In short: A hickory club has to have a straight shaft. Never clean up an old club unless you are an expert: it can make it worthless. Valuing a collectable takes research, and most are bought by collectors looking for one particular club.
What to check on a hickory club
Start with the shaft: a hickory club has to have a straight shaft, so look down it before you buy. Then the maker: most hickory irons have the maker’s name, and often a cleek mark (a small maker’s symbol), stamped on the back of the head, which helps tell you who made the club and roughly when. Every listing shows the club from several angles, so you can see the head, the shaft and the grip.
Roughly how old is it?
Steel shafts took over from hickory in the late 1920s and 1930s, after the USGA allowed steel in 1924 and the R&A in 1929, so most hickory-shafted clubs were made before then. To date a club more closely, research the maker and the marks on the head.
Never clean it up
Never clean up an old club unless you are an expert. Cleaning or polishing a collectable club can make it worthless: collectors want it as it is.
What makes one worth more
The maker, the marks, how rare the club is and its condition all play a part, and research is the only way to put a value on it. Buying a collectable is usually done by a collector wanting a certain club, so a club one person passes over can be exactly what another is looking for.
Questions about hickory and collectable clubs
Make sure the shaft is straight, then look for the maker's name and any cleek mark on the back of the head.
No, not unless you are an expert. Cleaning up an old club can make it worthless.
Most hickory-shafted clubs were made before the 1930s, when steel shafts took over. The maker's marks help date it more closely.
Yes. Email sales@newandusedgolfclubs.co.uk or call 07880 706308.