LOVE This Club! This is simply one of the greatest patent clubs out there. It is so crazy visual, utterly useless unless you were trying to dig out a ball under water, and exceedingly rare.  What is not to love! I have only seen two of these. This one and the one that Jamie Patino bought at auction in the UK 20+ years ago after sending his representative over to assess my interest.  Needless to say, I had more interest than dollars, and Patino had more dollars than anybody in the room, so he ended up with the club!  

In 1892, Golf reported on a water iron devised by Peter Paxton.  “[Paxton] has also a ‘water iron'; so that with a ball that floats and an iron which assists the player to recover the ball from the water, one... sees that in these days of inland greens with numerous water hazards, golfers are very materially assisted in diminishing the risks resulting from a bad lie" {Golf, 17 June 1892:226).

Paxton’s club was not described, but I believe the iron offered here is Paxton's. The only other example of this club I have seen was sold at Christie’s July 1992 golf auction.  It was made and marked on the hosel by Willie Wilson, a well-known supplier of iron heads to Paxton in the late 1880s and early 1990s.

This club, formerly on display at The World Golf Hall of Fame, in St. Augustine. Florida, has its Inventory number #"356" on an attached tag. A maker's mark is not visible on the head. The 38" shaft and sueded leather grip are original. This very club is mentioned in TCA2 v1 p257. 

When it comes to collecting antique patent golf clubs, the most unusual are typically the most collectible. This club qualifies. The notable oxidation on the head is of little significance in the face of the great rarity and visual strength of this club.  

Letter of Authenticity from the World Golf Hall of Fame