Lot # 45: John Reid, Atlantic City, Rut Niblick

Starting Bid: $75.00

Bids: 9 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Fall 2021",
which ran from 11/4/2021 11:00 AM to
11/20/2021 8:00 PM



This rut niblick has a small, compact head, its original shaft, and its original worn sheepskin grip. The shaft has been whipped down near the hosel in order to tighten a small crack extending out of the hosel. Whipping was the remedy of the day for such a development. The shaft measures 39 inches in length and the club is quite heavy—the mark of a serious rut niblick.

The back of the head is stamped "John Reid, Atlantic City" along with "Warranted Hand Forged" and owner's initials "JSS".   Golf professional John Reid laid out the original 9 holes of the Atlantic City Country Club.

A quick search on the internet revealed this about Reid and his layout:  "John Reid—very probably the same Scot who had established his reputation first at Huntingdon Valley, then at Atlantic City—was brought in to lay out a short (2,400 yards) nine-hole course. He was paid $28. The land, perfectly flat, was partly maintained by permitting cows to graze on it. The greens, of coarse pasture grass, were about 15 feet in diameter and were mowed twice a week. There were no sand bunkers—only a few mounds called "chocolate drops" to function as hazards near some of the greens. The first tee, next to a clay tennis court, required a drive over Fordney's four-rail wooden fence. The longest hole was 363 yards; the shortest, 162 yards. Edward T. O'Donnell, son of the Rossmere Hotel's manager, served as the club's greenkeeper and golf instructor, at $25 a month, with another $25 in lesson fees guaranteed by the club."

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