Brassies, mashies and niblicks, oh my!
Shelter Island Country Club’s Hickory Golf Classic ended in a blistering finish on the first playoff hole after two teams tied for first place with scores of 31.
The Aug. 7 tournament, played with vintage hickory clubs and scored on SICC scorecards from the early 1900s, was part of the club’s year-long 120th anniversary celebration. It also paid tribute to the first tournaments played on Goat Hill in 1902.
The team of Ian Kanarvogel, Ron Holmes, Matt Dunning and Jimi Rando took top honors after Holmes took out a spoon (equivalent to today’s fairway wood) and launched a high, arching drive on the 201-yard, par 3 ninth hole. The ball landed softly about 12 feet from the pin to the delight of the hickory golfers watching from the clubhouse porch.
No one among the team of Gordon Cantley, Bruce Taplin and Jim Buckland hit the green off the tee but Cantley made a brilliant chip shot to put the ball about 2 feet from the hole. The audience erupted when Kanarvogel sank his team’s putt for a birdie and the win.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the SICC’s new Owen N. Dickson Junior Golf Program. Thanks to the efforts of SICC Trustee Linda Springer, PGA pros Bob DeStefano and Eric Schultzel, and Father Peter DeSanctis, the program launched this summer with 15 young golfers, ages 7 to 16.
On Sunday, 36 golfers swung hickory-shafted brassies, mashies, spoons and niblicks as they rounded the nine-hole course in snappy knickers, argyle socks and vintage caps.
They were accompanied by their dutiful caddies — Reese Keller, Jude Martucci, Oliver and George McDonald, Kaitlyn Gulluscio, Noah Green, Lexi Jernick, Lauren Gibbs and Maeve Springer. Goat Hill’s course mascots, dwarf goats Harry and Sally, also made an appearance with their owner, Kim Cannon.
Linda Kraus won the longest drive for the women and John Wallace won longest drive for the men; Michael DeSanctis was the only golfer to hit the green on No. 5 for closest to the pin honors.
Holmes won the “Around the Clock” putting contest while Rando made a spectacular chip-in on his first attempt to win the Chipping Contest.
The Club’s 120th Anniversary Committee — Mary Fran Gleason, Cathy Kenny, Maria Razza, Theresa Andrew, Nanette Lawrenson and Casey Hannabury — offer their heartfelt thanks to the tournament’s 43 hole sponsors, to Bill Hannabury, who spotted on the fourth hole, to Tom Bliss and Artie Springer, who picked up the hickory clubs in Queens, to the pro shop staff led by Laurie Eckardt and the crew at the Flying Goat restaurant.
The committee is also grateful to Cantley, SICC Board president, for restoring the 120-year-old Roman numeral clock face around the practice green.
Upcoming tournaments
Coming up on Sept. 9 is Midnight Madness, SICC’s nine-hole night golf scramble. It’s open to members and the public. Details to come. On Sept. 18, the club holds a members-only 3 Clubs & a Putter tournament. Start time is 3 p.m.
