Golf Club History - Learn about clubs like the Brassie, Mashie and the Niblick


	Golf Club History With today's golfclubs such as titanium drivers, utility clubs, weighted putters and all other technological advances in golf equipment it is a wonder how players from years ago ever manged to play this great game. Today we have specialist drivers with weight ports that promote a fade or a draw, we have putters made from space age technology and materials that give more feel. We have wedges in a different array of loft,lie and bounce. What next for this humble game of hitting a little white ball into a hole? But what was it like to play with clubs made from raw materials of days gone by. Imagine using leather balls and wooden shafts. Surely the game was more difficult. Lets take a walk down memory lane and give you a brief overview of the clubs they used. If you were to look at golf clubs from the 17th and 18th centuries you would definately think of them as primitive, even caveman like equipment compared to the golf clubs and equipment both you and I use today. Play Club or Grass Club Either of the two longest hitting wooden clubs formerly in use: the play club or the grass club (or grassed driver). The modern day club is the longest hitting club, the number one wood. Brassie This club was fitted with a brass sole plate. The term also applied to various lofted wooden clubs in the 1880s and 1890s. The modern day version would be the number 2 wood, which of course is now very rarely used with the proliferation of utility clubs. Spoon Any of a group of early wooden clubs having graduated lofts greater than that of the grassed driver, and correspondingly shorter shafts. The name originated because the loft on early club faces, both wooden and iron, was most often concave and sometimes, therefore, resembled the bowl of a spoon. In the early 20th century it was a somewhat more lofted club than the brassie. The modern equivalent would be the three wood. Wooden Cleek or Baffy A small headed, steeply lofted wooden club, no longer in use, which was developed from the baffing spoon. The modern equivalent would be the four wood. Cleek Any of numerous narrow-bladed iron clubs, variously adapted and used for playing long shots through the green, for playing from sand and rough and for putting. The basic characteristics of cleeks were that they were narrow-bladed and relatively light. The alternative name for the number one iron. Again this is a club that is very rarely used and has been overtaken by the modern day driving iron Driving Cleek Any of various iron clubs, no longer in use, that were used for various shots through the green. The alternative would be the number one iron. Mid Iron An iron club no longer is use, somewhat more lofted than a driving iron. The alternative name would be the number two iron. Mid Mashie The alternative name would be the number three iron. Mashie Iron An iron club no longer in use, somewhat less lofted than a mashie, that was used for driving and for full shots through the green. The alternative name for the number four iron. Mashie A lofted iron club, no longer in use, introduced about 1880 and used for pitching with backspin. The modern equivalent would be the number five iron. Spade Mashie A deep-faced iron club, no longer in use, some what more lofted than a mashie. The modern equivalent would be the number six iron. Mashie Niblick An iron club, no longer in use, having a loft between those of a mashie and a niblick, used for pitching. The modern day equivalent would be the number six or number seven iron. Niblick A short headed steeply lofted wooden club, no longer in use, used for playing out of ruts and tight lies. The alternative name for the number nine iron. Jigger A moderately lofted, shallow-faced, short-shafted iron club, no longer in use, that was used especially for approaching. It was a club used for chip shots, not dissimilar to the modern day pitching wedge. Rake the modern day equivalent would be the Sand Wedge. Putting Cleek The modern day equivalent would be the putter Nowadays golf clubs are much more advanced with cavity back, muscle back and bladed clubs becoming easier and easier to use. But what you are probably not aware of is that a golfer in the royal family in England had a great bearing on the destiny of golf shaft technology. Check out the article to see what I mean. I hope you enjoyed reading this section of the site. If you would like any particular information covered on the site please let us know.