Golfing : We Owe It All To Trees And Golf Balls

Golf clubs have come a long way from the earliestto the clubface of the golfing clubs.
days when roughly hewn branches many have usedAfter World War I, hickory was in short supply, and it
to knock around stones or wooden balls. You maybecame necessary to seek an alternative material for
have found, to your dismay that your young songolf club shafts. Manufacturers turned to steel, and so
practicing the same trick with rocks and stones, onlythe steel shafted golf club was born. By the 1920's golf
with your new high tech, very expensive set of golfclub manufacturers had moved out of the hand of
clubs.individual craftsman and the mass production of golf
Early golf clubs were almost certainly made entirely ofclubs was in full swing.
wood with the club head and shaft being made ofGolfing club sets now consisted of 14 golf clubs and
different types, glued together a bound in twine. Hazelfor the first time, golf players and sportsmen could buy
and ash were used for the shaft wile apple, beech;a complete set of clubs that matched each other in
blackthorn and pear were popular for the head of thestyle and design.
golf club, whether it was used for driving fairway orThe steel shafted golf clubs gave extra length and
approach play.more control to the golf shot, yet manufactures were
These clubs were satisfactory for use with thestill taking advantage of constantly improving
"feathery" golf balls but when the "gutty" golf ballstechnology to develop golf club design. Laminated
arrived in the mid nineteenth century it put a strain onplastic and then light aluminum replaced persimmon for
those golf clubs. Towards the end of the nineteenthuse in club heads and graphite and titanium golf club
century the golf club started to look very different, asshafts were developed to enable more movement to
an alterative wood hickory was used for the golf clubthe club head through the ball. "Cavity-back" clubs (
shafts, and iron heads were developed to withstandirons with the cavity hollowed out of the back of the
the battering of the "gutty", as well as to gain extraclub head) were also designed and introduced for
difference. It was also realized that golfing clubs withgolfers to give a more exact center of gravity , to
different lefts could be used for different shots, andprovide the golfer with a greater relationship with his
top players began carrying nine or ten clubs, asclubs.
opposed to three or four.Computerized technology is now helping to advance
While the wooden clubs could meet the demands ofthe design of the golf club more and more today.
the "gutty" golf balls of the times, they could not standGolfers - both professional and amateur benefit on the
up the "Haskell" golf ball, and it was necessary to findlinks with golf equipment that makes their golf game
new material for the golf club heads. The Northever easier and more enjoyable. Golf is a hard enough
American wood persimmon was discovered to begame. Why handicap yourself with poor or inadequate
more than ideal for the choice of golf club shafts, butgolf clubs.
to prevent damage ivory or bone inserts were added