Tradition on display, a centenary celebrated and a new benchmark set: the 2025 German Open Hickory Championship at Golf Club Föhr will be long remembered.
The German Open Hickory Championship, now in its 17th edition, was played from 15 to 17 August 2025 at Golf Club Föhr, marking the club’s centenary. It was an exceptional stage for a tournament that has become a well-established appointment in the international hickory golf calendar.
Knickerbockers, tweed caps and classic-cut suits brought the style of a bygone era back onto the fairways, not just as a matter of appearance, but as a gesture of respect for tradition, restoring to golf the authentic atmosphere of its early decades. Against the unique backdrop of the North Sea, across a 36-hole course set among dunes, woodland and stretches of heathland, 55 hickory players from across Europe and even China competed in an international challenge that celebrated golf in its purest form, without artifices.
The title went to Switzerland’s Paolo Quirici, who secured the German Open Hickory Championship 2025 with a total score of 137 strokes (74 + 63, –7). His final round on Sunday, August 17, was decisive: 63 strokes, nine under par, the lowest score ever recorded in the history of the tournament, which has been played since 2009.
What makes this achievement particularly significant is the technical context. Hickory clubs demand touch, control, and a precise swing. Less forgiving than modern equipment, they offer a pure and authentic feel, bringing the game back to its roots. To record a score of 63 with hickory-shafted clubs demonstrates that, even more than a century after their introduction, they are still capable of delivering top-level performances.
To put it in perspective, Quirici’s career-best score remains the 60 (–12) he shot at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Crans-Montana on June 15, 1989, during the Challenge Tour Mémorial Olivier Barras — that time, however, with modern equipment. The Swiss player had also signed other rounds of 63 in the past century, again with contemporary irons and woods, but had never matched such a score with hickories in hand.
This victory confirms that even with clubs dating back more than a hundred years, it is possible to achieve first-class results, reconnecting golf with its roots while maintaining the highest standards of play.
In the Amateur category, 18-year-old Louis Dudzus (Berlin Wannsee) distinguished himself with a total of 146 strokes. His final round of 69 (–3) ranks as the second-best score ever recorded in the event.
This result goes beyond a category win: Dudzus embodies the generational renewal of hickory golf, showing how this historic discipline continues to be revitalised by the enthusiasm and talent of young players.
In the Ladies category, victory went to Marie Kauder (Golf Club St. Leon-Roth), with a total of 173 strokes (84 + 89), confirming the growing and important role of women’s golf within the hickory community.
Christoph Meister, Captain of the German Hickory Society, emphasised how this edition confirmed the truly international character of the tournament, with participants from all over Europe and from China. This diversity makes the German Open Hickory Championship a global reference point, fostering a passionate community that remains attentive to tradition.
The next edition will take place in Baden-Baden, in southwestern Germany’s Black Forest, from 14 to 16 August 2026, celebrating the 125th anniversary of Golf Club Baden-Baden. It promises to be a special occasion, once again bringing together the international hickory community — players and enthusiasts alike — to celebrate not only a historic milestone, but also the continuity of a cultural heritage that lives on the course, stroke after stroke.