For sale is a vintage 1920s PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS ASSOCIATION DRIVER No. 1. This driver has a metal shaft and is marked with an April 24, 1923 patent date. This club is in excellent condition and dates to the very start of the era when gold clubs transitioned from wood to metal shafts. The reason the metal shaft for this club is painted to have a wood tone may have been chosen to help players with the phycology of moving on from their wood shaft clubs. Club measures about 44 inches in length. A great sports collectible that will display well.
In the mid-20th century, golf associations allowed the use golf clubs with steel shafts used in tournaments. The golf shafts in the 17th and 18th centuries were not yet made of hickory, but rather from ash and hazel or whatever hardwood was available locally including wood from trees such as danga wood, ironheart, purpleheart, greenheart, bloomahoo and bulletwood. By the early 1890’s, hickory was the primary wood used in golf shafts. In 1931, Billy Burke won the US Open and was the first golfer to win using steel shaft clubs.
