Old Vintage / Antique Hickory Shaft Wooden Golf Clubs
As collectors of vintage golf equipment, those of us who are
fascinated with wooden shaft golf clubs share a passion for
these classics not only as vintage equipment, but also as art work
and decor. After all, some of these hand crafted relics can be
candy to the eye.
Whether you are a beginner or experienced antique
hickory
wood golf club collector, your
fascination will only grow as you stumble upon unique woods and
irons of a bygone era.
The antique and vintage wood golf club collectors guide to
Hickory shaft wood golf clubs and collectables.
Early golf clubs were made entirely of wood. Not only was this
material easy to shape, but it was also soft enough not to
damage the stuffed leather golf balls that were used until the
mid-1800s. With the introduction of the hard rubber gutta-percha
golf ball in 1848, golfers no longer had to worry about damaging
the ball and began using clubs with iron heads.
Until the early 1900s, all golf clubs had wooden shafts whether
they had iron heads or wooden heads. The first steel-shafted
golf clubs were made in the United States in the 1920s. It was
about this time that some club makers started using the current
numbering system to identify different clubs, rather than the
old colorful names.
In times gone by, golf clubs used to have cool sounding names,
not numbers. Woods were made of wood and irons were made of
iron. Golf clubs had names instead of numbers and the names and
numbers below are a guide to the modern equivalent of these
ancient golfing weapons!
Antique Wood Golf Club Names Were Quite
Colorful In The Past
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Modern woods and irons as well as the putter had some quite
exotic names in the past. Below you will see a chart that
shows the club names that were replaced with the modern
numbered clubs that are the common format today.
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Woods.
Original Name
No.1 Wood; >
Driver, Play Club
No.2 Wood; >
Brassie
No.3 Wood; > Spoon
Brassie
No.4 Wood; > Wood Cleek, Baffy
Putter;
> Blank |
Irons.
Original Name
No.1; > Driving Iron,
Cleek
No.2; > Cleek, Mid
Iron
No.3; > Mid-Mashie
No.4; > Jigger, Mashie
Iron
No.5; > Mashie
|
Irons
Original name
No.6; > Spade
Mashie
No.7; > Benny
No.8; > Mashie Niblick
No.9; >
Pitching Niblick
Wedge > Niblick,
Baffing Spoon |
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Wood Golf Club Valuation
For value purposes, hunting for antique hickory shaft golf clubs
can include an effort to establish the
wood golf clubs age as well as its identity.
Wood golf club descriptions
help to Identify and validate that you do in fact possess an
authentic antique golf club. Establishing the identity of a golf
club can include a history for the specific club itself.
Was the club used by a famous celebrity or golfer or, was it used at a famous
tournament or on a historic golf course. Better yet, is it a
rare highly collectable brand, or a specifically unique club?
All these factors help when your looking to
buy antique wood golf clubs.
It is seldom easy to precisely
identify and distinguish an
antique wood golf club from one that is merely an old golf club
since even metal shafts are made to look like wood at times.
Fortunately, there are several hints that can help a lot with
this process. Dating an antique golf club with relative
accuracy to determine it's
value can be done through an old golf club appraisal system.
Regardless of what intrigues you with these old hickory shaft
classics, they bring back the thoughts of hand made perfection
and the old style golf the way it was. The thoughts of walking
the fairways in a jaunty cap, knickers and an old leather pair
of wing tip golf shoes can keep you dreaming. Hear the swish and
thwack of a well struck hickory shaft golf shot. Feel connected
to those classic times and the way these old clubs played the
ball.
Playing The Game With Hickory Golf Clubs
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Hickory clubs can often be heavier than other clubs so get use
to your club by holding on to it loosely and waggle the head to
get a feel for the club weight, then take a practice swing as
you feel the club head weight through the
full swing motion.
Hitting the Woods: You should tee the ball a little lower
than with a modern driver. Hickory shaft woods are usually more
lofted like fairway woods between 12-20 degrees. These wooden
golf club heads will naturally hit the ball lower than today’s
drivers. These hickory shaft clubs will torque or twist more
than modern club shafts, so keeping your swing as smooth as
possible will help hit more accurately. You can hit the woods
from a good lie in the fairway or short rough.
Hitting the Mid-Iron: This is the least lofted iron in
the bag, usually around 25 degrees. Kind of like a 2 or 3 iron,
so it can be the hardest club to hit for some players. Others
find that it is a great club that hits well and goes straighter
than a wood off the tee. All in all, you’ll have to try it to
see how you do...
Hitting the Mashie: Lofted like today’s 6-7 iron, it's a
good choice for up to 140-150 yards for a common player. They
are also a good choice for "chip and run" shots around the
green. Choose this club to move the ball forward in the fairway
or from a good lie in the rough. Try the mashie with a putter
like stroke around the green for bump and run shots..
Hitting the Mashie Niblick: Usually a good club for
hitting an approach shot to the green. With about a 45 degrees
loft it is fairly equivalent to an 8 iron and a good club to
choose from about 100-125 yards. Use it for easy swing approach
shots to land in front of the pin and roll up close. With
hickory clubs you should anticipate ending up a little bit
further than you would with modern clubs that generate more
spin.
Hitting the Niblick: The niblick a shorter hitting club
similar to the 9 iron or a pitching wedge. It has a hitting
range of around 70-100 yards. Use this club for pitching lofted
shots around the green and approaches where you need to carry,
or out of a bunker. Niblicks are often found to have sharp
“digging” leading edges and are a little tricky off a thin lie.
It's an easiest club to “chunk” because of the thin leading edge
and loft.
The Putter: Hickory shaft putters are usually made of
forged steel and have a great feel when struck in the sweet
spot. Hold them lightly in your hands and practice a smooth
swing for comfort and accuracy.
