Ancient Equipment

photo credit: suvodeb   In the beginning, golf clubs were shaped like hockey sticks.  The shafts were long and the heads were skinny and bowed.  The general shape was concave, which made it easier to lift the ball from ruts and high grass.

Hugh Williams was a Scottish clubmaker and a master craftsmen who made clubs from 1812 until his death in 1856.  He used thorn, apple and pear wood in his clubheads, and ash in the shafts.  Finally he discovered hickory, a far superior shaft material.

The club set consisted of the “play club” (today’s driver).  Back then, the golfer didn’t drive toward the target he “played upon it.”  They used “spoons” (long-mid-short) which were shaped like spoons.  A “baffing spoon,” was today’s lob-wedge. (to “baff” was to contact the ground just before hitting the ball).