Early Days

Early golf clubs were likely to have been the crooks of shepherds or perhaps even just simple sticks used to pass the time hitting stones as one walked. Unfortunately apart from the diary of an Edinburgh gentleman named Kincaid in 1687 little has been written about golf prior to 1850.

From this diary however we know the first purpose made clubs were entirely made of wood most commonly with hazel shafts though the type of wood used for the club head is unknown. The shafts of these clubs would often look unwieldy, having to be rather thicker to compensate for the spring in the wood. Due to the ease of gripping these thick wooden handles, grips were uncommon, though those that did exist would be made of leather. In the early 1800's hazel was to be replaced with ash wood with beech or blackthorn heads, having similar properties to their hazel counterparts.

In the 1820's hickory imported from Tennessee, America intended for use as pit props and axe handles is used to make shafts for golf clubs. The hickory shaft has a more steely spring and is far stronger allowing the shafts to be made thinner. Hickory shafts become popular around the same time as the guttie ball due to this extra strength, although there would be a considerable shock to the players hands as he played a hard shot, thick grips of leather however were used to compensate for this.

Manufacture of Wooden Clubs - Clubheads

The clubhead would be formed from a single block of wood with the grain running up the neck of the club to achieve strength. From this the clubhead would be cut out using a bow saw and shaped with a rasp before cutting the lead. This involved preparing an undercut cavity in the back of the clubhead, into which four holes would be drilled. Molten lead would then be poured in, filling the cavity and held secure by the cavities irregular shape, eliminating the need for screws or glue.

Due to the irregular shape of the cavity it was difficult to estimate the amount of lead that would be needed. Makers would tend to overestimate as once the head was filled more lead could not be added but grooves could be cut in the leads surface to reduce the weight. The lead also had to be positioned correctly so the weight was in the centre of the club behind the ball.

After the invention of the hard guttie, once the club was weighted a plate of rams horn would be fitted into a recessed area on the soles leading edge to protect the club as it struck both ball and ground. The horn would first be boiled to soften it so it could be straightened in a vice and then fixed to the sole with glue and three wooden pegs. Without this protection the club would not last very long, and the plate could be replaced without altering the balance of the club. The shaft would then be attached before sanding and polishing.

The Shaft

The shaft would be made from a one-inch square, wooden lath around 45 inches long of ash or hazel and latterly hickory. The maker would shape the shaft with a plane until about half an inch in diameter, then finish with files and sandpaper. It would be joined to the clubhead by means of a scared joint where both the neck of the clubhead and the end of the shaft would be cut to a tapered angle, then glued together. The joint would be strengthened with a whipping of waxed fisherman's twine, which would then be waterproofed with a coating of pitch. This joint was originally used in Roman times by shipwrights for repairs to ships masts. It was essential that the joint at the lower end of the shaft was in line with the grain to maintain the spring in the wood. The grip would then be fitted, first the top of the shaft would be wrapped in course cloth, and then a strip of calfskin would be wound over it secured by a small nail at each end. A grip roller would then be used to get the edges tight before oiling and varnishing the wood to form the completed club.

Effect of the Guttie

The hard guttie also affected the club head. While in the days of the featherie the club was likely to damage the ball it was the other way round with the guttie. To improve play with the new ball the club head became shorter and the neck of the club thicker and stronger. Transition was gradual and the new shape wasn't dissimilar to the shape of the conventional driver today. Club makers started inserting leather, brass and bone faces on the wooden clubs, and the iron club became more popular, used now for deliberate shots rather than a last option when the ball landed on rough ground. Blacksmiths, traditionally known as cleekmakers, found it paid to go over entirely to making clubs. The cleekmakers took on extra men and enlarged their workshops. Apprentices now learned the art of making iron clubs and became specialist cleekmakers contributing greatly to the expansion of the game.

Turn of the Century Clubs

Towards the end of the nineteenth century persimmon imported, again from America began to be used in the manufacture of club heads. Persimmon club heads were far stronger than beech, and allowed the ball to be played with more force.

The Haskell ball changed club design once again, being a far livelier ball than the heavy guttie, and would have a tendency to climb the club head as the shot was taken. To compensate for this, clubfaces increased from an average depth of 15/16 of an inch to around 1½ inches.

There were many experiments into golf club design around the turn of the century, such as the failed hollow face irons, the metal faced wooden club in 1891 and the introduction of groove faced irons. Previously the iron clubfaces had been smooth and the new grooves allowed the player to impart a lot more backspin on the ball allowing shots to carry further. This led to legislation in 1922 and again in 1924 to regulate the use of club head markings, limiting grooves to 1/16 of an inch spaced at least 3/32 of an inch apart.

Changing Fashions in Club Shafts

Steel shafts, first advertised in 1891,were becoming popular around this time, although still ruled illegal by both the USGA and the R & A. The idea was put to and rejected by The Rules of Golf Committee in 1911 and 1913, and it wasn't until 1926 that they became legal in America after a USGA ruling. The R & A also allowed the use of steel shafts, but only in hot climates where it was difficult to maintain hickory, in 1931 they finally relented legalizing them in Britain.

The centre-shafted club is introduced around 1892, F W Brewster patents the 'Simplex' torpedo club in 1897, and Arthur F Knight the controversial Schenectady putter in 1903. Mallet-head clubs were to be banned by the R & A in 1909 - despite Walter Travis winning the 1904 British Amateur Championship with a Schenectady putter - in a bid to stop croquet style putting. The ruling caused a lot of confusion among golfers of the time; not being clear in its definition of a mallet headed club. This led to two interpretations of the rules with the R & A banning all clubs where the shaft (or extension of the shaft in the case of a kinked shaft) passes through the centre of the face including the Schenectady putter. The USGA chose to view this differently banning mallet-head clubs but allowing centre-shafted clubs. The R & A revised their rules in 1952, legalizing the centre-shafted putter. At the same time as the law banning mallet heads was passed, another ruling banned any club using 'mechanical contrivances'. A number of clubs had been invented with springs inserted in the head, adjustable heads and rollers on the bottom of the club. The R & A did not feel that these inventions were in keeping with the game, detracting from the skill element of the golfer.

Mass Production

In 1895 William Mills produces a set of aluminum 'woods', while these aren't the first metal woods they are the first to be successful. Five years later A. G. Spalding & Bros. use drop forging to produce metal club heads. Previously metal clubs had been made in the traditional way with anvil and forge, in the drop forging process a mechanical hammer would stamp out the club head.

Once formed, the socket could be drilled and the head polished. This technology allowed matched sets of clubs to be made as well as speeding up the manufacturing process . With so many different designs of club, some players were carrying a set of around twenty to twenty five clubs. In response to this and in order to preserve the skill element in the game the USGA imposed a rule, limiting players to only fourteen clubs in 1938, with the R & A bringing the rule into force in 1939.

After the war club development slowed down until the late 1950's, with the exception of the rubber grip introduced around 1950, replacing the old leather grip.

Perimeter Weighting In the late 1950's Karsten Solheim develops the 'Ping' putter, using heal and toe weighting in order to increase the sweet spot in an attempt to increase accuracy in miss hit shots. The clubs were produced using investment casting, a technique where molten metal is poured into moulds allowing the weight distribution to be shifted away from the centre of the club leaving a cavity in the back. This technique was applied to irons in late 1967, and to woods in the early 1970's which are filled with foam to absorb vibration resulting in the familiar sound at impact. This technology eventually led to expanding the size of club heads in the early 1990's, notably with oversized woods and drivers giving increased distance of the tee, often using graphite and light metals.

Graphite

The graphite shaft developed in 1969 by Shakespeare Sporting Goods Company. Graphite shafts are around 34% lighter than steel shafts allowing the golfer to develop more club-head speed with less effort, making shots go further. Graphite is also fourteen times stronger than steel weight per weight. The shafts are made up of strands of graphite woven together with resign to form a composite material. This isn't a strong a single piece of graphite but is cheaper to produce. Titanium has also been employed in shaft making, while boron, copper and beryllium are all used in club head manufacture.


References: Kenneth G. Chapman, The Rules of the Green - a history of the rules of golf, p72-77, Triumph Books Chicago, © 1997 USGA Fiona c. Grieve, Patents (1876-1904) in The British Golf Museum, Golfiana, vol. 5 no 1 I. Henderson & D. Stirk, Golf in the making, Henderson & Stirk, 1979 Implements & Ball Committee reports, USGA technical dept Rand Jerris Ph.D., historian and librarian, USGA, personal communication Lewis, Clark & Grieve, A Round of History at the British Golf Museum, Inglis Allen, Kirkcaldy, 1998 U. Machat & L. Dennis, The Golf Ball Book, Sports Images, 2000 Valerie Melvin, Shakespeare's dream, GSI issue 5 December 1999 G. Peper, Golf in America, Abrams Golf Magazine, 1987 PGA of America official web site, http://www.pga.com Frank Thomas, USGA technical director, timeline, personal communication USGA Timeline, http://www.usga.org ©WSCGT 2001