History of Golf Clubs

Through the 17th Century, club heads were made from exceptionally hard woods such as beech, holly, pear, and apple. Shafts were made from ash or hazel. The head was connected to the shaft using a splint and then bound tightly using leather straps.

The time and energy that went into making golf clubs meant that they were quite expensive to purchase, and therefore golf remained almost exclusively an aristocratic game during this time period. Adding to the sport's costliness at this time was the fact that clubs such as "long-noses" and "niblicks" were especially prone to breakage; a golfer could expect to break at least one club during a round.

There was design experimentation to try to make clubs less breakable. Some designers implanted metal and bone fragments into the club-face in an attempt to prevent shattering, and by 1750 some club-makers were using forged-metal heads for niblicks.

In 1826, Scotland's Robert Forgan started using hickory imported from America to manufacture his clubs' shafts. American hickory was quickly adopted as club makers' wood of choice, but it was expensive. Once Rev. Adam Paterson invented the Guttie golf ball, longnoses became obsolete. Instead, "bulgers" were used to cope with increased stresses incurred by using the new ball. Bulgers closely resemble today's woods due to the fact that they have a bulbous head.

By 1900, persimmon imported from America had become the material of choice for making club heads. A popular alternative was aluminum in keeping with the tradition of hand-forging metal club heads. By 1902, a club maker known as E. Burr had introduced groove-faced irons for putting increased backspin on one's shots.

Blacksmiths such as Thomas Horsburgh had been experimenting with steel shafts since the late 1890s. However, these were slow to be adopted. Billy Burke was the first to win a major tournament with steel shafted clubs when he won the US Open in 1931.

Since the end of World War II, golf club development has been driven by research into synthetic and composite materials. The casting method of manufacturing clubs heads was introduced in 1963 and enabled cheap mass-production. However, professional golfers continue to prefer clubs with hand-forged heads because these possess better "feel".

The graphite shaft was introduced in 1973. This kind of shaft offers rigidity, lightness, and increased more strength than steel shafts. Modern graphite shafts include boran in their makeup in order to reduce twisting. Most amateur golfers still use steel shafted clubs because of their affordability.

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