Not every Hugh Philp club is going to be found in perfect condition. This is one such club.

First, the not so good news:  This club has been reshafted with a late 19th century "R Forgan & Son, St. Andrews" stamped shaft.  The grip is original to the shaft, however.  There is an old, stoic crack on the sole that extends out from opposite sides of one of the lead buttons.  The crack is small, it appears to have run its course, and is not really much of a factor.  The face of this club has undergone extensive restoration, being filled in ptaces with black material which has also been used to darken the entire face. The auctioneer believes the original face on this club became worn/distressed to a major degree. So, as part of restoring this club, the face was filed down and this exposed two of the wood dowels that extend up into the head from the horn came into view.  Consequently, the face needed to be rescored, the remaining blemishes/holes in the wood needed to be filled, and the entire face itself needed to be darkened to eliminate the look of recently sanded wood.

Now the good news:  The club actually looks pretty good. The head still retains a nice shape and profile.  The "Philp" stamp is all there. The horn and pegs appear original.  The original lead back weight has been filed to lighten the club to meet the desire of the owner. In this instance possibly a second or third owner of this club felt that the lead buttons gave it just a little to much weight.  Overall, this club provides a chance to own a restored Philp at a fraction of the cost of a nice original Philp.

The first Philp the auctioneer ever owned had a big piece of its toe broken off across the top of its head and then reglued in place. It was all the auctioneer could afford at the time.  The damage was obvious, but the repair was decent and it preserved the look of the overall club. T'was a long spoon often relished in days past.