“Playing this way is just way too cool,” said Allen Wallach of Glenside, who got into the hickory clubs about a decade ago and no longer even owns or plays with modern clubs. “I saw the clubs and knew I had to have some of them. There is now becoming a whole mini-circuit of these tournaments around the country.” Another golfer in the tournament said he owns both vintage and modern clubs, and tries to use the hickory-shafted set during about half his rounds.

Then, there were those trying this for the first time. “I couldn’t hit the ball that long,” said Audubon’s Pete Newitt, “but I played better than I thought I would for this being my first round with these clubs. “I’m definitely hooked.” It sure looked like an awful lot of fun.

There were golfers from nearby and golfers from up and down the East Coast. “The trick is, it’s all about your timing playing with these clubs,” said one player participating in only his third round with the wood shafts. Some of the players in the event owned their own clubs, others rented or borrowed some, others even made their own replicas. One gentleman had a completely refurbished set of clubs that dated back to the 1920s.

The golfers used softer golf balls Friday, this to lower the amount of friction on the face of the antique clubs and protect the club’s integrity. Something tells me the Precept Laddie did not exist in Donald Ross’ day. Plus, the tournament was contested from the forward tees at Jeffersonville, making the course measure at just under 6,000 yards for the old style round. No one was going for the par-5s in two on Friday, and par-3s were routinely approached with woods. Few chip shots bit next to the pin and not one putter had an insert on its face.

The only modern aspects of Friday’s round were the current-day mindset and experiences of the golfers trying to play the equipment, and the golf carts the players used to traverse the 18 holes. One guy quipped that to make the carts more old-fashioned, they were using regular gasoline for the day. According to Newitt, even his knickers were vintage, said to date back to the 1930s — before the invention of Tide ultra stain-fighter, I’m guessing.

There were some big drives hit Friday, and some long putts made. It was just like a regular round of golf except for the nostalgia and intrigue. And the fact that no player threw a club during the round for fear it would splinter.

Bill Weisler of Bensalem won the low gross prize Friday with a round of 89. Eric Wolke, who came down from New York, won low net with a 74. The longest drive of the day was hit by Joe Kenny, from Ambler, whose tee shot on the 17th hole went approximately 235 yards.

"This was a real good turnout and a fun day,” said Region 2 director Bob Gettis. “People came from quite a distance to play, and the course was perfect for our type of golf.”

While the clubs look totally different from the modern rocket-launchers and 60-degree wedges and two-ball putters, the object of the game has not changed through the years. To score well, using any kind of equipment, you still need to hit the ball straight and make some putts.

On this day, it was a chance for an old-time course, since altered to handle the modern game, to be tested once again the way it was envisioned by Ross so many years ago. Even the weather cooperated to give a nostalgic feel. For those of us who swear by the idea of global warming, here it was mid-May and the temperature barely got out of the 50s.

By TOM KERRANE, Times Herald Staff