Second Generation of Golf Clubs

Second Generation Golf Clubs: Golf evolved during the fifteenth century in the east coast of Scotland. The sport originated as a pastime. With the growing popularity of the sport, the equipments also developed. In the nineteenth century, after the Industrial Revolution, the golf equipments were revolutionized.

During the nineteenth century, Scottish people started importing hickory from America for making shafts. Robert Forgan, a Scottish club maker, made shaft form hickory and it was an instant hit among the golf players. The reason for the popularity of the hickory wood was its low price in comparison to other woods used as the material. Rev. Adam Paterson discovered the “guttie” ball in 1848. with this innovation, the long noses became obsolete. Bulgers were designed to play this new type of ball. These bulgers were the predecessors of the modern woods.

Allan Robertson, Old Tom Morris and Senior Willie Park are the golf players of those days, who had workshops in making golf clubs and balls. These equipments were even exported to other countries. Making equipments was considered to be a profitable trade in those days. Before the onset of the twentieth century, beech and other tough woods were completely substituted by persimmon, which was imported from America as the club head material. Aluminium club heads were also being used as a substitution of the hand forged metal club heads. Groove-faced irons were introduced to the sport by E. Burr in 1902.

The clubs with steel shafts were being made since the late 1890s. However, this type of club was slowly adopted by the players. After the Prince Of Wales used the clubs with metal shafts on the Old Course at St. Andrews in 1929, the R&A legalized the use of this kind of clubs.