Vintage Golf

[Crow]

That's impressive play Patrick, especially with just 5 clubs.
I assume you were playing from the whites but either way, 2 over on a course of over 6,000 yards with those clubs is good going.

If we ever play together you'll have to show me how it's done.

(The putter looks a bit odd, especially the font, do you know what date it is?)

 

[patricks148]

That's impressive play Patrick, especially with just 5 clubs.
I assume you were playing from the whites but either way, 2 over on a course of over 6,000 yards with those clubs is good going.

If we ever play together you'll have to show me how it's done.

(The putter looks a bit odd, especially the font, do you know what date it is?)

no idea, 30's i think. its Brass. will find out more about it when i see the owner again in Aug to pay for it.

Off the yellows but still over 6000 but i don't think it would have made that much difference as the ball is going so far, Tain is dry and runs well at the best of times.

the difference was i sank a few putts and the club off the tee (Spoon), something not managed before, its usually for par, but that day quite a few birdies

 

[full_throttle]

This may be of interest to some of you


https://www.facebook.com/TheEuropea...UzpfSTIxMTkxNDA4NTkyOjEwMTU2NjY5NzU1ODEzNTkz/

 

[patricks148]

Got a 1930 leather bag off Gumtree. all the zips work and has no rips.

ordered some leather balm, so just needs restoration work

 

[Crow]

The Clitheroe Historic Open is coming up soon.

You have a choice of clubs; hickory, classic or modern.

Sunday 2nd September, I'm down for the 12.30 tee time, it would be good to see a few forummers there!

https://www.clitheroegolfclub.com/competition.php?compid=99

 

[patricks148]

The Clitheroe Historic Open is coming up soon.

You have a choice of clubs; hickory, classic or modern.

Sunday 2nd September, I'm down for the 12.30 tee time, it would be good to see a few forummers there!

https://www.clitheroegolfclub.com/competition.php?compid=99

Love to,but already down the NE England playing in a Hickory meet

 

[Crow]

Don't forget post #165 everybody!

 

[Crow]

I had a week's holiday on the Isle of Arran last week, took a half set of woods and blades with me and half a dozen hickories to try and play as many of the seven courses on the island as I could.

All courses are short yardage wise, three 18 holers, three 9 holers and a 12 holer, but all have some very tricky/querky holes.

By getting to the courses at 8.00 am most mornings before the rest of the family were up I managed to play all 7 without incurring too much displeasure from the good lady.

None of the courses were on my GPS and most of them didn't even have 100/150 yardage markers, my judgement of distance by eye was found to be seriously lacking, although it did get better as the week went on.

The classic set comprised; Uniroyal “Arnold Palmer” 3 wood, Swilken “Eric Brown” blades, 4, 6, 8 & 10, Slazenger “Gary Player” sand iron and a John Letters Golden Goose putter as pictured below.

The hickory clubs were; driver, jigger, mashie, mashie niblick, niblick and putter, also pictured below.

How I got on at each course to follow.

 

[Crow]

Sunday evening, Whiting Bay GC.
https://www.whitingbaygolf.com/the-course

A perfect evening after a lot of rain and as good as it gets playing solo golf.
Par from the yellows was 63, SSS 61
I scored 78 so four over handicap but I was happy with that all things considered. I put one ball OB and made a couple of poor judgments on distance resulting in double bogeys. Some of the greens were the smallest I’ve seen and set into frightening slopes.
Thoroughly recommended if you’re ever in the area.
Pics below:
- Par 3 11th, OB left, drop off right, I made a nice par.
- The wild slopes of the 17th green, the picture doesn't really do them justice.
- The downhill approach to the 18th, idyllic in the evening's lengthening shadows, I found the green but messed it up by three putting!

 

[Crow]

Monday morning I played the 12 hole Shiskine GC, first tee time of 8.00 playing with a member who provided some much needed guidance as there are many blind shots.
Playing the hickory clubs.
Weather was lovely with a good breeze which blew the early morning clouds away. Again my GPS was useless but there was a course planner in the Pro-Shop which I bought.
First hole I hooked my tee shot OB and scored double bogey, on the second hole I hit what I thought was a good line but the OB right was much closer than I thought…. triple bogey this time.
After that I played a little better and was pleased to be just off the green on the intimidating blind 3rd hole “Crows Nest” although I did take three to get down for B. The pictures below show me on the 4th tee “The Shelf” and the 5th green looking back towards the 4th hole, another course I strongly recommend.
A very enjoyable round, only let down by more poor scoring, 57 gross, 15 over the par of 42.

 

[Crow]

As I’d got round quickly at the Shiskine GC I was able to drive up the road to the nearby Machrie GC for 9 holes using the classic set.

Another short course (as they all are on Arran) but the starting holes are very tight. I was rushing round a bit as I’d promised the family to be back in time to go out in the afternoon doing boring non-golf things but that was no excuse for the poor golf I played. Two more shots out of bounds (one of them my first shank of the holiday!) and some poor putting saw me complete the nine holes in 45, 12 over the par of 33 (and the SSS is only 31!)
Despite that it was another fine experience of Arran golf, though the weakest course so far in terms of views and enjoyment. The first picture below shows the 7th green with back left the 5th green.
The second picture shows the green of what I thought was a hole that went beyond quirky, It was 246 yards downhill from the white tees so definitely in range with today’s equipment and even with the vintage clubs I was using it should be possible to get close, apart from the fact that A841 passes right in front of the green! You can see the road in the picture and the fairway is immediately the other side, I hit 6 iron then 8 iron just onto the back fringe then 3 putted for a bogey to finish.

 

[Crow]

Wednesday morning, 8.00 am tee time at Lamlash Golf Club, Isle of Arran and the course to myself. Again no GPS and no course planner but this time there were some 100 and 150 yard markers on some of the holes.
I played off the white medal tees today (4,510 yards, par 64) with the half set of Swilken blades, Uniroyal laminated 3 wood and John Letters bullseye putter.
Lamalsh is a course were your short game needs to be sharp, I don’t have a short game at the best of times and today it wasn’t sharp! The course is very pretty with many fine views and a profusion of wild flowers. Definitely a course where some local knowledge (or at least a course planner) would help but I had neither. Although I felt that I was hitting the ball well with the irons and wood, my play around the greens was terrible.
I went out in 49 and it was only by getting my first par of the round on the 9th that I kept it below 50! Better on the back nine, starting with a birdie, scoring 39 for 88 total, 24 over par!
I wanted to go straight back out and try again now that I knew what was in front of me but time wouldn’t allow.
Pictures below:
- Looking back down to the clubhouse to the first tee, what a climb, I was knackered before I’d even got going!
- The seventh green.
- Looking back to the par 3 16th green, this would make a very nice tee shot but you actually tee off from high up on the left of the picture.

 

[Crow]

Thursday, Brodick GC, 8 am, playing from the yellow tees, 4,540 yards, par 64, SSS 63. The course runs close to the sea and was the flattest and least attractive course I’ve played so far, a typical seaside but still enjoyable, playing classic set again.
When I got to the course two singles and a two ball had already gone out and a fourball was waiting on the tee, could my quick rounds be coming to an end? No, the fourball offered me the tee straight away and the two ball waved me through on the third tee!

After heavy overnight rain the course was pretty soft but there were very few areas where casual water remained. Having been offered the tee I didn’t have time for any sort of warm up so two quick swishes and I skied the ball in front of the watching fourball and starter, but at least I could see it on down the hole. DB start then two nice pars followed by some bunker trouble on the fourth resulting in a quad and a lost ball on the fifth for a triple. Settled down after that and went out in 44, 12 over par. A messy triple on the 11th marred the inward nine and I scored 39, 7 over par.
Total 83 gross, 70 nett, 6 over handicap.

Pictures below:
11th tee looking out to sea, the furthest pint from the clubhouse.
11th tee looking down the fairway and along the shore.
18th hole from the tee, a scary par 3 finish of 220 yards to a part concealed green, it’s just visible to the left of the flagpole on a small ridge. I hit a nice 3 wood to a grass bunker next to the flagpole but then bladed my chip over the green, scuffed a putt on and holed for my customary bogey finish.

 

[Crow]

Friday 3rd August and last day of the holiday, two 9 hole courses to play.
Lochranza GC at 8.05 am, 2,159 yards par 33 and I didn’t see another golfer all round. No yardage markers and no GPS, but I’ve been improving on my distance judgement by eye as the week goes on, playing the classic set. This is a course by the bay but not a links course. I was a little unsure of my line on the first and once again skied my drive, I then went down the wrong fairway and racked up a quad bogey 8 via a ditch, not liking this course at all!
But as the round progressed I began to see its charms and took it for what it was, a simple 9 hole course with some nice views. Played pretty well after the first apart from the par four 7th where I took three wood from the tee as the pond just short of the green looked a long way off, hit a great shot and into the pond! Penalty drop left a short pitch over the pond to the green of probably 15 yards, with my short game I came out in a cold sweat! The first one I quit on it and it just carried but then rolled back in, the next go was knifed into the far bank and fell in the pond again, third attempt and I finally managed to get over the pond with another knifed wedge over the green, a few more poor shots and I marked down a 10!
The 1st and 7th aside I was only 2 over par for the other 7 holes so not too bad a round.
Pictures below:
- They said there was a good chance of seeing red deer and sure enough a herd was making themselves at home on the second hole.
- 4th hole, St Andrews has its Swilken Bridge, Lochranza has two!

 

[Crow]

Finished Lochranza in plenty of time to get to Corrie Golf Club just after 9.30 for my final course of the 7 on the island, this was the course I'd been looking froward to the most for some reason.

Another 9 hole course which I’m sure I found a website for earlier in the year but doesn’t seem to be up anymore. From the outside this is a humble course but it delivers in so many ways. Established in 1892, there are half a dozen old pictures in the tea room attached and a Captain’s board dating back to the turn of the last century. The clubhouse is fantastic and looks like an old railway station.
I was playing the hickory clubs again.

I got there just after 9.30 am and nobody was on the course, I asked the guy in the tea room if I’d be able to play from the white tees and he said yes, but half way down the third hole I was told by the greenkeeper that it was yellows only outside of competitions, not to worry, I’d teed off from the whites on the first and second, the two holes I’d been visualising for months. The yardage for the mixed tees I used was 1,712 yards, par 31, SSS from the yellows 30. A short course by any measure and one that would be overpowered by today’s equipment but perfect for classic or hickory play.
As soon as I got there I felt that the course was going to live up to my expectations and the fact that I made my best score of the week was the icing on the cake!
First hole I hit a soft mashie pin high 15 feet left, the birdie putt just tailed off on the low side but a nice par start. Even my short game behaved itself and I went round in 34, 3 over par, 3 or 4 under handicap.
The course was in great condition and the greens were amazing for such a small club, in fact I’d say that they were the best I played on all week. Everything about the round was a delight, even the weather stayed dry bar a very few drops of rain around the 5th hole, it was so good to finish my Arran golf experience on a high note and I drove away from the course grinning from ear to ear.

I rate this course as equal first for the most beautiful that I’ve played, sharing the position with Traigh GC on the west coast of Scotland, another 9 hole course funnily enough.
If you’re ever on Arran, make sure you find the time to play this course.
Pictures below:
- The clubhouse complete with seagull on the roof
- 1st hole
- From the 3rd tee
- 3rd green, one of two old fashioned square greens which you just don’t see anymore.
- 4th hole
- 5th green with a bit of weather threatening but it passed me by.
- 6th green and another square one, the 7th tee was just to the right with a downhill drive to the left of the greenkeeper's tractor.

 

[USER1999]

Nice write ups. Oddly, I have always wanted to play Brodick!
I have walked Shiskine, but not played it, and had tea at Machrie whilst cycling round the island. Machrie has quite a lot of vintage clubs available for passing golfers to hire.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Finished Lochranza in plenty of time to get to Corrie Golf Club just after 9.30 for my final course of the 7 on the island, this was the course I'd been looking froward to the most for some reason.

Another 9 hole course which I’m sure I found a website for earlier in the year but doesn’t seem to be up anymore. From the outside this is a humble course but it delivers in so many ways. Established in 1892, there are half a dozen old pictures in the tea room attached and a Captain’s board dating back to the turn of the last century. The clubhouse is fantastic and looks like an old railway station.
I was playing the hickory clubs again.

I got there just after 9.30 am and nobody was on the course, I asked the guy in the tea room if I’d be able to play from the white tees and he said yes, but half way down the third hole I was told by the greenkeeper that it was yellows only outside of competitions, not to worry, I’d teed off from the whites on the first and second, the two holes I’d been visualising for months. The yardage for the mixed tees I used was 1,712 yards, par 31, SSS from the yellows 30. A short course by any measure and one that would be overpowered by today’s equipment but perfect for classic or hickory play.
As soon as I got there I felt that the course was going to live up to my expectations and the fact that I made my best score of the week was the icing on the cake!
First hole I hit a soft mashie pin high 15 feet left, the birdie putt just tailed off on the low side but a nice par start. Even my short game behaved itself and I went round in 34, 3 over par, 3 or 4 under handicap.
The course was in great condition and the greens were amazing for such a small club, in fact I’d say that they were the best I played on all week. Everything about the round was a delight, even the weather stayed dry bar a very few drops of rain around the 5th hole, it was so good to finish my Arran golf experience on a high note and I drove away from the course grinning from ear to ear.

I rate this course as equal first for the most beautiful that I’ve played, sharing the position with Traigh GC on the west coast of Scotland, another 9 hole course funnily enough.
If you’re ever on Arran, make sure you find the time to play this course.
Pictures below:
- The clubhouse complete with seagull on the roof
- 1st hole
- From the 3rd tee
- 3rd green, one of two old fashioned square greens which you just don’t see anymore.
- 4th hole
- 5th green with a bit of weather threatening but it passed me by.
- 6th green and another square one, the 7th tee was just to the right with a downhill drive to the left of the greenkeeper's tractor.

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Corrie is just stunning - my brother and I played it about ten years ago. Like yourself we turned up at the clubhouse and there was no-body there. But there was the honesty box so we popped our money in the envelope and stuck it through the letterbox. We were playing in the morning and there was a notice on the clubhouse door saying that ladies would be around at lunchtime for teas, coffees, sandwiches and cakes.

We headed off into the hills and after about 3 holes the greenkeeper on his tractor turns up and asks if we had our tear-off slip. He had his clubs in the box on the back of his tractor so joined us for a couple of holes and a chat as we played up the hill.

A wonderful experience.

We also played Lamlash and Shiskine - both good fun with great views. Some truly kooky holes on Shiskine

 

[Crow]

Won this little beauty on ebay yesterday, AG Spalidng & Bros, Gold Medal putter.
Black coated shaft with what looks like the original leather grip.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

Cheers Crow, these just turned up, looking forward to hitting them for the first time at Beau. I reckon 10 points will be a result!!



Putter is a beautiful thing.

 

[NorwichBanana]

Just the thread I need.

The Royal Norwich golf club is having a 125th Year celebration, starting with a 'traditional' golf day. They are providing clubs with hickory shafts, but we have to source our own clothes if we so wish, which I'd like to do! Do you have any links/ideas where best to look for clothes like this. I've tried a search on ebay and assume I'm searching the wrong key words as I'm having zero luck in finding anything!

TIA.