The parts of a golf club are the club head, the shaft and the grip. These components are put together to create every golf club. Club Heads Club heads were historically made of beech, dogwood, apple or pear. For most of golf's history, the favored wood was persimmon.
Full Answer
What are old golf clubs made of?
Early golf clubs were created out of hickory and wood shafts, lacking special design or shape, because they’re often hand-crafted by players themselves. But these clubs were created with love, passion and dedication. If you scour through the flea markets and garage sales, you’re likely to come in contact with these old clubs.
What kind of wood are club heads made of?
Club heads were historically made of beech, dogwood, apple or pear. For most of golf's history, the favored wood was persimmon.
What are golf clubs grips made of?
Other clubs sold on the golf market typically have grips made of a single piece of rubber which is slipped onto the shaft. This rubber grip is often preferred because it deals with moisture well and allows for a more consistent grip.
What are hickory shaft golf clubs made of?
Old Vintage / Antique Hickory Shaft Wooden Golf Clubs In times gone by, golf clubs used to have cool and creative sounding names, not numbers, woods were made of wood and irons were made of iron, but all bore a hickory wooden shaft.
What are golf club handles made of?
Club shafts may be made from chrome-plated steel, stainless steel, aluminum, carbon or graphite fiber-reinforced epoxy, boron fiber-reinforced epoxy, or titanium. Grips are usually made from molded synthetic rubber or wrapped leather.
Do wooden golf clubs have any value?
When it comes to collectible antique golf clubs, it is estimated that fewer than 5% of all antique clubs with wooden shafts have collectible value beyond decorative or playable worth. The majority of the vintage or antique clubs that you will find at yard sales or on eBay are common golf clubs with very little value.
When did golf stop using wooden clubs?
Wooden heads predominated until the late 1980s. They had evolved to include a metal sole and a metal or plastic faceplate. These wooden headed clubs were dense and heavy, and were generally much smaller than today's clubheads.
What are persimmon woods?
Persimmon wood is heavy, hard, and strong for a temperate species. It has excellent shock and wear resistance, but has a very high shrinkage rate, and may experience significant movement in service. Related Species: Black and White Ebony (Diospyros spp.) Ceylon Ebony (Diospyros ebenum)
Are 60 year old golf clubs worth anything?
Many clubs produced as recently as the 1950s and '60s are considered "classics." Some are worth $1,000 a set, and the right kind of sand wedge can bring $500 or more all by itself.
How old are wooden clubs?
Believe it or not, hickory golf clubs are not that rare. Literally, millions of golf clubs were made from the late 1800's until early 1930's. (That is 40 years of hickory golf club production) In the mid/late 30's, hickory shafted clubs halted production due to the new technology – steel shafted clubs.
What wood are old golf clubs made of?
Beech and ash were commonly used to make golf clubs in the game's early days. Starting as early as the 15th century, golfers carved their own clubs.
Are wood clubs made of wood?
These golf clubs were made up of wood with the shafts being made from ash or hazel and the club heads being made from tougher wood like apple, holly, beech or pear....Club Monikers: Then and NowModernOld4 WoodWooden Cleek1 IronDriving Iron2 IronMid Iron11 more rows•Jan 26, 2018
Does anyone still make wooden clubs?
Persimmon Golf produce some of the finest wooden golf clubs, maintaining a tradition for the many thousands of Persimmon fans who demand the experience and pleasure of playing with modern high-performance persimmon clubs.
What is persimmon wood worth?
$20/board foot. There may be a few black ebony inclusions on one side. This is common in old growth persimmon as it is in the Ebony family, and is sometimes called White Ebony or American Ebony.
What is possum wood?
1. possumwood - medium-sized tree of dry woodlands in the southern and eastern United States bearing yellow or orange very astringent fruit that is edible when fully ripe. American persimmon, Diospyros virginiana. persimmon - orange fruit resembling a plum; edible when fully ripe.
What does persimmon wood look like?
Persimmon lumber typically includes very wide sapwood, with a small core of black heartwood. When freshly cut, sapwood is creamy white and darkens to a creamy grayish brown. The heartwood is brown to black, or variegated black brown and creamy pale colors.
What wood was used to make golf clubs?
Beech and ash were commonly used to make golf clubs in the game's early days. Starting as early as the 15th century, golfers carved their own clubs. Several considerations -- including imported woods and the evolution of the golf ball -- influenced what types of wood were used to make club heads and shafts. Wooden antique golf clubs are popular ...
What clubs do hickory golfers use?
"Hickory golf," where golfers use hickory-shafted clubs, is popular with many golfers. Ralph Livingston III recommends on his website, HickoryGolf.com, that hickory golfers assemble the following clubs: brassie, mid-iron, mashie, mashie niblick, niblick and putter. Some companies make modern clubs that have persimmon wood heads, and some companies sell and make clubs with wood shafts, wood heads, or both.
How many woods are in a long nose golf club?
A set of these early "Troon Clubs" -- also known as "long noses" -- consisted of six woods and two irons. According to the Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation website, golf balls were also made of wood until the 17th or early 18th century.
What wood was used in Scotland?
American Influence. In Scotland, the type of wood used to make clubs changed with two American imports: hickory for club shafts in 1826 and persimmon for club heads in 1900. According to the Antique Golf Club website, woodworkers in Scotland started using American-imported hickory instead of ash to make hand tools, ...
What were golf clubs made of?
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.
What is a wood golf club?
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.
How to play hickory golf?
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.
What is a hickory shaft 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.
When were steel shaft golf clubs invented?
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.
Can you tell if a golf club is antique wood?
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.
Do hickory shaft clubs hit the ball lower?
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.
What to look for in the condition of hickory golf clubs?
What to look for in the condition of your hickory golf clubs for value and pricing purposes: Clubs that show lots of use, rust, pitting, have a warped or cracked shaft or hosel, bad or missing grips, are not of 'high quality" or that have been cleaned, restored or refinished are the "least desired" and bring lower prices.
Where to look for shafts on golf clubs?
Shafts: Look at the top of the club hosels (the part where the club head and shaft come together). Check the "pin" that holds the shaft in place, doest it look rough like it was worked on, or is it not smoothly aligned with the hosel.
What is a wood putter?
Wood headed putters. Irons or putters with unusual shaped heads. Irons with no face markings, or unusual face markings. Woods that have a thick curved oval neck, covered with 4 or 5 inches of string whipping.
What are the factors that indicate your clubs are common and at the low end of the value chart?
Factors that indicate your clubs are common and at the low end of the value chart include: Stainless steel, chromed, or chromium heads. Clubs with dots, hyphens, lines or other face markings. Metal caps at the end of the grip. Yardage ranges stamped on the back (70-100) (100-125) (140-150) yards.
Is a hickory shaft golf club rare?
Hickory shaft clubs are not really that rare. Millions of hickory shaft clubs were made so there are still oodles of hickory shaft clubs still around. The basic rule on antique wooden shaft golf club value is in general, the older the rarer, the rarer the more value... Now that being said, obviously there are some variables to that rule.
Vintage Golf Clubs Value: A Short Guide
It’s fun to have an old set of collectible golf clubs that you can take out and play with occasionally. It’s obvious that a lot of golfers in the golf community are always looking to buy new golf gear. Why not, newer golf clubs are often equipped with new technology, some of which can be game changing.
What Are The Most Valuable Vintage Golf Clubs?
The key to the value of vintage golf clubs is the supply and demand. Certain models are highly sought after, so they may be more expensive than others. They’re not only valuable but are also playable. And the right collector will drop a decent price for a club that’s in decent condition with all the right features.
How to Identify Valuable Antique Golf Putters
When looking at antique putters, you have to look at the history, rarity, and the person who made the putter.
Timeline on Vintage Golf Equipment
Vintage golf equipment are those clubs invented around the 15th century by primitive methods having handmade, custom/unique, and even unusual qualities. These often lack the sophistication of the modern clubs, coming from the Scottish Shepherds up to the 17th century. Most of these are mostly out of reach.
Frequently Asked Questions: Antiques
Why many older sets of clubs can be worth just a few dollars, others can be worth in the thousands. There are many features that can drum up the value of golf club memorabilia. Golf clubs closer to the 20th century, from a reputable club maker, and in good condition can easily be worth more than a few thousand dollars.
When were steel shafts used in golf clubs?
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.
When did golf clubs use socket heads?
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.
What wood is used in Douglas McEwan golf clubs?
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.
What was the most common club used by golfers?
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.
What is a fairway wood called?
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.
What was the greatest golf innovation of the postwar decades?
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.
How many long nose woods are there in golf?
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.
