A number of steel shaft putters have been designed to pick up a golf ball.  The oldest "pick-up" putter known to the auctioneer, however, is this hickory-shafted putter covered under a 1934 British patent issued to Albert Stanley Isles of Hoylake, England. This is the first patent to cover such a club.

The Isles putter offered here is faintly stamped  “A.S. Iles, Hoylake” on the top of the head.  The cylindrical hollowed out area on the sole has a liner of some type (rubber?) that assists in gripping the ball. The head is rounded on the back so that it will fit down into the hole and pick up the golfer’s ball.  The shaft is original and the black leather-wrapped grip appears to be as well.