Q. I saw some Peterson aluminum hickory shaft retrofitted woods that were from 1927. Would these be allowed for SoHG events?
A. Those woods were first done with wood shafts and then steel. So they actually meet the old guidelines as well as the more recent modified guidelines on woods. It should also be noted that Tad Moore has made replicas of those woods and has them for sale. Besides the Standard Golf “Mills” clubs, the Peterson brand were among the earliest examples of metal woods.
Q. Recently, I figured out a way to turn old, metal shafted golf clubs from Goodwill into wood shafted golf clubs. The shafts themselves are made out of American white oak. The process gives new life to the clubs and allows me to play golf with a wooden shaft without the risk of breaking a 100-year-old piece of history. I have two questions for SoHG. First, am I the only person to your knowledge to convert metal shafted clubs into wood shafted clubs? Secondly, would one of my clubs be allowed to be played at a SoHG event or any other hickory golf open? I appreciate any help you can provide.
A. The SoHG allows “retro-fitting” of woods that were designed or manufactured before 1935. That year is our official cut-off date to be used in events using SoHG guidelines. We do not, at this time, allow retrofitting of irons or putters.
If the steel shafted woods you are finding and retrofitting fit that date guideline they would be permitted. Note that you must be able to verify those dates when entering an event. Again, no irons or putters. If they did not exist before that date, then no.
It would take a little time but you would benefit from reading the guidelines on the SoHG website, which are pretty clear and understandable on this topic. There is a lot of information on the website that can be of interest. Also, there are links to companies that manufacture authentic replica clubs – woods, irons and putters – as well as new hickory shafts. You will also find sources of gripping material, supplies and more.
It will be interesting to see how your shafts of oak hold up under play. Before hickory wood was used, almost universally, many different woods were tried – ash, greenheart, danga, orange wood (no one now knows what that was), bamboo, and others.