Object Name: Club, Golf
Other Name: CLUB, METAL, WOOD SHAFT
Date: ca. 1860
Description: Wood shaft, sheepskin grip, dark finish on shaft, smooth face, cleek mark.
Whipping on grip appears to be replacement.
Maker: GRAY, JOHN
Material: iron, leather, sheepskin
Dimension Details: Overall: 40 3/4″; grip: 12 7/8″; blade: 7 41/4″ (hosel to toe), 4 1/8″ x 1 3/8″ x 5/8″
Marks/Inscriptions: CLEEK by JOHN GRAY, Musselburgh, Scotland, PERIOD 1885—95 (on card attached to shaft); JN GRAY (cleek mark)
Additional Notes: NOTE: VERY RARE CLUB AND VERY VALUABLE. EARLY CLEEK MARK ( Bonham’s dates J. Gray cleekmark to 1880s. This JN GRAY mark is earlier.). John Gray of Prestwick Scotland—blacksmith turned clubmaker. Begin forging clubheads in 1851. One of first blacksmiths to began stamping their names on clubs in the 1850s. (Golf Antiques and Other Treasures of the Game, Olman and Olman, 1993)
Object ID: GM 74