This is a great club! Putters with projecting faces are
few and far between. This one has an inlaid black alignment strip on
the top of the head and an exceptionally thick white 5-screw insert that
extends approximately 1/8th of an inch forward ahead of the heel and
toe. The insert is old, showing great age, and uses 5 screws to attach
it to the head. The screws are also old, with an old patina. They are
untouched other than by the original scoring which remains in full on
the face. The "Fairway Club" stamping on the head is original, and still has its
original paint, but the overall head has been cleaned, and nicely done
at that. So the question becomes this: Was this club originally made
with a projecting face?
The answer is a clear "Yes, it was." An examination of the outline
of the sole and toe bring this fact into focus. If the heel and toe of
the wood face were originally made flush with the insert, then the
existing perimeter of the sole would provide evidence of that fact. Its
lines would not run so gracefully across the front of the club to the
sides of the insert. The edge of the toe would also give away any such
alteration. It, too, would be out of whack.
Or think of it this way. Just imagine what the existing sole would
look like if an eighth of an inch was filed off the existing heel and
toe. It would not only make the sole look entirely misshaped, it would
also affect the geometry of the toe and heel along the leading edge of
the club. In short, when the heel or toe is pushed back, the club looses
its nice lines and perspectives. Both the top of the club and the sole
of this club have wonderful lines and a very natural look. So the only
other possibly way to conjure up a projecting-face putter after the fact
would be to install a new insert that would extend out beyond the rest
of the head. As already pointed out, this insert is clearly old and
nothing about it shows a single sign of being an illegitimate
replacement. In short, this is a genuine and rare club.
Five other projecting face putters are found in TCA2 v2 p548-551. The forward face Trublo putter offered as lot 13 in this auction is shown for
perspective in one of the images included with this lot. Again, it is
not part of this lot.