubs. 

``Some of them are in appalling condition but I restore them to like new off the shop floor. So anyone who wants to play in the Hickory Open or just give it a go can hire a set. You get a driver, driving iron, a mid-iron, a mashie niblick (equivalent to a nine iron or pitching wedge) and a putter.

“Back in the early days golf wasn’t about wedge play. There may not have been long rough but the whole course was rough and sandy turf. There was no such thing as bunkers. The advent of bunkers came about in the late 1800s from what were sandtraps in Scotland.

“Collecting clubs has taught me a lot. We can go back to 1400 when the game of golf we know today was called kolf in Denmark. It was played inside a room with four posts in the four corners and you had to get the ball with a club to the posts in the least number of shots. So that was the beginnings of golf.

“The two New Zealand Hickory Opens we have had has planted a seed and it has grown exponentially in those two years to where we now have a big number of players in each of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and further south. A number of players from Christchurch are going to the Australian Open, New South Wales and Queensland Opens.

“We are now part of the World Hickory Golf Society who have set up an American wing, a European wing and an Asia-Pacific wing which New Zealand is part of. I am going to Vietnam to promote the game as golf is very elitist and expensive there. They are keen to get involved with the hickory game.”

Upton is keen to see the 2024 New Zealand Hickory Open to have no age or handicap limits otherwise it is too restrictive.  

“It should be a hit and a giggle, not serious,’’ Upton continued.

``We don’t want people taking it too seriously. To be open we can’t have limits. We had a cut of an 18 handicap which is not fair. We need to promote the fun side of golf as it was played 100 years ago. 

``The older guys who want to play aren’t on 18 or less handicaps. Some guys at the first open said you have made my dream come true to play in a hickory open. I never thought I would do it in my life.”

Upton has some great memorabilia. 

“I have some old mesh patterned golf balls from around 1900. I have what were called slip on spikes which slip on everyday shoes so those were your golf shoes.”

Interestingly every country in the world that has golf as a sport holds a hickory open. Australia has been going nine years, USA and Europe longer and China for three years. There is a World Hickory Open in Scotland annually at the St Andrews old course and you do not have to qualify. You just pay your money and play. Upton intends to play in it before age catches up with him.

Upton pointed out that all of his clubs are originals and date back as far as 120 years-old. However there are replica clubs available and some restored clubs are replicas and therefore quite modern.

“I’m not a big fan of them because being made with modern technology they may give an advantage over original clubs. Maybe a better way would be to have categories for an event —  a replica class and an originals class. That may be better or fairer.”

This year’s New Zealand Hickory Open suffered through a lack of promotion by Golf New Zealand but next year's event will be advertised and on the calendar well before the end of this year. So we can expect the 2023 field of 50 to be far greater in 2024 and possibly a full one if Upton has anything to do with it.