# Show us your vintage clubs!



## Cajun

Dennis was kind enough to send these to me more than a year ago, right afterward my life turned upside down. I'm working again and getting my life back to normal, so I'm hoping to get started on the restoration soon. They're still in North Carolina, and I'm in Dallas, but I'm going to go get my stuff soon. I need to get a place first, with a garage, but then I'm going to get back to working on clubs. It's a lot of fun.

One note on these clubs, I did some research and these are a mid range priced set of clubs from the early 30s. They aren't worth much today so the plan is a complete restoration, if they had been worth more I'd say just clean them well and put them away (if they were worth very much they'd go back to Dennis after the resto).




DennisM said:


> They were given to me years ago by a friend. They were his grandfather's clubs and my buddy didn't play. Having seen a few antique clubs mounted as wall art at my house, he thought I might like to have them. I just never got around to restoring them the way I thought I might.
> 
> I'll get out the better camera, (and the better cameraman), to get some better pics later.


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## Rothenfield

I’ve recently been bitten by the golf bug, and have started finding myself hitching a ride with the wife to her favorite Second Hand stores to look for interesting old clubs. 

The brass putter has been in my garage for years waiting for me to rediscover it, the Palmer putter came with a set of Ping Eye2’s I recently bought. But the wedge and the wood were bought at a thrift store. 

I’ve always liked this MacGregor Nicklaus putter, but I absolutely ‘love’ this Palmer blade. I’m not experienced enough to provide a proper review of it, but it provides excellent feedback and feel of the ball when struck versus some of the modern putters I’ve demoed.

I thought the Stan Thompson “Ginty” was interesting because it reminds me of a modern hybrid. I’ve read that Thompson was inspired by seeing a boats keel slicing through the water, and if you look at some the modern hybrids, you’ll see a similar double grooved base.

I’ve never heard of the brand “Novadyne”, but with 61* loft and clean grooves, I’ve been practicing lobs with it and may have it regripped and put in my bag. The design reminds me of a Vokey.

I’d be interested to hear from any golf club historians out there that might have some knowledge about any of these clubs.


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## Rothenfield




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## Rothenfield

I picked up a couple of older Ping putters the other day at a yard sale. I’m not sure if you would consider them vintage though. One’s a keeper, the other is for sale. I think I read that the Ping Zing line came out in the early 90’s so that qualifies as vintage in my book. However, it has lead tape weighting the head that makes it rather clunky and unforgiving in my hands. I think I’m more of a touch putter, and I really like this Ping Anser 4 putter. It’s in my bag.


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## 373

I've never seen a Zing with the plumber's neck. The Zing I used to have had a neck like the Anser 4. 

I have 2 different models of the Anser 4. One is new, from the i series and with the plastic face insert, it has no feel at all. I loved the look so much that when a friend told me I might like one of the old ones with the steel head more, I went looking for one. It took 2 months to find one and win it, but it's the best $25 investment I've made in my game. I cleaned up the shaft, replaced the grip and it's in my bag now, identical to the Anser 4 above.


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## Rothenfield

Hey, great; someone responded to this thread.

I think we could have an entire post dedicated to just putters. I’m an enthusiastic middle-aged beginner, so my impressions don’t hold much weight, but putting seems to be such a personal experience that it may be better broached by a psychologist. 

But here are my impressions anyway; I really like this Anser 4, it has the weight I consider medium compared to the very heavy head of the Zing 5 shown and a sensitive impact point. I thought the Zing had no real purpose in my world until I putted on wet grass and wished I had that weight to get the ball going. 

Learning golf as I go, and also learning how to write about it.


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## Surtees

I'm a bit of a lurker in this thread not much to post really and other then saying nice clubs guys there is not much more to say.


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## Rothenfield

Not long after joining this forum and at the height of my new-found golf hysteria, I suggested this post to Admin only to find that Cajun had already come up with the idea. Before joining this forum, I had been posting for years to a classic and vintage bicycle forum. Believe it or not, there is a great deal of interest in the world for old steel bicycles. I really enjoyed reading about the history of those old bikes, and thought there might be a similar interest in old golf clubs. 

I could see quite quickly that there was not much input to the thread so I invited a gentleman in my area that has collected literally thousands of old clubs thinking that he might enjoy sharing his historical knowledge. He obviously was not interested because he never responded to my email.

Oh well! I tried.:dunno:


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## whitman75

*Vintage Clubs Please Help I.D.*

Hey these are the clubs I need to be identified. I am new and recently did an intro these belonged to an older family member. Does anyone know the maker or year?


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## ConsistentGolf

*Nice!*

This is a great thread, just to look at and enjoy the great history of golf! Nice clubs guys!


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## Stretch

I was curious what you guys consider old? Cajuns sticks are old for sure but not really playable. I like old as in playable old.

I have some Pings from the 80s & 90s, an old set of Wilsons from the 70's and some putters from around the same times.

My classics are great and I enjoy playing them and displaying them.


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## 373

I think old is relative. It's a lot of fun to have an old set and occasionally try to play with it, but then, there are associations of players who have occasional tournaments with restored wooden shafted clubs. There are also people making wooden shafted clubs to old specs who participate in tournaments with their wooden shafted clubs. The point is, you can take to either extreme.

Personally, every time I look at my old Titleist 690.CB irons in the closet, I think how beautiful they are, but I doubt I could find the center of the face anymore.


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## Stretch

Dennis - I think that would be cool to see and even try... the old wooden shafted gear playing against others with the same gear.

I like playing with my gear and have a friend who plays old Eye 2s as well and he even has old hickory shafted woods. He can clock them down the fairways as far as anybody with their new 460cc drivers.

I took the Rocketballz & Nike VR challenges against my old stuff and all the new gear could give me is 20 more yards but also 50 yards off to the side. I will take a lil less and down the middle anyday of the week.

Last week I slammed a drive with my old Eye 2 driver and hit it further than my friend and I have ever hit on that one hole. He was impressed and a lil worried at the same time.... cant be out driving him with a 30 year old driver!!!

I say use what you like, be happy with your gear and hit the links when you can and have some fun!

I will see if I can make a cool pic with some of my old stuff to put up here in the vintage thread.


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## 373

Stretch said:


> I say use what you like, be happy with your gear and hit the links when you can and have some fun!


No question about that. My new Ping i15 irons are not quite as long as the G15 irons I played until last month, but the G15 didn't seem to stop on the greens and I seem to control that, for that matter I seem to control my distance in general with the i15 better. I bet 99% of all golfers would say they prefer the distance, but where I play, I can't score without more control.

I have a couple old wooden shaft clubs and a wooden shafted putter. I've tried the putter and it felt wonderful, but there wasn't enough finish on the head and it tends to rust. I mounted it on a plaque and turned it into a wall decoration.

Hitting the old irons felt fine as long as I hit them dead center on the sweet spot. Otherwise, they were certainly not tempting to put in my bag. 

I'm not advertising these folks, but suggesting you look at what they make. They create modern hickory shafted sets that are approved by the association that organizes tournaments among players of old or reproduction equipment. Louisville Golf | Shop Online They have a small ad in the back of the most recent Golf Magazine, the one with a blue cover and Rory's picture on it.

I'll take a picture of my old clubs later...


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## Cajun

Stretch said:


> Dennis - I think that would be cool to see and even try... the old wooden shafted gear playing against others with the same gear.


.

I saw Oakhurst and The National Hickory Championship on the Golf In America series. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun.

They play the entire tournament with turn of the 20th century equipment, including "guttie" balls and sand tees. You even have to dress in appropriate period attire to play. I always wanted to try and make it up there to play in it but haven't made it yet. Seems like it would be a blast.

I agree that old is relative, I think anything 15 years or older, the way technology is advancing would be considered older equipment. Vintage maybe 30 years old or so, I'm not sure, old seems to get further out the older I get. 

On another note, I'm going to North Carolina the first weekend in May to get the rest of my things and the plan is to start the restoration on the clubs Dennis gave me right after I get everything settled. Thanks again Dennis!


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## 373

My pleasure...


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## Stretch

I think that would be fun...playing dressed up like the movie "the greatest game ever played". Bet we would have a blast and some good laughs.

My dad had a set of old Louisville sticks way back when he played ball. Sad he didnt save them or I would have played them by now.

Funny the question you posted Dennis, distance or control.... wonder what we would get for responces if you posted a poll. Maybe you can mix and match the sets. Some G15s and some I15s. You pick because you know your courses better than I and you know when you want to stop the ball and you know when you want to rip the cover off the ball.

Curious if Cajun might know what the lil black wire type material is that they wrapped around the end of the shafts that go into the old wooden woods. My ISI 3 wood is missing that stufrf and I dont know what it is called and where to get it. Any help is appreciated.


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## 373

Stretch said:


> Maybe you can mix and match the sets. Some G15s and some I15s.


I'm looking into that, but only to the extent that the huge sole on the G15 is a design feature that helps my sand game so much IO might grab one off ebay. I have the old 2002 Callaway Bertha SW in there right now.



> Curious if Cajun might know what the lil black wire type material is that they wrapped around the end of the shafts that go into the old wooden woods. My ISI 3 wood is missing that stufrf and I dont know what it is called and where to get it. Any help is appreciated.


I'd have to see a picture to be sure, but if you are talking about the black wrapping all wood clubs used to have, that was originally a natural material like gut or leather and later a synthetic twine that was wrapped around the clubs. In the old days, they would wrap it as tightly as possible and soak it to make it shrink. It actually helped hold the club together because glues weren't as good then as now. Later, hide glue and epoxies changed the need for it to be more than decorative since the end of the wooden head wasn't too pretty. Besides, since before I was born, clubs had a pin or screw holding the head to the shaft.

There is a technique to wrapping the whipping thread, as it's called, but it's not difficult to learn. To finish it, you paint a little lacquer over it. That seals the wraps together so they don't slip.


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## Cajun

DennisM said:


> I'd have to see a picture to be sure, but if you are talking about the black wrapping all wood clubs used to have, that was originally a natural material like gut or leather and later a synthetic twine that was wrapped around the clubs. In the old days, they would wrap it as tightly as possible and soak it to make it shrink. It actually helped hold the club together because glues weren't as good then as now. Later, hide glue and epoxies changed the need for it to be more than decorative since the end of the wooden head wasn't too pretty. Besides, since before I was born, clubs had a pin or screw holding the head to the shaft.
> 
> There is a technique to wrapping the whipping thread, as it's called, but it's not difficult to learn. To finish it, you paint a little lacquer over it. That seals the wraps together so they don't slip.


What he said.


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## 373

When I was a kid, I was fascinated watching Jim Horn, the old Caddymaster at our club doing club repairs. I learned a long time ago how to properly use a sanding whip, refinish wood heads, rewhip, regrip... even when a grip was a long strip of flat leather. He could even change the loft and roll on a wood club face and replace the screws. Back then, there was a genuine art to it all. 

Modern equipment requires a different set of skills and it's generally easier to deal with the modern equivalents of the same repairs these days.


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## Stretch

I will have to guess the twine you mentioned because its not leather.

Below is a pic of my woods with the twine.








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It is a lost art the skill old school club makers had. Now you just make a mold, pour some metal and here is your wood. Having a carpentry background I can appreciate the labor that went into each wood. I think thats why I like to hit them.


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## Stretch

Here is a challenge for you golf nuts on a Thurs night!

Below are some of my putters. Lets see if you can guess what they are. Some are common, some not so much.








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## 373

Is it a law that all golfers over 40 have to have a flanged blade putter like the third from the right? Mine is a Toney Penna Ironmaster that I got during high school in the early 60s and just can't bring myself to get rid of.

That Ping mallethead looks interesting. I have a Cleveland putter in the closet that looks similar to it.


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## Stretch

I wont give out the answers yet, will wait till the end of the weekend incase others want to give it a go.

The image above of my Zings... so it is correct to say that is the twine stuff on the ends? Does anyone know where I can get the stuff? I will google around to see if I can find it on the internet. Does it have a proper name or just synthetic twine?


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## broken tee

They are :dunno:


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## 373

Here's a few of my older clubs...

Wooden shaft, but not particularly old looking clubhead design. About 9 iron loft.









Wooden shaft, perfectly useful wrapped leather grip I could hold onto easily if I hit it. A Jigger, about 3 iron length and loft.









This is an old putter I turned into a plaque over my bedroom closet. I used it once on a practice green and it felt pretty good, but it has a lot of loft to accomodate the typical furry greens that were more common so many years ago.









And if you think Cajun is the only one around here with an embarrassing number of putters in the closet, here's my collection. This doesn't include 7 more cheap putters I donated to the pro at work to cut down for the kids he teaches.


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## Cajun

DennisM said:


> Is it a law that all golfers over 40 have to have a flanged blade putter like the third from the right? Mine is a Toney Penna Ironmaster that I got during high school in the early 60s and just can't bring myself to get rid of.


Yes it is.  I'll post a picture of mine after I get back from North Carolina. It's with all my extra golf stuff up there.


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## Stretch

Got some interesting sticks there Dennis!

That rusty one is really rusty. Lests call it trusty rusty. Wait, I think someone calls their wedge that already.... Hmmm! Pretty cool wicked old sticks. I like the putter in the case. Very nice! I think its the golf tees holding it in place that make it sweet.

As for your flat sticks...

Odyssey
Odyssey
Yes
No Idea
Taylor Made
Nike
Ping B60
Ping Anser 4
Ping Anser 4... is it a BeCu one?

Does the over 40 and flange blade line mean that by then they realize they dont want to bend over to pick up the gimme and to flick the ball up with these putters is really easy?


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## 373

Not exactly... The first two are Clevelands. Odyssey does make virtually identical models to them, but with synthetic face inserts. The Clevelands have milled faces. I highly recommend the Cleveland putter line as one of the best values in well made clubs. These were about $79 each, compared to the equivalent competition at twice that price.

The flanged mallet is one of my favorite putters. It's very heavy and when my stroke is off, I use it a few times and it gets me back using the big muscles.

The goofy looking black and silver putter is made by Yes. In the bottom are moveable weights to make it feel pretty much any way you want. It's a great feeling putter, but the odd angles at the corners make it hard for me to line it up, even with the big line down the middle. The pictures in the ad didn't show me the shape adequately, or I'd have never bought it.

The 2 Ping putters on the other end are both Anser 4 models. The next to last is the old one I bought and it's got a lot of lead tape on it to keep me from making these pretty figure 8s I do with my putting stroke. The last one isn't b-copper, but just a dark gray finish. That's the one I was so disappointed with. It looks so perfect to me, but it's got a plastic insert in the face and it simply doesn't have a sweet spot I can find.

What I forgot to include in the picture is the Odyssey I currently have in my bag. It looks a lot like a Ping Zing, but has their usual synthetic face insert and it's much heavier than the Zing would be. My distance control with it seems to be better than with anything else.


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## Stretch

Well as long as I was close on some. The Clevelands do look a lot like an Odyssey putter. But I guess a lot of them look the same and in a police line up it might be tough to tell for sure... you know, 100% sure!

For my flat sticks we have the following:
Anser WRX Ti4
Anser 2
Piper H
Odyssey Chimeron
Ray Cook
Kids Anser knock off
Strategy Anser knock off
Whats not shown is my B60 BeCu. That is in the bag and is tied for my fav with the Ti4.

I like the goose neck feature on my putters. The Strategy had a plastic insert and I liked it but started to hear and feel an air pocket or the glue not sticking and I couldnt sink crap with it. 
Then I bought the Piper and it has a plastic face, part of the i series.
My buddy gave me the Anser 2, it has a solid face and I was hitting it much better with it. The Anser 2 didnt have enough goose neck and then I found the Ti4. 
The Ti4 has a lot of neck and it is solid except for a huge oval that is milled into the face. Nice putter with a big fat grip. I hit it pretty good wit this one but you cant flip the ball up and catch it.
Then I found my B60. Solid with a very sticky grip. I roll the ball very nice with this one and it is really easy to flip the ball up and catch it.
So I think I am good with putters with the Ti4 & B60.. always have the A2 as a back up... well I hope. Dont want to end up like Dennis & Cajun!


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## 373

Just in case anyone is looking for a new putter at a great price, the same 2 Cleveland putters like I have, along with other models, are now on sale for $49.95 at TGW. I just got their catalog in the mail today and saw it.

Both of mine feel super and are made from superior materials. Regardless where you buy them, I highly recommend the Cleveland line of putters as a less expensive alternative to some other name brands.

Heaven knows, these days we need to save as much money as we can. The game is expensive enough as it is.


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## rotarygolf

*Show us your vintage clubs*

Its good, but i am just confirming that is these sticks are heavy to play a golf?


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## 373

Vintage clubs are sometimes fun to play with, just for the hell of it, but modern technology is what makes new clubs superior, not so much the weight difference between old or new clubs.

Weight differences are only a small part of it.


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## Stretch

Modern tech has done lots to golf. A lot is also gimmicks now a day. Don't know if anyone has checked out the new TM bladez. The 3-7 have pockets cut out. Wonder what that is like as well as wondering why they didn't do it for the rest of the set. Will have to check out some reviews.
Putters you can only do so much for, its got a flat face and anything other than that is only looks. Irons have lots of types. Blades, muscle & cavity backs, GI, Super GI. They have evolved but what else can be done? The woods have evolved many times over from wood to steel to titanium to carbon fiber and so on.
The biggest difference between old and new is the lofts and if you play old gear like me, you can have some fun with the guys you are playing with.
My eye2 are a club to a club and a half more than the newer stuff and when someone asks what I hit and I tell them my 8 and they grab their 8 and sail it 30 yards over, I sometimes laugh. You got to know what you are playing and how far it goes.
I hope Santa brings me some nice Japanese forged steel for Christmas. If he does, I will post up some pics.


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## Gont

I found this old club in my garage, can anyone tell me aprox. how old this thing is? I dont know anything about it...think it says spalding on the head. Looks like it has a hunk of lead in the head too, only half of its left now. 

Any help would be great.


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## 373

Is the shaft actually wooden or just metal painted to look like wood?

A back weight like the head has on it is something that started around 1900 and went on with wooden club heads until the 80s when metal clubheads came into style. The grip looks like a genuine wrap on, not a slip on... And the head is whipped, the thread holding tension on it to connect to the shaft. Again, that went up to about 1980...

It's definitely a Spalding, but in the condition it is, it's really hard to tell anything more about it unless the sole plate can be read to say what model it might be.


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## Gont

The shaft is real wood, I'll try and see if there is any other writing on it. Thanks

Edit: No other writing on it that I can see. Guess I'm SOL


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## 373

Real wood shafts were used up to about 1930 if I'm not mistaken. Cajun could tell you more than I can.


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## Cajun

DennisM said:


> Real wood shafts were used up to about 1930 if I'm not mistaken. Cajun could tell you more than I can.


This club is very interesting....

Dennis is right about the shafts, by 1935, pretty much everything had steel shafts. That said, this club is a sort of annomolie, almost all Spalding clubs from that era were "endorsed" by someone. Meaning there's always more text than just "Spalding" on the club head. Even the first Spalding clubs had "A.G.Spalding" stamped in the club head, presumably using his baseball career recognition to try and sell clubs. There's a bunch of others produced around that time with various other text and endorsements, either the club model name, model number or pro endorsement, but nothing with just "Spalding". Based on the shape and thickness of the club head, I'd say it's from the 30s, but most clubs by then had full sole plates and the lead wasn't just in a cavity on the back surface of the head, it was covered by the sole plate inside a cavity in the back of the club head. I also couldn't find a Spalding club in my resources that had a brass face plate and 5 rivets. This clubs is a mix of 30s head shape/size and much earlier face plate shape, lead weight shape/location and absence of a full sole plate. Strange....

I'm stumped, could this be the world first knock off golf club? Maybe one of the other members may have more info for you, but I'm nnot sure what it really is.


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## Gont

lol thanks, seems like a strange club. Found it in the garage of the house I bought. The guy that lived here was 105 when I go the house from him a few years ago. Must have been his. 

I took a look at the face plate and it feels like plastic, not brass. Does that make any difference as to what it could be?


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## Cajun

Gont said:


> lol thanks, seems like a strange club. Found it in the garage of the house I bought. The guy that lived here was 105 when I go the house from him a few years ago. Must have been his.
> 
> I took a look at the face plate and it feels like plastic, not brass. Does that make any difference as to what it could be?


Neever heard of a plastic face plate...the mystery deepens. LOL


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## AGCFS

The first "faceplates" were there by necessity: the old wooden clubs used to hit featherie balls were damaged by striking the newer solid gutta balls and clubmakers repaired them with a leather insert on the face secured by shoemaker's nails. After a while these inserts became a design feature with new clubs having the leather insert on the face. 

With the change to the "modern" shaped head around 1900, and especially with the widespread adoption of the ribber-cored Haskell ball, the hammering the clubface received was markedly reduced and the insert became purely ornamental and I suppose indicated the sweet-spot if you couldn't figure that out yourself! Black fibre and white plastic (ivorine) were extremely common with hickory dowels typically making a pattern on it e.g. [stupid thing won't let me post links so go to the Antique Golf Clubs from Scotland website and look at the Haskins bulldog brassie]

The Spalding club here is a driver which is why it does not have a soleplate as a brassie (2 wood) or spoon (3 wood) would have. Spalding did, unlike most other makers, put soleplates on drivers in the 1920s as can be seen on the woods in this list [again no link, search for Spalding under makers on the AGCFS site and click on "clubs made by this maker"], It has the black fibre slip secured by three hickory dowels to protect the sole. This was the traditional protection for a driver/playclub from the early 19th century onwards though earlier clubs would use ram's horn. This fibre one suggests the club was made around the time of the First World War.

Spalding made such a huge range of models (I've written something about the company in Antique Golf Clubs from Scotland's history section) it's difficult to be precise unless it is one of their patented or named models but using the simple head stamp "Spalding" was typical for their cheaper store-brand woods.


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## woodendriver

I agree. I love seeing all of the vintage golf clubs. Good topic!


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## lvancraeynest

I really enjoy seeing all of these vintage clubs, it really goes to show how far the technology has come.


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## Spike

Vintage clubs are the best, sometimes I think golf would have been better off staying with wood woods. To me giving the pros metal woods is like giving major league baseball players aluminum bats.


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