Circa 1895 Tom Morris Driver. Long club, 43 3/4", with leather face insert. Just below the grip the shaft is faintly stamped in an oval “T. Morris St. Andrews N.B.” Conventional wisdom is that the “N.B.” stands
for New Britain. However there is a
partial hand written label on the shaft that claims the “N. B.” stands for
Nether Bowl, which the label states is the ancient designation for the entrance
to St. Andrews town.
A rather unique feature of this club is the unusually large flat
head. The face height including the
slip is only about 1 1/8 inches and the width of the head at its largest point
is approximately 2 3/8 inches. Head appears to have been cleaned and shellacked but retains its original patina.
The provenance of this club is that it was part of the
Harlan S. Atwood collection that was sold at a Doyle's auction in New York in 2002.