Big, Dumb, and Handsome!  That about describes this brute of an iron, except, oh yes, this big boy is HEAVY and it's OLD! Circa 1780 old. 

This “Heavy iron” or “bunker iron” as it was known during its day, is massive. At 6 1/8 inches in length, the hosel is exceedingly long and has a hammer weld seam visible down most of its backside. The hammer weld is also visible behind the heel of the blade, where the blacksmith did not get it quite evened out and a significant cavity remains. This visible seam and cavity are outstanding features that show the handmade nature of this iron head.  As time progressed and irons became more refined, such “unfinished” work was left behind. Both the length of this hosel and the hammer weld speak to great age.

The blade is large, at the tallest point the face is 2 1/8" high.  The face is nicely concave top to bottom, and the blacksmith’s hammer marks are present across the entire face. The grain of the wrought iron used to make this head is strong, visible on both its front and back as shown in the images. In addition, the blade has surprising little loft.  Again, all of these elements are outstanding highlights of a very old iron.  

When the consignor acquired this club, it was as a head only.  He had it reshafted and regripped in period style. The work was excellent. The grip is a fabric grip reminiscent of the listing grips that were from the 18th century, when this club was made.  The 38-inch-long shaft is thick, matching the large inside diameter of the hosel. Such was the life of a golf club 250 years ago - shafts broke. So it is not uncommon to find old irons with replacement shafts. Because the heads themselves did not break, old irons couid remain in use long after they were made if the owner simply replaced the shaft if it broke. 

The hosel, which measures approximately 7/8" thick, has had a little work done to it.  As part of the process of reshafting the head and crimping the nicking around the new shaft, the metal at the very top of the hosel was darken so any file or fresh marks in the metal would blend in to the rest of the hosel.  The unevenness and asymmetry of the hosel lower down is original to the club. Again, that is the work of the blacksmith who made this head.   

Heavy Irons like this one were used only when the ball was in a tough lie, such as in a bunker, and not from a fair lie on grass.  Hence they were made heavy, which this club is to the extreme. 

The feather ball included in the images is what would have been used with this iron. The feather ball is shown here for perspective  It is not part of this lot but is available as its own lot in this auction.

Club has Personality Plus!