The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-07-20
A GOLF STICKS HISTORY.
A Transplanted Industry Which Has
Reached Great Proportions.

4 TranspIanted Industry Which Has
Reached Great Proportions.
Philadelphia Record.
1t would be interesting TO know just how
many thousand golf sticks are turned out
in this country every year, for the number
probably reaches close 10, if not more than,
10000. In spite of the forests of hickory
which have been converted into these weap-
ons Of the golf player since the game be-
came popular in the United States. Care
fully as it is built" the driver or mashie
has such a rough and tumble experience,
especially when its owner is an amateur.
that sometimes in one season it is damaged
beyond repair. A drive against a sharp
stone instead of the ball, grazing the
ground with a stroke, are some of the
mishaps which soon wear out the club,
while careIessness in leaving it on the
grounds overnight. perhaps exposed to the
rain or packed away in a damp kit, are
other evils from which it suffers. Enthu-
siastic experts who appreciate well-formed
weapons are usually as careful of them as
Of their watches. and the contents Of the
bag may not need renewing for several
years, but as hundreds Of new recruits
come on the greens yearly the stick-ma-
ker has his lands full at the beginning
of each season.
From the time the club is sawed out of
the second growth hickory until it is placed
in the kit ready for service, it passes
through an interesting variety of pro-
cesses. Very little machine work is done
on the first-clasS article. After the shaft
is sawed out it must be rounded and ia
pered to the proper form by hand, re-
curing years of experience as we'll as a
clear eye. a portion of the rounding is
done by what is known as the shaft LATHE,
but filing and sa~ndpapering are indispen-
sable before 1T has reached the proper pro-
portions. AS a rule most of the shafts
made in the United States come from the
tough second-grOwth hickory, but even
after the planks have been selected, some
times so per cent. of the material is thrown
aside To be made up into inferior sticks,
such care is used in manufacturing.
The heads of the best Iron" clubs are
really composed of soft steel and shaped
principally by the blacksmith's hammer
on the anvil. The cheaper heads are
drop forged" from iron being shaped by
ishing lathes. 1t is really wonderful to
note the perfect proportions which the steel
heads assume under the steady strokes of
the hammer. but they, too, are given a
finish by the lathe until they glitter like
silver before they are ready for the green.
Most of the companies manufacturing clubs
have hundreds of sets of patterns not only
OF shafts but of heads, for whenever a kit
is made for some expert which differs in
any way from the ordinary stick the pat
tern comes in handy to duplicate any of
the clubs which may be broken. Some of
the millionaire players of the country are
as particular about the length and shape
of a stick as the most enthusiastic pro-
fessionals, and think nothing or paying
as high as $50 for a single club made to
order from a special pattern.
When the heads and shafts are shaped
the next process Is to join them together.
1t is much easier to fit the shaft of a driver
into a wooden head than to join the parts
of an iron club, as a much tighter joint
can be made. In all cases, however. glue is
generously used and then the surface is
whipped or bound with a strong cord which
is both water and weather proof. The wind
ing is done on a machine, which will finish
a club a minute. The next operation is
putting on the grip. Made of horse hide or
sheepskin.. cut by machinery into proper
length and width the grip man" winds
it about the polished wood with a few
motions, so closely and evenly that il
seems to be a portion of the shaft itself.
Most OF this work is done entirely by hand.
but requires considerable skill. The horse
hide. of course, is used on the best grade
of sticks, the %sheepskin being placed on the
inferior quality.
which give the club its glossy coat and
preserve it from the effects of the weather.
The coating of shellac is first put on and
over this is applied one or more coats of
varnish, which when dry is rubbed to a
gloss. 1t is then ready to go into the kit
with the lofter, mashie and the rest of it's
| 1OlhlhAiAbAAss
When it is stated that one factory which
is located in Chicopee Falls, Mass, turns
out no less than a thousand golf sticks in
the busy season for players an idea can be
gained of the extent of the industry. Al
this factory a large number of the most
expert American WOrkmen are employed,
but the company has also imported arti-
sans from the land of golf-Scotland-who
are not only VerSed in every process of
manufacture, but are expert players them
selves, for it is not generally known that
the best club maker must also be a player
in order to appreciate the fine points of
shape and dimensions. The ancestors of
some of these men for two or three genera
tons have earned a livelihood in work
ing upon heads and shafts, and can tell If
a club is out of proportion even a quarter
of an inch, so true is their eye.
Work on the golf kits sometimes begins
six months before the season actually
opens in the North, for example, depending
upon the outlook for business, for the
manufacturers must be in readiness to fill
orders at any time up to late in the sum-
mer, as it is a game which depends perhaps
more on the climate than even baseball
a man can start out with his kit in Sep
TENDER and find links in readiness in some
portion of the United States every month
in the year. The golfng outfit has become
as necessary a portion of ones baggage in
the winter tour to the South or California
as when ne starts away to spend his Vaca-
ton in the BerkshireS or by the seashore.
Thus il is that some of the factories have
more or less men engaged in the wood shop
or blacksmith shop every month of the
year, although the rush season can be
said to be from the 1st of February to the
1St of Nav.