Hickory Mashie Golf Club, Gibson

Hickory Mashie Golf Club, Gibson

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Category
Reference

27058

Mashie Golf Club by Gibson of Kinghorn.
A good Mashie iron made by Gibson of Kinghorn, Scotland. The head and original hickory shaft stamped 'Aitken, Gullane'. Also on the club head 'Momax', '49', 'Mashie', 'Made In Scotland' and with Gibson's 'DEEP STRUCK STAR' cleek mark. The hickory shafted mashie has a polished leather grip, dot punched face markings and an approximate 32° loft.

Gibson's 'OUTLINE STAR' cleek mark was registered in 1906, although it had been used since Gibson began his business in the 1890's and was replaced with the 'DEEP STRUCK STAR' in the 1930's. The company made many "signature" clubs.

A great mashie iron in good original condition and very usable for modern hickory play, the best balls for hickory play are low compression balls that will give at impact, such as ladies balls or soft feel balls.
Taken from www.northberwick.org.uk
ALEXANDER, THOMAS, AND JOHN AITKEN    Club-Makers, Edinburgh, Gullane, Portrush.
Alexander Veitch Aitken (b.1864), Thomas Aitken, (b.1866), John Veitch Aitken (b.1868), sons of Thomas Aitken upholsterer and his wife Elizabeth Veitch. In 1880, the family were living at 16, Wright's Houses opposite Bruntsfield Links where Alex, Tom, John and Adam learned to play golf. Douglas McEwan the famous club and ball maker worked from 36, Wright's Houses where the Aitken brothers were taught the art of club-making.
Their father Thomas Aitken Snr was a founder member of Bruntsfield Allied Golf Club in 1856 and a member of the committee representing the interests of the Bruntsfield golfers when Edinburgh Town Council sought to control play on Bruntsfield Links in 1886. This led to the opening of the Braid Hills Golf Course in 1889. The Aitken family moved to 39 South Bruntsfield Place in 1886, then to 192 Morningside Road, with the upholstery business at 184, Morningside Road.
In 1892 John Aitken was appointed club and ball-maker to Royal Portrush Golf Club, while his brother Alex Aitken was Club Professional (1892-95). John worked from a shop at 10, Main Street, Portrush employing three or four club-makers making and repairing golf clubs. He also patented several golf balls including the popular 'Portrush Lily' named after his daughter.
In 1911, John was a founder member of the Irish Professional Golfers' Association and was appointed as one of four professionals to draft their constitution. John Aitken was replaced at Royal Portrush in 1911 and died in September 1916 aged forty-three.
In 1893 Alex Aitken opened a retail outlet at 3 Brighton Terrace, Gullane, East Lothian. Aitken continued to rent the property at 184, Morningside Road, Edinburgh until 1896 when he was appointed the first club-maker to the Royal Burgess Golfing Society and allowed to construct a shop beside the clubhouse at Barnton. He remained there for 15 months before moving to Gullane permanently and was living in Temple Croft, Templar Place until 1917. Willie Anderson son of the head greenkeeper at North Berwick apprenticed as a club-maker with Alex Aitken before he emigrated to America in 1896 and won the US Open four times.
Alex Aitken produced a set of clubs in his workshop at Gullane for the Prime Minister Hon. Arthur J. Balfour, and in 1897 he was exporting clubs to P. F. Murphy & Co in Boston, USA. In 1905 the Gullane Ladies Golf Club rented a large shed in Saltcoats Road belonging to Alex Aitken as their first clubhouse. Following WW1 Alex moved to 2 Lammerview Terrace, Gullane where he died on 27th March 1944 aged 79 years. There are some fine examples of Alex Aitken's club-making still in existence.
Alex's brother Thomas Aitken was appointed professional at Great Yarmouth G.C (1892-1911). He was a PGA member in 1902 and 1911, and spent a year at Stanwell (Shortwood Common), Stains. Tom moved to Gorleston (1912-17), then Northampton (1920-22), and Milford Haven (1922-30), before settling at Gloucester (1930-32). Tom played an exhibition match with Percy Alliss at the opening of the Milford Haven course in 1933.

Dimensions:

Height 94 cm / 37 "
Year

1920's

Medium

Hickory

Country

Scotland

Condition

Very good usable club.

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