The Washington times., 1921-11-13
HICKORY SHAFT
HOLDS GOLFERS
MAIN INTEREST
Strength, Toughness. and Res
iIiency Mean More Than
Workmanship on Club Head.

Workmanship on Club Head.
VXTHEN a golfer is selecting a
wv new wooden club his eye
~ is usually caught first by
the outstanding features character
izing the head turned out by
particular maker. He looks then
to the length of the club, the lie
of the head, and the size and ma
terial in the grip. Finally he
takes the club in his hands, as
sumes some sort of stance, and
waggles to get the feel" 1t is
the shaft that gives him this "feel,"
and it is the shaft with which he
Is really most concerned. No mat
ter how beautiful the workman
ship in the head, this and the other
details of the club will count for
nothing if the player does not get
the response from the shaft for
which he is searching.
1t is the shaft which is the backbone
of all clubs. with the possible exception
of the putter, and even in this club
many golfer demands a shaft as near
perfection as he can find. So every
player will go through whole case of
clubs in his search for just the right
grain, the degree of whippiness at the
particular point be believes gives him
the best result. In fact, some golfers
go to the extreme of having a pet
shaft wound and rewound when IL be-
comes split and still cling TO a shaft
that is twisted and warped out OF
shape, although an expert clubmaker
xxrtlI all A. a.. Ex.~t
ter DO throw such clubs into the dis.
card and get new ones.
u Hickory Alone Serves.
As the shaft makes the club, so is
hickory responsible for the shaft. It
Ia the only wood, after years of ex-
perimenting. that has been found to
I'LL the bill. No other has the strength,
toughness. and resiliency. Nothing
else can provide the same feel. the
whippiness, and the durability OF this
American wood--for hickory grows
only In the United States and the best
wood only in a limited area. The
present supply comes almost entirely
from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Miss
issippi.
1t isn't the lead that is used in the
head, nor the fancy facings or the
patented materials in the grips that
have been responsible for the soaring
prices II has been necessary TO charge
for golf clubs. 1t is mostly due to the
increasing scarcity of hickory, the
wood with which practically all Of the
golf clubs In the world are shafted.
Supply Soon Depleted.
Time was when II was necessary
only to send out a man to locate a
source of supply and establish there
the mill for turning out the bowels
the form In which all golf shafts
first appear. Gradually the immediate
supply was cut away and IL was
necessary to go further afield. At
once the cost increased because of the
transportation charges to bring In the
raw material.
Then came the automobile boom
and prices for hickory began to soar,
for automobile spokes are practically
all made of hickory. The wastage Is
tremendous. About one-half of the |
wood is discarded as not suitable be-
fore 1t even goes into the mill. As
trees about six inches In diameter are
used, 1t will be understood readily |
what this wastage amounts to.
Then the golf club manufacturer
looks over the bowels that are turned
out from the mill. and the proportion
shafts is about one in four. When
these come to the factory or the shop
Of the professional. still others are
discarded during the process of work. |
ing them down to the necessary pro-
portions for wooden and iron clubs. |
IL may he stated here that all for |
eign clubs bear, shafts of American |
American manufactur-
ers get the first choice of most of |
the hickory in the raw state.
When Hickory vanishes.
Manufacturers already are looking |
to the time when the supply
OF hickory-already reduced alarm |
ingly--is exhausted. Experiments
have been made with other woods |
and also with steel. IL Is probable |
that steel will be the commonest ma |
terial. because of its cheapness.
Golfers who have the price may he |
able to find substitute in split bam- |
boo, as shafts OF this material have |
been turned out and there is no rea.
son, save expense, why shafts may |
not be built up in the same way as |
the finer fishing rods. One expert Is |
now working on a hickory shaft which |
has strips of bamboo inlaid its whole /,
length down into the socket OF the !
club head.
The 10 per cent tax on golf clubs, |
bags. and balls bears heavily on the |
player of golf. and the Congress
seems to feel that golf is rich mans
game and it's players can stand II. Is |
IL not rather incongruous, however,
when we think that the golfer pays
three times as much tax as the gum
u n ~