Vintage club repair literature

[DonaldDunes]

I'm planning to start restoring vintage clubs as a hobby soon and I was wondering if anyone would recommend some classic literature on how to reshaft these vintage pinned, screwed, and whipped clubs?

[scotts33]

The old standby is a book named Golf Club Design, Fitting, Alteration, & Repair by Ralph Maltby.  The 1st Edition was from Sept. 1974 and I think it made a 4th Edition in 1994.

 

There are quite a few good YouTube videos our there also.  

 

It can become an obsession and if you aren't a hoarder you'll become one in a good way.  😆  Good luck!

[Shallowface]

Here's one for the older stuff.  Out of print but you can still find them.

[Stephen8802]

Start with the Mike Rees videos on YouTube, that will get you 90% of the way there. The Maltby and Paul books are both good for reference, but I only used them for rare issues not covered by Rees. Also helpful, although more time consuming, is to go back to the earliest post here and read anything about club repair and take notes. I did that when I started refinishing and found a lots of good tips. There was a lot more action here 10 or 15 years ago and a lot more people who refinished. Lastly, find someone you can text with when you have questions, most people who have learned it are happy to pass on info.

[Wilsonian]

13 hours ago, Shallowface said:

Here's one for the older stuff.  Out of print but you can still find them.

Just found a copy on Thriftbooks.

[bcstones]

Abe Books is an excellent site....I used to use Used Book Search, they did an international search w/various sites, but seems as tho they've disappeared now. I usually went to Abe's anyway.

[DonaldDunes]

On 7/27/2025 at 2:50 AM, scotts33 said:

The old standby is a book named Golf Club Design, Fitting, Alteration, & Repair by Ralph Maltby.  The 1st Edition was from Sept. 1974 and I think it made a 4th Edition in 1994.

 

There are quite a few good YouTube videos our there also.  

 

It can become an obsession and if you aren't a hoarder you'll become one in a good way.  😆  Good luck!

I will definitely be looking for this. Thank you!

 

 

On 7/27/2025 at 6:29 AM, Shallowface said:

Here's one for the older stuff.  Out of print but you can still find them.

It just so happens I enjoy vintage books as well, so this is perfect. I love the cover art. Thank you!

 

 

23 hours ago, Stephen8802 said:

Start with the Mike Rees videos on YouTube, that will get you 90% of the way there. The Maltby and Paul books are both good for reference, but I only used them for rare issues not covered by Rees. Also helpful, although more time consuming, is to go back to the earliest post here and read anything about club repair and take notes. I did that when I started refinishing and found a lots of good tips. There was a lot more action here 10 or 15 years ago and a lot more people who refinished. Lastly, find someone you can text with when you have questions, most people who have learned it are happy to pass on info.

Well, there goes all my free time haha. Thank you much!

[DonaldDunes]

Rather than start a new topic, I'll ask here. 

 

What literature would you recommend for identifying, collecting, and just general history for vintage clubs? (Early 1980's and prior)

[bcstones]

1 hour ago, DonaldDunes said:

What literature would you recommend for identifying, collecting, and just general history for vintage clubs? (Early 1980's and prior)

Maltby's for 1950 - 1998 (if you get the IV edition) it has an excellent history of the companies from their start, the 3 Kaplan's Guide (Hillerick & Bradbsy, Wilson & MacGregor) to start....

@Jiggered does an excellent job on history of the clubs he reviews on his YouTube site, "Classic Golf Clubs"...(here I'd give a caution - IMO, the YT channel 'vintage goffer' the past year & half, has gone waaay downhill for some reason, he doesn't seem be using his own source/history material (ie,,he states that Hillerick & Bradbsy is owned by Louisville Slugger), just be aware of that. ...
as for book, I've always haunted the book section of GW, thrift stores, HPB etc. You never know what may show up.Here are 3 titles I've come across in the past 30+ Years:
"The Golf Club, 400 years of the Good, the Beautiful & the Creative x Jeffery B. Ellis;

"Golf the Early Days, Royal & Ancient Game fro it's Orign to 1939" x Gail Concannon;

"The Vintage Era of Golf Club Collectables" x Ronald O. John
These are large coffee table size for the most part....there are a few others I have, this should be enough to get you started down this alternative rabbit hole 🤣.
 

[DonaldDunes]

33 minutes ago, bcstones said:

Maltby's for 1950 - 1998 (if you get the IV edition) it has an excellent history of the companies from their start, the 3 Kaplan's Guide (Hillerick & Bradbsy, Wilson & MacGregor) to start....

@Jiggered does an excellent job on history of the clubs he reviews on his YouTube site, "Classic Golf Clubs"...(here I'd give a caution - IMO, the YT channel 'vintage goffer' the past year & half, has gone waaay downhill for some reason, he doesn't seem be using his own source/history material (ie,,he states that Hillerick & Bradbsy is owned by Louisville Slugger), just be aware of that. ...
as for book, I've always haunted the book section of GW, thrift stores, HPB etc. You never know what may show up.Here are 3 titles I've come across in the past 30+ Years:
"The Golf Club, 400 years of the Good, the Beautiful & the Creative x Jeffery B. Ellis;

"Golf the Early Days, Royal & Ancient Game fro it's Orign to 1939" x Gail Concannon;

"The Vintage Era of Golf Club Collectables" x Ronald O. John
These are large coffee table size for the most part....there are a few others I have, this should be enough to get you started down this alternative rabbit hole 🤣.
 

Thank you very much! I was actually brought to this forum following a rabbit trail via @Jiggered youtube page. I agree with the quality of "The Vintage Golfer" YT channel. While I do not possess half of the knowledge needed to make a judgement call of it's accuracy, the depth of research seems to be....shallow compared to the much preferable "Classic Golf Clubs". 

 

I also haunt the used book sections, which is one of the reasons I am asking haha. I need to know what to keep an eye out for! Although ebay seems to have a great selection if you know what to search.

 

I am a huge fan of the "post-war" era of golf (steel shafts through the 70's as I understand it). My great-grandfather played in a few Pro-Am tournaments in the 70's and I am interested to see what was going on in the world of golf back then. Also, I can't really stand the modern equipment haha. Attached are some pictures of my great-grandfather's clubs he played. I am supposed to get them from my father soon and intend to restore and play them!

 

 

Edited July 30 by DonaldDunes
Fixed photo format

[bcstones]

@DonaldDunes the pictures came thu as attachments...any chance you could resubmit from the "choose files"?

[bcstones]

btw...I'd be real careful about buying books on the bay thingie - only if you can't find them elsewhere from actual book sites like Abe Books, or HPB on line etc

[DonaldDunes]

2 minutes ago, bcstones said:

@DonaldDunes the pictures came thu as attachments...any chance you could resubmit from the "choose files"?

 

Sorry, I had the file format wrong.

[bcstones]

15 minutes ago, DonaldDunes said:

 

Sorry, I had the file format wrong.

no problem...that Tommy Amour VFQ shows up in the Kaplan MacGregor in 1961 - does it have that punch dot pyramid w.the the rest as lines on the face?

[DonaldDunes]

5 minutes ago, bcstones said:

no problem...that Tommy Amour VFQ shows up in the Kaplan MacGregor in 1961 - does it have that punch dot pyramid w.the the rest as lines on the face?

I wish I knew, those are the only photos I have of them that my father took. I will be making a post about them when I get them in hand.

 

I remember my dad taking them out (in the original leather bag) to play a couple of rounds with me in high school (2001) when I first got into golf. He could hit those woods about 200 yards straight right it seemed haha. Now he reports that the grips are mostly missing due to age, and I think the bottom of the bag got wet in a flash flood or two. I'm hoping to bring them back round though!

[Stephen8802]

Yes on Kaplan, nothing better. Also, Clement. I bought this book in 1981 and read it everday for years. Clement taught me what classic clubs were.

[Shallowface]

1 hour ago, bcstones said:

btw...I'd be real careful about buying books on the bay thingie - only if you can't find them elsewhere from actual book sites like Abe Books, or HPB on line etc

I've purchased a lot of books on Ebay and never had an issue.  Often for very little money and often with free shipping.  Did you have a negative experience with a purchase?

 

   

[bcstones]

36 minutes ago, Shallowface said:

I've purchased a lot of books on Ebay and never had an issue.  Often for very little money and often with free shipping.  Did you have a negative experience with a purchase?

 

   

a number of times....I'd rather deal w/actual entities who know about books, not some dude or dudess who thinks they know

Edited July 30 by bcstones