A Niblick from days gone by...

[dufferman]

My Dad found this over the weekend:

It looks like it is an 8 iron. I'm sure plenty on here will have more info / knowledge than I!

Not sure what the shaft is made of, could be steel, it's a bit bent, it's also got mud on it so it looks like it must have been used recently! Not by us!

Grip is well rotted away, it looks like it's about 60 degree in loft.

Anyone know when it might be from (as in year)? The engraving on the sole says:

"Rustless

NIBLICK

8"

"WARRAN LTD
MADE IN SCOTLAND"

"J. C Edgar
Tyneside G.C"

 

[backwoodsman]

Out of interest, where did he find it? Just lying out on a course?

 

[Doon frae Troon]

When steel shafts became popular they had a plastic sheath over the steel to disguise them to look like hickory.
Golfers were not keen on them and thought that steel shafts would rust and break.

A relative of mine was the first person to patent steel shafts, his original set is on display at the R&A museum.

 

[garyinderry]

I have a couple sitting in my dads garage in Ireland. they are so unforgiving its unreal. check out how thin that sole is. it just drives straight into the ground.

 

[Scotty Cameron]

he might have been related to this fella
linky

must have had a couple of quid to get clubs made with his name on them.

 

[SocketRocket]

I think a Niblick is like a modern pitching wedge. The lofts have been changed over time to make us think we hit it further.

 

[MashieNiblick]

My dad had some like this. I think it would be from about the early/mid 1930's when steel shafts first started being widely used.

I think it says "WARRANTED" rather than WARRAN LTD"

You can see the origin of the word "blade" to describe a simple forged club. Mostly what we call "blades" are a "muscle back" design i.e. they have some additional weight behind the ball rather than being a flat piece of metal.

Although it says "8", as mentioned above, it would have been more like a wedge and probably the most lofted club in the bag.

When you factor in what the balls were like and how precisely you would have to hit the ball for it to go anywhere it makes you realise just how amazing some of the scoring was when Jones, Hagen, Sarazen etc were managing to shoot in the 60's round championship courses.

Love the story about J Douglas Edgar. What character! Would make a great piece in the magazine.

 

[ManinBlack]

I started playing golf aged 10 with clubs like these, except mine had hickory shafts and my father cut them d down himself & replaced the leather grips. There was a Niblick (8 iron), Mashie (5 iron), a Mashie Niblick (6 or 7 iron) and a Mid Iron (3 or 4 iron). The woods were Driver, Brassie (2 wood), Spoon (3 wood) & 4 wood (they obviously didn't have a name for that one!). I also had a couple where the steel had been made to look like hickory.