Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Vintage Golf Irons - Usually the Neglected Clubs in the Realm of Vintage Golf

By Andrew Shea


If you ever listen in to a chat with antique golf club lovers, there are several things which you can be practically guaranteed to hear being mentioned. Sadly, antique irons will not often be one of the things. Without doubt, you are going to listen to the hickory golf club love affair and the way every person engaged in the dialogue posesses a collection of golf memorabilia that's a bit finer quality than anyone else's.

Having said that, antique irons usually achieve almost no focus though they carry a considerably renowned identity inside the history of golf.

Maybe one reason is the fact that even though the background of the game of golf itself is usually tracked back so far as the middle Fifteenth century, it's broadly recognized that golf irons weren't released on a significant scale before the later portion of the 1700s, within Scotland, the actual birth place of tennis as we all know it.

Another possible explanation is the annoyance of many early on that these additional irons created too many club choices, and markedly slowed down the pace of play.

Initially, irons were introduced as, and used for, hitting from the rough or otherwise unplayable lies. Nearly 100 years later, in the late 1870's, antique irons expanded their reach within a player's arsenal with the introduction of driving irons and mid-range irons. Until they started to really increase in popularity during this time, most were produced by blacksmiths.

The other interesting fact about antique irons which is common knowledge to the avid collector, but perhaps not by all was the naming conventions associated with these clubs. Unlike today's names for irons such as 2 iron, 3 iron, 7 iron ; one would instead back then find antique irons called Cleeks(equivalent of a 2 iron), Jiggers(Today's Wedge), Mashies(5 iron), and Niblicks(9 irons). They also lacked then, and do now, a common appearance, as they were not mass produced, but forged by individual blacksmiths.

Whenever you gaze back in time to the history associated with the game of golf, it's obvious that antique golf irons have experienced an important part to play within the development of this sport. Certainly there are several fascinating elements to collecting antique golf clubs of the hickory variety, which may be the actual reason why golf irons are oftentimes over shadowed. I hope your personal appreciation associated with them increases just a little with all your increased understanding of their particular place within golfing history.

When just about all is said and done, regardless of whether its Hickory or Iron, vintage golf clubs can be an incredible hobby with benefits that can not be measured solely in dollars




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