Hickories: "There's more time in the history of the game played with clubs like this than with the clubs being used in today's game."

Mike Stachura fills us in on some of the details from Wednesday's hickory challenge played in by, among others, Luke Donald, Keegan Bradley, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Ben Crane, Camilo Villegas and Graeme McDowell. (Slidehow here if you haven't seen it.)

He also reports on the maker of the clubs, Chris McIntyre of PlayHickory.com.

In Tuesday's event, held to commemorate Zurich's 100-year anniversary in the U.S., Ben Crane and Camilo Villegas finished at 1-under in the 3-hole exhibition, while Luke Donald holed out from the fairway on the second hole for an eagle. Players admitted the equipment required a swing adjustment. "The hickory shafts are obviously quite soft," Graeme McDowell told WWNO radio. "You've just got to wait on them a little bit and you can't really put the same amount of pressure as you would on the shafts that we're normally used to playing."

Villegas said the event gave him an appreciation for what the game used to be like. "It is fun," he said. "It is fun to mix it a little bit, go back in the day and see how those legends used to do it."

Here's another great looking set at a modest price for hickories, courtesy of reader Lloyd.