Once part of the Jeff Ellis golf club collection and pictured in the Clubmaker's Art books, this beautiful club shows little use. It still bears the word “Driver” handwritten in ink on the side of the 44 ½” shaft, and it still has its original, pristine grip. This Army & Navy driver sold in the 2007 Sotheby’s Jeff Ellis Antique Golf auction in NYC and still has the tag from that auction attached to the shaft.

Founded in 1871, the Society of Army & Navy Stores was formed by a group of Army &Navy officers to provide basic necessities and luxuries for British officers, serving soldiers and their families. Initially financed with fifteen thousand pounds of shared capital, the society was formed on the cooperative principle with shared dividends available to all members.

In the early 1890s, the Army & Navy C.S.L. began making its own clubs, but before then it contracted with various clubmakers to produce Army & Navy clubs. The circa 1880s play club pictured on this page is such a club. The clubhead is well made, long and sleek in its appearance. It measures 5 1/2 inches in length, 1 3/4 inches in width, and 1 1/8 inches in face depth,

The early Army & Navy clubs were among the first ever offered through a retailer. John Wisden claimed to be the first retailer to offer clubs in his London store, in 1874. Army & Navy followed suit shortly thereafter as did F.H. Ayres, another sporting goods store in London. Until then, golfers had to buy their golf clubs directly from the clubmakers, either those working at a golf course or those working in dedicated clubmaking shops.

For more information, see The Clubmakers Art, second edition, volume 1 page 102.