Antique Hickory Golf Clubs - Vintage Golf Clubs, Golf Books, Prints, Memorabilia Standard Golf Co. The New Mills R.N.B. Model alloy head Putter C.1910 A very nice example of this particular model restored for play or display. The length is 34.75" (88cm). The sole is clearly stamped with the makers name and other details relating to this putter. For full details and images please refer to item P008L on the Vintage Putters page. MacLennan 13° large persimmon head stripe top Brassie c.1925 A very attractive brassie fully restored for play. The swing weight is D0 and the length is 41" (104cm). The shorter than average length for a brassie will help to give more control during the swing. For full details and images please refer to item W004Z on the Vintage Wods for Play page. Price £138.00 D.

Simpson (Ranfurly Castle) 16° large head Brassie c.1928 A beautiful brassie with a slightly longer shaft than normal so this club may suit the taller player. Fully restored to play condition, the swing weight is D2 and the length is 43" (109cm). For full details and images please refer to item W013K on the Vintage Woods for Play page. Price £145.00 Ernest Sales (Sunningdale) Gassiat style rectangular persimmon wood Putter with pistol grip c.1928 An immaculate Gassiat style putter beautifully restored will now make a marvellous display club. The length is 34.25" (87cm). For full details and images please refer to item P001W on the Vintage Putters for PLay page. Price £375.00 J.M. Sunter (Elie) 16 deg. large headed stripe top Spoon c.1925 A superb large headed spoon fully restored is now ready for play. The swing weight is C8 and the club measures 42" (107cm).

For full details and images please refer to item W009S on the Vintage Woods for Play page. Price £135.00 Lockwood Brown (London) 15° medium size head Spoon with a stiff shaft c.1920 A very nice spoon fully restored ready for play. The swimg weight is D3 and the length is 41.50" (105cm). For full details and images please refer to item W007T on the Vintage Woods for PLay page. Price £128.00 New Canvas & Leather medium size Carry Bag with two pockets and hood. A quality 1920's style bag that will comfortably carry 10 clubs with dividers to help protect the woods from the irons. Made from top quality canvas and high grade leather and finished using good quality trimmings. For full details and images please refer to item C001C at the top of the Canvas & Leather Bags page.

Price £132.00 Frank Taylor (I.O.W.) A late elegant scare-neck longnose Putter c.1930 Beautifully restored including the fitting of a new rams horn sole insert and the re fitting of the long lead back weight. This club is now ready for either play or display. Length 35" (89cm). For full details and images please refer to item P002S on the Vintage Putters for Play page. Gents 6 Club Play Set A great six club play set for the golfer who wants to test his skills with hickory clubs as used in the 1920's compared with todays modern clubs. The set comprises of a lofted Driver, Mid Iron, Mashie, Mashie Niblick, Niblick ans Putter. All with good lofts and swing weights and fitted with matching hide grips except for putter which has a period grip. The clubs have been fully restored to play condition. For full details and numerous images please refer to item FPS091 on the Play Sets and Play Clubs page. St. Andrews Golf Co.

50° 'Dedum' deep grooved Niblick c.1915 A great club for the collecter or to use when having a friendly game as this type of iron was eventually banned for use in a tournament due to the deep grooves helping to achieve more back spin compared to the normal patterned face. The club has bee restored to play condition, the swing weight is D8 and the length is 36" (91cm). For full details and images please refer to item I1010R on the Vintage Irons for Play page. Price £105.00 The Murray-Wood alloy mallet head Putter c.1910 A superb and rare alloy head putter which has been restored back to play condition or for display. This putter would make a wonderful gift/retirement present for the golf enthusiast. The length is 34" (86cm). For full details and images please refer to item P009K on the Vintage Putters for Play page. Price £125.00 Tom Morris (St.

Andrews) elongated mallet head socket Putter c.1895 A fabulous very early socket head putter by this famous maker has been restored back to play condition or will make a superb display club. The length is 36" (91cm). His name is clearly visible across the crown of the head. For full details and images please refer to item P004P on the Antique Clubs c.1850-1900 page. Price £495.00 George Brews (Royal Blackheath) long-nose scareneck dark stained beech wood Putter c.1890 A magnificent long-nose putter in totally original condition except for a minor repair to the grip at the top of the shaft. The length is 34" (86cm). George Brews was the professional-club maker at Royal Blackheath (the oldest golf club outside Scotland) from 1890 to 1902. During that time he also made Samuel Ryder's first putter. For full details and images please refer to item P009L on the Antique Clubs c.1850 to 1900 page.

Gents 4 Iron Play Set Four good irons fully restored to play condition include a Mid Iron, Mashie, Mashie Niblick and Niblick. The face lofts range from 27° to 55°. The swing weight for the mid iron is D3 and the other three irons are D5. For full details and images please refer to item FPS096 on the Play Clubs and Play Sets page. Price £275.00 Unknown Maker 15° LEFT HAND small headed Brassie c.1925 An exquisite looking left hand brassie with ivorine face insert. The club has been restored to play condition. The swing weight is D0 and the length is 42" (107cm). For full details and images please refer to item W005X on the Vintage Woods for Play page. Price £145.00 New Canvas & Leather Pencil Bag with two pockets. Replicating the 1920's style, this bag will carry up to 8 clubs quite comfortably. Made from strong canvas material dyed Khaki in colour with good quality leather trimmimgs.

Please not that this bag does not come with a hood. For full details and images please refer to item C123 on the Canvas & Leather Bags page. Price £82.00 William Gibson (Kinghorn) 26 deg. rustless Push Iron c.1925 This rare and very collectable iron has been fully restored to play condition. It is normally used for shots when a down wind prevails. If hit correctly it should create considerable back spin when the ball lands on the green. Normally only used by the better player, Harry Vardon popularized the shot. This iron fits in-between a driving iron and a mid iron. The swing weight is C3 and the length is 38.50" (98cm). For full details and images please refer to item I004T on the Vintage Irons for Play page. Price £95.00 History of Golf - Scottish Perspective Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, Watson, Faldo and Woods. PRE 1400: THE ORIGINS OF THE GAME Throughout recorded history, every civilisation has played a game with a club and a ball.

Pangea for example, as described by Roman scribes, would appear to be the father both of modern hockey and the Celtic games of Shinty and Hurling. In one form or another, the variant games of present day golf were clearly enjoyed throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The game persisted over the centuries and the form that it took and rules that were applied varied as widely as the terrain the game was played over. In short, the game consisted of knocking a ball from one pre-designated place to another where the ball was to be struck off a predetermined object in the least number of blows. Games often extended from village to village. That this game was ousted from the towns and onto the commons land beyond is one possible solution to the question of how it all began. Whatever the exact origins, it is known that by the 15th century, "kolf" as it was known in the Netherlands and "goff" as it was referred to in England, was a pastime enjoyed by Kings and Commoners alike. It's kinship to the Great Game however, remains entirely questionable.

So widespread was the game of "Gowf", as it was known in Scotland, that an Act of Parliament was passed to prevent the playing of the game on Sundays and thus preserve the skills of Archery. The citizens of Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Leith on Scotland's East Coast were the principal "gowfing" miscreants and it was no coincidence that rolling sandy links land was commonplace here. On this very terrain, a game that started with a cleek and a ball took on a form that started an evolutionary process that continues to this day. The question of how it all began may be of pressing concern to some but to the Scot, it is sufficient to know that the game was born on the links land of eastern Scotland. Here, the game has been nurtured for over five hundred years and from here, it has been raised to the great game played and loved by millions throughout the world. 1750 - 1850 : THE ROBERTSONS OF ST ANDREWS This was the period when golf as we know it today came to be. It was in this time that many of today's great golf clubs were founded and the leading players of the era started to gain renown.

The great club-makers and ball-makers of the era began to emerge and the clubs produced by these skilled craftsmen were coveted to the extent that forgeries became commonplace. Top players began to regularly gather for 'meetings' when medal and match-play rounds were organised, with distinctions made for the first time between amateur and professional players. Allan Robertson, of the famous ball-making family in St Andrews, is widely credited as being the first golf professional. But before Allan, his Grandfather Peter was described as a professional golfer and although history knows little of this man, his reputation survived him and his prowess was widely acknowledged. One epic contest in 1843 was between Allan Robertson and Willie Dunn, two of the best players of that time. The challenge was held over 20 rounds (2 rounds per day over 10 days) and it was Robertson who triumphed - two rounds up with one to play. The Robertson dynasty in itself reflects the emergence of the great game. The family can be traced back to one Thomas Buddo, a ball-maker in St Andrews in 1610. His daughter married a Robertson and from this pair was bred the stock that led to Allan himself and along the line produced generations of ball-makers.

At least four separate Robertson families employing over 25 hands were engaged in making balls in St Andrews during the mid 18th Century. Allan by the way, who died in 1859, became the first man to break 80 on what is now the Old Course in 1853. 1850 - 1890 : THE MORRIS AND PARK ERA If golf as we know it had its birth in the dim and distant past of the 17th century and its upbringing under the Robertson family on the links of St Andrews, then its adolescence occurred abruptly between 1848 and 1852. Three highly significant events occurred in St Andrews that were to turn the game from the parochial into the global. The first of these events was the discovery of the "gutta percha" based ball, known as the "gutty" by James Patterson in 1848. More importantly, the durability of this new ball in turn encouraged the development of iron-faced clubs and so continued the process of evolution. Then in 1852 the railway came to St Andrews and with it the progenitors of the millions who have made the pilgrimage since.

Now the links was played by all and sundry throughout the year and not simply restricted to the busy spring and autumn meetings. The R&A erected it's now famous clubhouse in consequence of the railway, scores of ex-pat colonialists retired to the town and families took up residence so that their sons could attend the University, which was gradually assuming a stature comparable with Oxford and Cambridge. If the 'gutty' transformed the game, the railway certainly transformed the town of St Andrews. The third event of this period, which comes in two parts, is surely one of the most important events in the long history of the game. Every individual who has made a living out of hitting a golf ball should hold April 20th 1851 as the nativity for that was the birth date of Young Tom Morris, one of the game's greatest early exponents. Similarly, every green-keeper, designer or administrator should express some word of gratitude on the 1st of July for it was on that day in 1851 that Old Tom Morris left for Prestwick to create the first purpose built golf course on the links of Monkton parish.

It was in 1860 that the first Open Championship was held at Prestwick and was contested by eight leading professionals. The first winner was Willie Park for which he received a red Morocco leather belt with silver clasps as the first prize. The Open continued to be held at Prestwick for 11 years and the Morris's dominated the early events. Old Tom had won the event four times by 1867 and Young Tom subsequently completed a quartet of wins, after which he was allowed to keep the Belt. Young Tom Morris was raised on the links of Prestwick Golf Club and it was there that he honed a game that was as revolutionary as the new iron clubs that he had purpose made by Stewart in St Andrews. Irons that were previously resorted to for a bad lie were now used for driving, lofting, jiggering and putting. Young Tom Morris also knew his worth and he demanded and obtained a good living from the flair that he brought to the game. In this sense he was the first true modern professional golfer. There may well have been greater players since Young Tom but if there has been, few have left a greater legacy to the game.

The Morris's accrued an incredible record, with Old Tom winning the Open in 1861, '62, '64 and '67, while Young Tom won in 1868, '69, '70 and 72. Across the Firth of Forth in Musselburgh another family came close to matching them when Willie Park Sr. and Jr. won the Open six times between them. Willie Sr. won the first Open in 1860 and again in '63, '66, '67 and '75. His brother Mungo Park won in 1874, while Willie Jr. won in '87 and '89. Old Tom and Willie Sr. won all but one Open (1865) prior to the emergence of Young Tom. Both were much-loved figures and were responsible for the standards of sportsmanship with which the game is synonymous today. 1890 - 1914: THE GREAT TRIUMVIRATE This era will always be remembered for the mark left on the game of golf by John Henry Taylor, Harry Vardon and James Braid.

Known as the great triumvirate, they collected sixteen Open Championships between them and have left an indelible impression on the game of golf. Harry Vardon hailed from the Channel Island of Jersey and Henry Taylor from Devon in England. The emergence of Vardon and Taylor before the end of the 19th century attests to the rapid spread and widespread play of the game. Both had already established themselves as Open Champions before they were joined by James Braid. The three between them collected 16 Open titles and 13 second-place finishes and almost completely excluded a host of great Scots players from the records of the game during that particular period of time. John Henry Taylor won the first of his five Open titles in 1894 at St George's in England, now Royal St George's, while Harry Vardon pipped Taylor in a play off in 1896 to land the first of a record six titles. James Braid won his first of five Open Championships in 1901 to join Vardon and Taylor as the dominant forces of the day.

Though also winning the French Open, unlike Vardon and Taylor, Braid never made the transatlantic crossing to enjoy the spoils of the newly emerged golfing scene in the USA. While Vardon won the US Open of 1900 during a tour of America where he played in approximately 80 matches and winning 70 of them, Braid's decision to remain at home was well rewarded as an exhibition match player. Braid also established himself in course design, building Gleneagles and Nairn to name but two of his many jewels. What started as a trickle of Scots golfers to the US, became commonplace by the turn of the century when anyone who could swing a club on a Scots links was able to find a lucrative niche as a professional in the US. The early US Open Champions were all Scots born players who, as teachers and mentors produced players that would come to further transform the game. One notable such player was Willie Anderson from North Berwick in Scotland, who won the US Open four times including a present day record of three in a row from 1903 to 1905.

1920 - 1939 : BETWEEN THE GREAT WARS The First World War decimated Scottish golf. Every village war memorial attests to the numbers who fell in France and few clubs are without a memorial to some rising star, who played out his last match on the fields of Flanders. Some great players survived but the consequence of terror gutted their game. Those that came through unscathed were few in number, determined never to see the like again and often took the decision to play in America - golf's promised land. There was one notable exception in the mercurial George Duncan. Born near Aberdeen, George served his time as a carpenter before rejecting his trade and the offer of professional football with Aberdeen FC to become the professional at Stonehaven, before moving to the lucrative South and acclaim. He won the first post-war Open at Deal in 1920 when Sandy Herd at the age of 51 was runner-up. Duncan also played in the Ryder Cups of '27 and '29, captaining the side in 1931. Scottish golfers were sorely tried by the wave of first generation Americans that returned to assault the Championships after the War.

These players transformed the game, bringing a flair and lifestyle that induced some disquiet in the home based players. Though life in America did not suit all tastes, with the Dunne's and Willie Park Jr. among those who went and returned, there were many more who did not make the return journey. Alistair Mackenzie and Donald Ross from Dornoch were just two who left an indelible mark on America as course architects. The Smiths from Carnoustie, Ben Sayers from North Berwick, Tommy Armour from Edinburgh, the Simpsons from Elie and many others from St Andrews all left lasting impressions in the States and left Scotland bereft of its best and dearest. Jock Hutchison was the last St Andrews born player to win the Open, while Paul Lawrie was the last native Scot when he won at Carnoustie in 1999. After Jock's win, the Open was dominated by the American, Walter Hagen who won the first of his four Open titles in 1922 at St George's and followed up with victories in '24, '28 and '29.

Together with his compatriots Jim Barnes (1925), Gene Sarazen (1932) and the incomparable Bobby Jones who won in 1926 and '27, this was an unprecedented period of Open Championship domination by US players. The year 1922 saw 20 years old Gene Sarazen burst onto the scene in dramatic fashion, landing both the US Open and US PGA Championship, retaining the latter the following year after a play off with Walter Hagen. Hagen bounced right back after this setback and won the next four PGA Championships from 1924 to 1927. 1923 witnessed the mercurial talent of Bobby Jones winning the first of his four US Open titles and Jones followed this with victory in the Open at Royal Lytham in 1926, retaining it at St Andrews in 1927. The Ryder Cup was held for the first time in 1927, when the United States, captained by Walter Hagen, took on and comprehensively defeated their counterparts from Great Britain & Ireland.

1946 - 1960 : THE EMERGENCE OF THE WORLD GAME If the First World War decimated Scottish golf, the second came close to gutting it completely. The First War took the players - the Second War took the golf courses. The Scottish links lands border long sandy beaches, usually in remote places of low population density. As a result, it did not take a brilliant military mind to reason that the links beaches would make for ideal disembarkation sites and the courses equally perfect places for airborne landings. The huge concrete blocks that were erected to stop the movement of tanks from the beaches can still be seen today. The hallowed fairways of the Old Course were staked with massive wooden poles to prevent aircraft landings and Turnberry made the ultimate sacrifice when it was turned into a runway. Few courses remained unscathed - golf was not only suspended for the duration of the War, it was very nearly extinguished. US golf became pre-eminent and though the Americans may not have been entirely responsible for winning the war, they did win the battle of post-war golf.

One could argue that not having experienced the social and economic upheaval of Europe or the long interruption of play, they were infinitely better prepared for the resumption of golfing hostilities. Equally, the sheer numbers that were now playing golf in the US made pre-eminence statistically inevitable. Whatever the reason however, American golfers certainly came to the fore, following the War years. The US domination of the Open Championship itself however, did not occur after the war as it had in the pre-war era of Hagan and Jones. Sceptics argue that the Americans did not play because doing so would have resulted in loss of earnings at home but history tells a different story. Though Sam Snead won the first post-war Open at St Andrews in 1946 and Ben Hogan was victorious in his only visit to Carnoustie in 1953; every other major figure in US golf had come and gone with notably less success. English players were dominant in the immediate post-war years, with Cotton, Burton, Faulkner and Daly (Irish) all winning. It was the Colonials however, who were to do the real damage as far as the Open was concerned.

Bobby Locke from the Transvaal, a first generation South African Irishman and Peter Thomson, an Australian of solid Scots stock were about to take the golfing world by storm. These two overwhelmed golf in a period of a few years when Locke won in 1947 and '51 and Thomson in '54, '55, '56, '58 and again in '65. Indeed, Thomson never finished worse than second from 1952 to 1958. Their achievements, although less impressive in the US, were nevertheless significant. Thomson beat Hogan on his home turf to take the Texas Open, while Locke was the leading money winner on the US tour. Both these players found their spiritual home on the Scottish links where their best golf was played. Locke was a near resident visitor throughout his life and Thomson now has his home in St Andrews, only a wedge away from the R&A. 1961 - TODAY: THE TRULY GLOBAL GAME OF GOLF The record books do not lie and Scottish Golf, though healthy at home, was faring ill abroad. The game had become truly global with players from Taiwan and Japan threatening for major honours.

The Swedes were gathering amateur honours throughout Europe and there seemed no end to the talent emerging from Spain. American Golf had come into maturity with a vengeance in the form of Arnold Palmer. Palmer played the game as it should be played - with verve and a swashbuckling style. Palmer was of course idolised in his own country but he found real appreciation in the discerning crowds that lined the links fairways of the Open Championship. Together with Tip Anderson, his St Andrews caddie, Palmer was lord of every links he surveyed. In Palmers absence in 1964, Tip Anderson carried the bag of Tony Lema through the most testing gales on the Old Course. It was Lema's win more than any other event that put paid to the excuse that the game had changed and that the new form of golf required only an accurate lofted shot to a soft pulpy green - a shot at which the Americans were clearly adept. The leader board of the '64 Open showed that Jack Nicklaus and plenty more US stars could play the chip-and-run under the wind as well as any that had gone before and as well as any of the home bred players.

The reason for the Scottish golfing hiatus during this period may be simply statistical, as the game had grown to the extent that the numbers now playing in every developed country dwarfed the numbers playing in Scotland. There is no doubt that the game itself had changed with the new courses that were being built throughout the world. American architects led by Robert Trent Jones were building courses that were both long and difficult. Greens were soft and holding in contrast to the hard running greens of the links. The grassy fairways presented another type of problem as the ball sat up on the lush grasses and required club contact quite different to that on the tight lies of the links. Possibly of greater significance was the early adoption in the US of the 'big ball' - the 1.66-inch ball that required a different strike and made for greater control. Great exponents of the game poured out of the US and the US Tour was becoming a multi-million dollar industry with even mediocre golfers, grossing millions of dollars not only through tournament play but also through commercial endorsements. Tip Anderson was still caddying at home in St Andrews when he attained celebrity status in the US without ever setting foot outside the British Isles, backing Palmer in a beer commercial.

Television coverage ensured star-status for many players and the American College System, to their credit, acted as a virtual conveyor belt of talent. Following the foundation of the European Tour and the opening of the Ryder Cup to European players, sponsorship grew and European golf blossomed into a money market comparable to that of the US tour. One final ingredient was required however - a star with the charisma of a Palmer and the appeal of a Nicklaus. And so as they say, a star was born. 1979 saw a smiling young genius becoming the first Spaniard to win the Open, with Jack Nicklaus coming second in the race for the Claret Jug for a record seventh time - Seve had arrived on the world scene. The 1980's began with Seve Ballesteros becoming the first European to win the Masters and at 23 years old, the then youngest champion. Nicklaus however, continued his remarkable career with his fifth double-major year, winning his fourth US Open and fifth PGA title.

Seve won his second Masters title in 1983 and the following season, he collected his second Open Championship when finishing two strokes ahead of Bernhard Langer and Tom Watson, who was attempting to equal Harry Vardon's record of six Open Championship successes. Lee Trevino won his second US PGA Championship in 1984, made all the more special by the fact that only eight years previously, he was seriously injured having been struck by a lightning bolt. Germany's Bernhard Langer turned the tables on Ballesteros in 1985, beating him in the Masters and gaining revenge for his two-shot defeat in the Open the previous year. 1985 also witnessed the first European success in the Ryder Cup and two years later the US team tasted defeat again but this time on home soil. The Masters of 1986 was perhaps the most thrilling of all. A fantastic late surge from the Golden Bear saw him win his sixth Masters title at the age of 46 - his 21st major victory in an as of yet unparalleled career.

The glory days of Scottish golf briefly returned in 1985 when Sandy Lyle triumphed in the Open Championship at Royal St George's and the amiable Scot added a further major title at the Masters in 1988. Though Ballesteros won his third Open with a scintillating final round of 65, domination of the world game by Nick Faldo had already begun when he won his first major title at Muirfield in 1987, shooting par on every hole in his final round. Two years later, Faldo shot an amazing closing 65 to force a Masters play off with Scott Hoch, which he duly won on the second extra hole. Faldo's best year came in 1990 when he became the only player since Nicklaus to defend his Masters title. Just a few months later, Faldo played the most devastating golf of his life in winning his second Open title at St Andrews and he duly added his third Open two years later, again at Muirfield. Greg Norman's second Open success came at Royal St George's in 1993.

His two-stroke victory over Faldo prompted the late, great Gene Sarazen to comment that this was the greatest championship of all time. Major champions have come and gone over the years, with O' Meara, Olazabal, Stewart and Lawrie among those whose names are now etched on the most prized possessions in golf. Not until 1994, did a player with the potential to match the greatness of past legends, come along. Speculation started when Tiger Woods won the US Amateur Championship, continued when he retained it the following year, grew when he became the youngest ever champion at the Masters and climaxed as he stormed to six wins out of six starts in the 1999/2000 season. Though Tiger may have a long way to go to be classed in the same league as Palmer and Nicklaus, there are not many who would bet against it.

Vintage Golf Clubs - Collector Information | Collectors Weekly Vintage Golf Clubs Overview eBay Auctions Show & Tell When we say "vintage golf clubs," we aren't talking about the Titleist blades used by Tiger Woods for the Tiger Slam in 2000 and 2001, which were allegedly posted for sale on eBay in 2010. We're talking about real, old, vintage clubs. Golf was likely invented by 15th-century Scottish shepherds, who entertained themselves by hitting anything they could find into holes and at targets. Their “game” evolved over the next few centuries, and in 1860 the first Open Championship—known in the U.S. as the British Open—was played at the Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland, marking the beginning of modern golf. The earliest clubs that can be found today are from the 17th century. Those, however, are museum pieces. Clubs from the 18th and early 19th centuries occasionally make their way into private collections, but you may well need to take out a second mortgage to afford them.

Such clubs, though, invoke the memory of golf’s first stars, men such as Allan Robertson, a St Andrews golfer who died in 1859. The clubs made from 1860 onward are the ones most collectors trouble themselves with. This is also when some standardization of clubs began. In those days, the heads of Douglas McEwan golf clubs (also sold as D. McEwan & Son) were made of beech while the shafts were fashioned from hickory, a wood whose elasticity allowed for the maximization of torque in a swing. Prior to that, most club heads were made of thorn wood or fruitwood and were fixed to ash shafts. Throughout the 1860s and 1870s , golf’s first superstar, Young Tom Morris, as he was known, dominated the British links while Scottish club makers monopolized the club-making industry—back then, some golfers still made their own clubs.

Almost all of the 19th-century clubs in a player’s bag were “long nose” or “long-headed” woods, which received that name because of their long heads (five or six inches), rounded backs, and slightly curved faces—they resembled the heads of walking sticks . Long-nose woods gave players a lot of control, and since this was the era of feather balls , controlling shots was paramount. Golfers would carry about five of these long-nose woods, one being the putter, during a typical round of golf. The equivalent of today’s driver was the play club, which was used from the tee box. Fairway woods were called “spoons” and were designed to produce different lofts so a ball would travel varying distances. Most players packed three spoons in their bags. McEwan was only one of numerous Scottish clubs manufacturers. Clubs were normally affixed with an engraving bearing the maker’s name. Today, these engravings help collectors iden...tify these early clubs. In addition to the woods, players also carried one iron, which helped golfers chip the ball out of tall grass or other trouble—courses weren’t nearly as groomed as they are today.

Irons were often made of bronze—or, you guessed it, iron—and were produced by experienced blacksmiths. Bronze remained the more common material, however, for players using feather balls, as the iron clubs were strong enough to burst them at the seams. It wasn’t until the 1880s or ’90s that irons became more common than woods in a set. Examples of early irons include the “cleek,” a long iron used for play in the fairway, and “lofters” or “niblicks,” which were used for approach shots. Around the time that irons began appearing more commonly in bags, American companies such as Spalding, MacGregor, and B.G.I. started rivaling the Scottish club producers. Soon, long nose woods were replaced by scared- and socket-head woods. These had shorter head lengths and thicker necks than their forerunners. It was right around this time—1895 to be exact—that Englishman Horace Rawlins won the inaugural U.S. Open at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. Woods of the late 19th century were some of the first golf clubs to be partially made by machine.

They were often shaped on lathes, with the finishing done by hand. Convex bulges were inserted into the clubs. Manufacturers also experimented with the ways in which the club’s shaft was attached to its head. Spliced and forked connections were toyed with, but soon the socket joint, which is still used today, was introduced by makers such as George Forrester. To make this connection, the socket was drilled into the club’s head, which, in turn, was glued to the club’s shaft. By the early 1910s , socket-headed woods were being used by most golfers, although one of the game’s brightest stars, Walter Hagen, resisted and continued to use scared-head woods. Thanks to the introduction of the Haskell ball, which had a rubber core, persimmon wood began being used at the turn of the 20th century for club heads, while companies such as Standard Golf Company experimented with aluminum headed clubs such as the Mills model. It was also around this time that the first one-piece clubs were introduced. These rare clubs are probably the most collectible of the turn-of-the-century-era woods. They were the brainchild of Willie Dunn Jr.

and his nephew John Duncan Dunn, although nobody is quite sure exactly how they were produced. The Dunns made these clubs for B.G.I., Spalding, and MacGregor from 1894 to 1902. As irons became more popular, machines took over manufacturing. In fact, the ability to mass produce irons helped shaped the game. Before long, irons completely took over as the most prevalent club used by golfers. Most irons bore the stamp of their manufacturer, and a rare few were chrome-plated. The faces of these early-20th-century irons were usually marked in a plethora of different patterns. The earliest, and most collectible of the machine-made irons, though, had unmarked faces. In the 1910s and ’20s, steel shafts were used in clubs, which gave all clubs in a set a consistent feel. In 1926, steel-shafted clubs were cleared for tournament play by the United States Golf Association. Early steel-shafted clubs are not considered particularly collectible unless they have some sort of unusual shape or marking. The 1930s brought about more changes to club design.

Gene Sarazen, one of the day’s biggest stars, wanted a club specifically designed to dig balls out of sand traps, so in 1932 he invented the sand wedge by soldering a flange onto the base of a niblick or lofter. Steel-shafted clubs from post-1945 through the 1970s are actually quite collectible, as many are still in good enough condition to use. Collectors often try to accumulate them in complete sets rather than as individual clubs. In the 1960s engineer Karsten Solheim, founder of Ping, invented perimeter weighting, which distributed the weight of the golf club throughout its perimeter and increased the size of the sweet spot. But the greatest golf innovation of the postwar decades was probably the metal wood, which was introduced in the 1970s by Gary Adams, founder of TaylorMade. Metal woods are the only woods you see today, and makers have experimented with different metals such as titanium to make clubs lighter and more forgiving. As with many antiques, older is better when it comes to vintage golf clubs.

Although a set of long nose woods may not help you in the local charity scramble, they are quite a catch for any golf collector.

Question: In golf, the 9 iron club was originally known by what old Scottish name?
Answer: NIBLICK