Cleek Marks and Trademarks on Antique Golf Clubs

Paperback – October 1, 2000

by Peter Georgiady (Author), Patrick Kennedy (Author)

A pictorial guide to identifying cleek marks, makers’ marks and trademarks on wood shaft golf clubs (1880-1935).Includes over 600 Cleek Marks, makers marks, model marks and registered trademarks on British, American and foreign clubs. Each mark with accompanying photo or illustration.

Golf's Cleek Makers and Cleek Marks

Anvils, arrows, flowers, crosses, shamrocks, stars, knots,
anchors, regent lions, rearing horses, pipes, keys, hearts, hands, knights
and Scots are all traditional symbols used to identify different cleek
makers. These marks, made from simple pictures, were usually stamped on
the back of the club iron head by the cleek-maker.

What's a Cleek?

In golf, a cleek is the name of a number-one iron which has very little loft to the club face. Some suggest that this early straight faced iron originally was required to hit a ball out of deep wagon ruts.

There were Maxwell cleeks that had holes drilled in the hosel to reduce club weight, and putting cleeks with long, shallow faces but less loft than an ordinary cleek, designed for use on rough greens. However among collectors of antique golf clubs, cleek has come to refer to something more.

The difference between a Cleek Maker and a Club Maker

Generally, cleek-maker and cleek mark are terms used to describe the maker of the iron club heads and the pictorial insignia used to mark the club head. Traditionally, cleek-makers produced just the heads of the clubs while club-makers were the ones who finished the club by adding the shaft and other finishing touches.

Synopsis: About Cleek Marks and Trademarks on Antique Golf Clubs by Peter Georgiady (Author), Patrick Kennedy (Author)