Lot # 49: Robert Simpson Play Club

Starting Bid: $400.00

Bids: 4 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Fall 2022",
which ran from 11/3/2022 7:00 PM to
11/19/2022 8:00 PM



Made by Robert Simpson at some point in the mid 1880s, this long nose play club is a grisly old war veteran that is still standing!  The center of the face incurred severe trauma, with the top of the head suffering a major crack at the toe. To bring this old boy back into service, the clubmaker, likely Simpson himself, cut, fit and nailed a leather insert in the center of the face which he had to cut out to accept the leather.  He installed a new, much wider horn to add stability to what is still a cracked head.  But Simpson was not done. No, Sir.  He remedied the big crack on the top of the head by drilling a good size hole into the face and through the crack and then filling it with a relatively large wood dowel held in place by glue and a nail through its center. Amazing! The auctioneer was expecting a large screw to be the easy solution. Nope, a wood dowel was the more involved answer. 

Simpson became the clubmaker at the Dalhousie Golf Club in 1883, his first professional post after working as an apprentice for George Forrester and Robert Forgan.  This club would have been made within the first few years of his arrival there.

Sometimes, a club that has been repaired takes on a character all of its own, which is what this club does. The fact that the head is well curved and longer than most, measuring a full 5 3/4" in length gives it even more character. All of its characteristics including its color, finish, components, and wear actually combine to give this club a good look.  When put on display, it looks like one tough warrior.

This club is on the far left in the accompanying group image.

Views: 471