Choule Club and Ball. 

In their book Choule, The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse, Gerert Nijs & Sara Kieboom-Nijs write, "Jeu De Crosse is a centuries old stick and ball game still played in small parts of the French and Belgain border region. This game is reported in practically all golf history books under the name "cho(u)le' or 'soule' and is often considered the precursor of Scottish golf and Flemish/Netherlandish colf."

The auctioneer is not expert at dating chole clubs, but the grip is a telling factor.  The example offered here has a beautifully made cord-wound grip, with the cord covered in india rubber.  The bare cord can be seen at the base of the grip.  I believe the use of india rubber cord dates this club to the turn of the 20th century, as it was around the 1890s and early 1900s that india rubber was tried in a few golf club grips.  Prior to that time, leather was used for golf club grips and for chole clubs as well.  In recent years, rubber strips fashioned from old tires were used to make choule club grips.

Also included with this lot is a genuine old wooden chole ball.  Many of the more modern chole balls were made from celluloid and nylon. 

This choule club has a thick ash shaft that measures 38-inches long. The grip is 13 3/4" long by just over 1-inch thick, which is much thicker than a golf club grip.  The ball shows some damage, but its made out of wood and damage happens. 

Chole players use an arching swing, but the game is played by two teams of two players who use a single ball between the four of them. There are offensive and defensive shots, etc. The club, as can be seen has two striking faces, one for longer shots and the other for shorter lofted shots. Choule is played to a target, not a hole. Given the fact that the ball is not round, it can get interesting fast! All in all, this is a neat club/ball combination that connects to golf as a precursor of sorts.  

In writing this description, the auctioneer referred to Gerert Nijs & Sara Kieboom-Nijs book Choule, The Non-Royal but most Ancient Game of Crosse, Gerert Nijs & Sara Kieboom-Nijs. It contains a great deal of information about the game of choule, and I highly recommend that book to anyone who would like to know more on the topic.