PBA Galleries

Long nose splice neck (or scared head) wooden driver, R. Forgan name and the crest of the Prince of Wales stamped onto club head. With original whipping and leather grip. Hickory shaft. Ram's horn slip. With metal plate affixed to sole with seven circular wooden pegs, and leaded back. Club head is 10 cm (4") heel to toe, and club is 108 cm. (42½") long.

A rare early long nosed Forgan driver, or "long spoon", with all its original parts, flaws and all. A splice neck, or scared head club, with original whipping that was died black, but over time the color has rubbed away. The whipping is coming undone. Also with the rare original leather grip which has over time loosened a bit to reveal the undergrip of listing, or the coarse strips of cloth wound spirally around the shaft, over which the leather grip was affixed. Often the listing was simply fabric torn right off some unused garment like an old jacket. Robert Forgan (1824-1900) was the nephew of Fife clubmaker Hugh Philp, and joined him in the clubmaking business in 1852. Forgan had a knack for working with and identifying quality wood for clubmaking. Upon his uncle's death, he took over the business and employed his younger brother James to assist. In 1863 Forgan was appointed as clubmaker to the Prince of Wales and thereafter he stamped the Prince of Wales' crest on his clubs. When the prince became King Edward VII in 1901, Forgan's stamped changed to a crown. The style of the club here, and its stamp dates it to circa 1875. See Stirk, Golf: The Great Clubmakers, pp. 61-67.