IRONS
As previously mentioned above rough headed iron clubs started to be produced at the end of the 18th century and they were almost certainly made by Blacksmiths. However irons did not really come onto the golf scene until around 1840 when they started to replace the high lofted woods such as the Wooden Niblick. One of the first vintage irons to appear was the Track Iron which had a very small head enabling the player to hit shots out of cart tracks and other similar situations. There were many versions as each manufacturer made slight amendments to the design which now makes these antique clubs very desirable collector's pieces.

From around 1870 there was a profusion of iron club makers with many of the heads being made by Blacksmiths specially for the actual club maker. Irons became known as Cleeks with the iron head makers becoming known as Cleekmakers with some of these makers becoming famous, such as Robert White who supplied Robert Forgan and Tom Morris, Tom Stewart who also supplied Forgan and Morris as well as the McEwan's and Auchterlonie's. Robert Condie was also known as a very fine cleekmaker supplying up and coming clubmakers such as Robert Simpson and Andrew Forgan. All these cleekmakers were based in St. Andrews. Other early vintage irons were quite lofted and used to make shots from rough areas of the course or lofted chip shots from around the green, plus there were some straighter faced models for shots when distance was required from the fairway. These early irons (cleeks) had smooth faces and generally had no makers stamp so unfortunately we have no idea who made them.

However from around 1880 certain manufacturers not only started to stamp their name on the rear of the head they also introduced the 'Cleek Mark' system with each maker having his own mark which could be a flower, an anvil, an animal or a type of symbol. Nowadays this makes the clubs more recognisable should the maker's name no longer be legible. The cleek mark was also used by the maker to stamp the club when making a special order for a large retailer who only wanted their name to show on the club head OR when the head was sold to the actual club maker who would show their name only on the finished article. All this information on the club head now makes collecting a very interesting and worthwhile pastime. A few makers started to hand punch dots on the club face during the mid 1890's but often these markings would disappear over time due to the fact that the caddies used to clean the clubs using a piece of emery paper. By 1885-1890 there were many different iron designs being used with less woods now being included in a set of clubs. The iron heads were much more robust and therefore more cost effective and they were proving to be useful 'tools' on the course. Some of the irons now being used were known as: Driving Iron - similar to our 1 iron today. Mid Iron - 2/3 iron today. The Mashie - there were a number of versions equivalent to today's 4, 5 and 6 irons. The Mashie Niblick - today's 7 iron. The Niblick - for use in deep trouble and bunker shots. The Rut Niblick - a follow on from the Track Iron, again for use when the ball is lying in a rut/cart track. A very collectable item. Anti Shank irons - a number of different versions came onto the market during the early 1890's to try and stop any golfer's nightmare – The Shanks. Again very collectable mainly due to the actual shape of the club. The Mammoth Niblick - must surely have been invented for bunker shots and near impossible deep lie shots from the rough. Not a pretty club but again most sought after nowadays by collectors.

The extended section of the iron head known as the Hosel is used to fit the Hickory shaft. In most cases the shaft was fitted to about half way down the hosel, however some clubs were produced with the shaft going right to the bottom of the hosel, the latter being easily recognizable due to the fact that the end of the shaft is visible. An iron rivet was used to secure the shaft to the hosel. The earlier iron cleeks are often recognizable because they had quite long hosels and the top of the hosel was rough compared to the hosels produced from 1880 onwards. There were many different patented designs including numerous clubs with 'adjustable' fittings so that the club head could be adjusted to make more than one type of shot. None proved to be successful but again these fascinating antique clubs are very collectable nowadays. There were so many club and cleek manufacturers in fierce competition with each other by the early 1900's that it was inevitable that some would go out of business due to lack of orders. Some of the well known companies merged with each other making life even more difficult for the small producers and with steel shafted clubs starting to become more popular during the early 1930's a new era was about to dawn.

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