Hickory Revival comes to Campbell PGM

For Clark Willard and Luke Davis, Hickory Revival is a side-gig, but one that is starting to take off. Who doesn’t want to go back in time and play golf with 100-year-old hickory golf clubs?

“The Hickory Revival Experience is unlike any other. There’s nothing like going out to the course and playing the game as originally envisioned. It gives you an appreciation and understanding as an aspiring PGA Professional of how the game has developed over the years.” Aaron W Katzenberger, PGA Student 2024

Clark, a Head Professional at Sand Valley Golf Resort in Wisconsin, and Luke, Founder and CEO of Lie + Loft, a golf home goods company based in Raleigh, are both PGA members that graduated from NC State’s PGA Golf Management Program.

Their connection with new PGM Director, Gabriella Story, brought them to “The Creek” to share their love for pre-1935 hickory golf clubs with Campbell PGM students.

25 students, staff, and faculty played in an afternoon shotgun on Friday at the White course at Keith Hills with none other than 100-year-old hickories.

Spring PGM transfer, Emily Martin said, “I had so much fun experimenting with different clubs, and it was cool to see the weird and wonderful names all of them had.”

“I found the clubs quite difficult to hit with because of how much heavier they were compared to my clubs and how much they dug into the ground. I found that if my timing and tempo was a little off, the shot would come out a lot worse than what I would expect with my clubs. There was absolutely no room for error with these clubs which was a fun challenge.”