First 9 irons?

[Jiggered]

I've seen a few older iron sets recently that didn't have a 9 iron, now I know that early sets often stopped at the 8 iron but I don't want to buy a set that's missing the 9 iron when it shouldn't be.

 

Which got me wondering, at what date did 9 irons first start to make an appearance as part of a set?

[Jiggered]

No ideas?

 

Maybe I didn't ask the question very well, or maybe the missing 9 was a UK thing?

In the UK most early numbered sets only went up to an 8 iron.

 

I have a 1930s set that goes from 1 to 8.

Below is a UK set from somewhere around the fifties, irons go from 2 to 8, 9 is a putter and 10 is a sand iron (although I think a 10 iron was a rarity for the UK at this date).

 

 

 

The 9 reference for putters from around this time and earlier seems pretty common, in the UK at least.

 

At some point then, putters must have begun to be made without a number.

I'm guessing that the iron set continued going up to a number 8 for a while, until the 9 iron was introduced, was this something that the UK borrowed from America?

 

Does anybody know a date for the earliest 9 irons in America, were they there from the beginning of numbered sets or did they stop at an 8 in America too?

 

 

Any thoughts or comments appreciated.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I've actually been hoping someone would chime in with an answer, because when I read your first post a couple of days ago, it was the first time I had heard of sets only going down to an 8i.

Wasn't Spalding the first to introduce numbered irons?

How many iron names were there. I make it 8 plus sandwedge.

1) Driving iron

2) Cleek

3) Mid mashie

4) Mashie

5) Spade mashie

6) Mashie niblick

7) Niblick

8) Pitching niblick (not sure about this last one, but I am sure there was one with the word "pitching" in it)

 

So that *might* explain the irons going from 1 to 8 in the early days.

 

I didn't include the jigger because I thought it was a sort of specialist club, and not everyone carried one. But that 9 is definitely a putter, and not a jigger?

[dlygrisse]

I used to have an old Spaulding set. 2-9. The 9 had approximately 52 degrees.

[Jiggered]

I used to have an old Spaulding set. 2-9. The 9 had approximately 52 degrees.

 

Thanks, do you know roughly what year they were made?

[Jiggered]

I've actually been hoping someone would chime in with an answer, because when I read your first post a couple of days ago, it was the first time I had heard of sets only going down to an 8i.

Wasn't Spalding the first to introduce numbered irons?

How many iron names were there. I make it 8 plus sandwedge.

1) Driving iron

2) Cleek

3) Mid mashie

4) Mashie

5) Spade mashie

6) Mashie niblick

7) Niblick

8) Pitching niblick (not sure about this last one, but I am sure there was one with the word "pitching" in it)

 

So that *might* explain the irons going from 1 to 8 in the early days.

 

I didn't include the jigger because I thought it was a sort of specialist club, and not everyone carried one. But that 9 is definitely a putter, and not a jigger?

 

It's definitely the putter, see pics below.

First pic shows from top to bottom, 10, 9, 8, & 7

Second pic shows looking down on the 9 and 10

 

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I've actually been hoping someone would chime in with an answer, because when I read your first post a couple of days ago, it was the first time I had heard of sets only going down to an 8i.

Wasn't Spalding the first to introduce numbered irons?

How many iron names were there. I make it 8 plus sandwedge.

1) Driving iron

2) Cleek

3) Mid mashie

4) Mashie

5) Spade mashie

6) Mashie niblick

7) Niblick

8) Pitching niblick (not sure about this last one, but I am sure there was one with the word "pitching" in it)

 

So that *might* explain the irons going from 1 to 8 in the early days.

 

I didn't include the jigger because I thought it was a sort of specialist club, and not everyone carried one. But that 9 is definitely a putter, and not a jigger?

 

It's definitely the putter, see pics below.

First pic shows from top to bottom, 10, 9, 8, & 7

Second pic shows looking down on the 9 and 10

 

 

 

Oh, yes. And a beauty, too. How does it putt?

 

I thought it was unlikely to be a jigger as the head was longer than the other clubs. Thing is, I can't say that I've ever actually seen a jigger...

[Jiggered]

Oh, yes. And a beauty, too. How does it putt?

 

I thought it was unlikely to be a jigger as the head was longer than the other clubs. Thing is, I can't say that I've ever actually seen a jigger...

 

The putter has a big offset and when I put it into play I tend to pull putts for a while until I've adjusted my stroke, after that it putts pretty well.

 

A jigger looks like a mid to long iron but has a lot of weight at the sole and so it gives a high ball flight.

[Wriggles]

Every old early steel shaft set I've seen, the 9 iron is the putter, or just is listed an eight iron as the highest lofted club. Never saw a 10. I've had several sets, currently have a Walter Hagen Star Line from early 1930's, that the putter is a nine. I'd venture to say the 9 and above for a lofted club is 1950's and newer.

 

I'm not an expert, but from my observations, clubs got more "sophisticated" in the 1950's and newer. Prior to that, clubs mimicked their hickory ancestors. Blades were blades, no early weighting and primitive game improvement features. Golf clubs were golf clubs.

 

Spalding may have brought out the first numbered sets. Bobby Jones is featured in ads for the new sets. Prior to that, clubs were usually bought one at a time. Terms like registered referred to sold by the set. Related referred to clubs which could be bought one at a time.

 

As a boy in the early 1960's, I recall buying my first iron, a 5 iron, in a sporting goods shop for $5.99. Clubs were still available then, one at a time..

 

Play well!

 

PS: That's a sweet set. I'd guess mid 1930's, not sure, though.

[Jiggered]

That ties in with my thoughts on the introduction of the 9, it would be nice to find something to confirm it though!

 

I've always thought that that iron set is from the early fifties (nothing to back this up however!) but I guess it could be from the late thirties.

[gloucesteroldspot]

Apologies if I am guilty of a cardinal sin in resurrecting an old thread, but I am fairly new to this site and am still working through past discussions, and I may have something to add to this.

 

Having owned several early steel-era irons sets, it seems it was quite standard to stop at the 8 iron, with the putter stamped number 9. I am fairly certain this was a hangover from the last ten years or so of the hickory-era, where clubs were named and numbered. As far as I can tell, they ran thus:

 

1 - driving iron - approx. 16 degrees

2 - cleek - approx. 20 degrees

3 - iron - approx. 25 degrees

4 - mashie-iron (sometimes mid-iron) - approx. 30 degrees

5 - mashie - approx. 35 degrees

6 - spade mashie - approx. 40 degrees

7 - mashie niblick - approx. 45 degrees

8 - niblick - approx. 50 degrees

 

Among others I own/have owned, the George Nicoll Pinsplitter, Gradidge Greensite* and Gradidge Demon sets all stopped at '8', with the putter stamped '9'. The Pinsplitter sand wedge was simply named Howitzer and bore no number. I also have a few lone putters with '9' on the sole. The aforementioned iron sets span at least twenty years; the Demons being mid 1930s, the Greensites (approx.) late 1940s and the Nicoll Pinsplitters late 1950s vintage, so the inclusion of a 9 iron must have been a gradual process between (say) 1945 and 1960.

 

Incidentally, George Nicoll introduced the first matched set of irons called 'Indicator' in 1926. I assume these were hickory shafted as the R&A did not authorise steel shafts until 1929.

 

*Greensite set runs 2-8 and includes a 7.5 iron, so it seems there was some resistance to putting the number 9 on anything other than a putter.

[stixman]

A quick trot over to the US version of that auction site which shall not be named is revealing.

 

There is a set of pyratone Wilson 'Ryder Cup' No Shock irons 2-8 + a 9 iron putter. Date wise the vendor claims late 20s, the first Ryder Cup was 1927, although the Trophy hadn't been presented. I would be surprised if these date as early as that because the Ryder Cup at that time had no traction in marketing terms, 1929 / 1930 for me. The use of No Shock as a brand weapon is also interesting, another clear case of the USA hijacking a successful George Nicoll brand and distorting Nicoll's unique selling point, a hosel which could be used for both hickory and steel, which the Wilson clearly doesn't. Rant over!

Then there is a set of Spalding Robt Jones Tournament set , 2 - 9, + a putter, again very good looking pyratone, date early 1930s.

 

I think the answer lies here, 9 irons came into being in America in the very early 1930s.

[gloucesteroldspot]

A quick trot over to the US version of that auction site which shall not be named is revealing.

 

There is a set of pyratone Wilson 'Ryder Cup' No Shock irons 2-8 + a 9 iron putter. Date wise the vendor claims late 20s, the first Ryder Cup was 1927, although the Trophy hadn't been presented. I would be surprised if these date as early as that because the Ryder Cup at that time had no traction in marketing terms, 1929 / 1930 for me. The use of No Shock as a brand weapon is also interesting, another clear case of the USA hijacking a successful George Nicoll brand and distorting Nicoll's unique selling point, a hosel which could be used for both hickory and steel, which the Wilson clearly doesn't. Rant over!

Then there is a set of Spalding Robt Jones Tournament set , 2 - 9, + a putter, again very good looking pyratone, date early 1930s.

 

I think the answer lies here, 9 irons came into being in America in the very early 1930s.

 

I think you're probably about right, though I am inclined to think they didn't become commonplace until after the war. I have seen plenty of American made iron sets with 9 irons from the late 1940s but no UK made equivalents (so far).

 

This raises another point; did the 9 iron when introduced have more loft and the 8 remain around 50 degrees, or was this the start of loft creep? From what I have seen of early 9 irons they generally started at around 48 degrees, with the 8 at about 44 degrees, so there's a significant jump straight away. Changing from 5 degree increments to the now standard 4 degrees would keep the lower numbers around the same place, loft-wise. I imagine it would have made for some confusion around 1950 if you had US and UK players clubbing off one another.

 

"Ours go up to 9" (apologies to Nigel Tunfell)

[stixman]

I also noticed the 1930s Hagen club sets went to 9 iron.

 

Maybe, just maybe they went to 9 because the wedge was being developed around that time and they needed a 9 for loft progression which would support your thinking.

[wkuo3]

 

As a boy in the early 1960's, I recall buying my first iron, a 5 iron, in a sporting goods shop for $5.99. Clubs were still available then, one at a time..

 

Play well!

 

 

I remembered that's exactly how I made up my first iron set. One club at a time from a barrel with mixed new irons numbers from 2-SW.