Lot # 123: Spalding Spring Face Cleek

Starting Bid: $200.00

Bids: 0 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
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This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Spring 2022",
which ran from 3/3/2022 12:00 PM to
3/19/2022 8:00 PM



The face of this iron consists of a thin piece of spring steel riveted in six places to the perimeter the head.  In most instances the head is hollow behind the face, as described in a 1902 Golf(NY) review of this club, but an early UK ad for this club described the head as being filled with gutta percha. The US catalogs and ads for this club never mention gutta percha.

Spalding introduced spring-face irons by 1902. This example has its original 37" shaft and its thick, cloth-backed india rubber wrapped green grip likely installed by the original owner. Such grips were often after market additions which make them quite rare today. The Spalding cleekmark has pretty much been worn off the back of the head, the result of the owner cleaning the head with emery cloth as was the custom back in the day.  However, the owners initials "C.B.W" remain. To him or her, that was all that mattered!

For more about Spalding's spring face irons, see TCA2 V2 p415

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