Wood Used for Making Golf Clubs

For hundreds of years, all golf clubs were made of wood. Steel club heads were not widely used until about 1900, and efficient processes for making steel shafts did not come along until the 1930s. By the late 20th century, however, steel, graphite, titanium and other materials had almost completely replaced wood in even the clubs known as "woods." Some vintage wooden clubs survive today, and there is one company that still makes them.

  1. Shafts

    • Club makers originally used various types of wood to produce golf shafts, but ash was the most popular choice. The best material available to them would most often be wood taken from local trees. Eventually hickory from the United States became widely available and it replaced other woods for use in shafts. Hickory is strong and light and has much better elastic properties for use in flexible shafts.

    Club Heads

    • In the early 1800s, all club heads were made of wood. Although steel was available, it would damage the fragile and expensive golf balls. As golf ball designs advanced, metal gradually replaced wood in all but the longest clubs, the driver and fairway woods. The types of woods used in early club heads included apple, pear, beech, walnut and hickory. As golf balls got much harder at the turn of the 20th century, maple and persimmon became the most common choices for wooden club heads. Their advantages over other common woods included strength for durability, hardness for high impact resistance and the ability to bend into desired shapes when subjected to steam.

    Laminates

    • In 1941 Wilson Golf developed a laminated maple club head as an alternative to solid wood. Wilson's Strata-Bloc drivers and fairway woods were cheaper to make and had better moisture resistance than those made from a solid block of maple or persimmon. Other companies soon copied this approach and hardwood laminates provided a cheaper alternative material until the advent of metal woods.

    Modern Use

    • New wooden clubs are still available today, though mostly as novelty items that appeal to nostalgic golfers. Louisville Golf produces a collection of retro clubs including wooden drivers, utility clubs and putters that have heads made from solid persimmon and other hardwoods and hickory shafts. They also make full sets of steel irons with wood shafts. There are a number of golf organizations that promote the use of vintage and reproduction wooden clubs for recreation and competition. Hickory Golf provides information about all things related to vintage golf clubs including local and world-wide competitions.