137 replies to this topic

[Bella Woods]

Aussie_steeler, on 19 January 2013 - 04:31 AM, said:

Played my 4th ever round in competition today with a set of hickories. I bogeyed the last two holes to shoot even par. I cant tell you how much I owe this to Tad Moore. Two weeks ago I got a driver, spoon and dominie sander from him. These clubs are absolutely beautiful and a pleasure to play with. Thank you Tad for the quality of your workmanship and I can honestly say that I am hooked to this new way of golfing.  I will endeavour to post a photo of my set in the next couple of days. I have shot many sub par rounds in my 30 years of golfing but today was one of the most enjoyable rounds I have ever played

Welcome to the hickory "club" Aussie_steeler. Looking forward to your club photos.

Sounds like you had a great round of golf with your new found clubs. I have the Dominie Sander in my bag too,
great club. Hard to believe Gibson made such a technologically modern type golf club in the early 1930s.

[Blade Junkie]

What does the Dominie Sander look like from the address position ? Can someone take a pic please ?

[Bella Woods]

Blade Junkie, on 19 January 2013 - 10:08 AM, said:

What does the Dominie Sander look like from the address position ? Can someone take a pic please ?

Geoff:

Here are a few pictures of mine, still has sand on it from Mid Pines.

Edited by Bella Woods, 19 January 2013 - 10:58 AM.

[majic]

Geoff and Bella as you know we have had some good discussions on the Gibson Danga wood Niblicks.  Walter Hagen liked the Dominie Sander so much he had the William Gibson Company make some with his name etc on the club.  These and about 2 other versions I have were some sweet niblicks in their day.  Gibson was the largest maker of golf clubs and probably he finest maker of wood shafts.  My only regret is that during my 20 years of collecting Gibson i did not take pictures of all clubs so i could do a book.
Tad

[Aussie_steeler]

What's in my bag

Driver - tad Moore Selma star
Spoon - tad Moore pall mall 3 star

G.brodie.breeze iron (D2)
Gibson star maxwell jigger ( C6)
Forgan & son "Scotia" mashie (C5)
RJ Gibson royal Calcutta GC paragon triplex mashie (C6)
Gibson star maxwell deep faced mashie (C6)
Hoylake southern cross niblick (D5)
Tad Moore Gibson dominie sander (D5)

No name rustless putter

Ball - precept lady IQ180

Have about 15 spare irons and 6 woods. Cracked my spalding thistle brassie back in November. Need another original brassie for Aussie tournaments as SOHG clubs aren't permitted

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[stixman]

Here are a couple of pics of my Dominie Sander. BTW the swing weight is off the scale up in G somewhere but it is remarkably playable. Has the original danga wood shaft.

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[stixman]

I've got a couple of observations regarding useful niblicks. There are plenty of Maxwells around and they seem to be in great demand irrespective of the sole design. They varied a lot and picking one with a natural bounce to the sole takes a bit of seeking otherwise you will finish up with another digger. Another factor is swing weight. Ideally you want to be playing a niblick with a bit of heft, C ranges just don't cut it.
The photos show a Gibson weighing in at E7 with adequate bounce for most circumstances, probably made in the mid 1920s. I show (top right) another which is probably a bit earlier made by a small London maker Batley and Co. but the head is again probably a Gibson. In this one you have both bounce and face progression. Now, maybe this was a design fluke predating Sarazen's claims by a decade and more. I tend to believe that good club design by Gibson came with the brand and was not heralded by marketing men.

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[Bella Woods]

Nice set of clubs Aussie_steeler - play well in your Aussie tournaments this year.

[Bella Woods]

stixman:

I was hoping you would post some pics of your original Dominie Sander for comparison
to Tads remake. I think the amount of bounce on the club is remarkable for an 80 year
old plus golf club.

No wonder Hagen wanted clubs made for himself of this design. I have heard he was not a very
good bunker player in his heyday (basically chipping it out). When he got the Dominie
Sander in his hands - he must have thought he was cheating.

[Aussie_steeler]

Here is one for you tad.

I have two star maxwell Gibson jiggers.

You won't see two more polar opposite models. One is for lofting and the other is for driving it low.

Have you seen either model before?

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Edited by Aussie_steeler, 20 January 2013 - 05:46 PM.

[majic]

Aussie I have collected gibson for 20 years.  Your Jigger is a POWERFUL model.  I will post a niblick i have.  I would love your club.  It surely would hit a very strong driving shot.  
The Australian hickory players should form a branch of the SoHG as the Society of hickory golfers is a true Worldwide group dedicated to the growth of the hickory game.  We in my mind are the USGA/R&A of hickory golf.  Not collecting although many of our members are avid collectors. We are the caretakers of the hickory playing game.  Tad

[majic]

My Powerful Niblick with the thicker topline.  Tad

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[majic]

Here is my P.A Vaile niblick.  Very unusual design and sole.  I also have a Chipper. Similar shape but about the width of a Jigger. Gibson made the chipper type club all the way back to the days of production in Edinburgh. Both have Danga Wood shafts and Square Grips. I think these are very rare.
Tad

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[gvogel]

Here are the top 10 or so players from the recent US Pro Hickory tournament at Temple Terrace:

Paolo Quirici               74
Richard Bullock          75
John McCann             75
Jon Benson                78
Adam Varney              78
David Rummels          79
Mike Stevens              80
Mark Harmon              80
Jim Garrison               81
Jennifer Cully              82
Jeff Leonard               82
Eddy Peckels             83
Bill Geisler                  83
Tom McCrary             83

As you can see, there was some very good hickory play on the 6400 yard Temple Terrace golf course.

[Bella Woods]

Thanks for the info gvogel - pretty good scores all in all. I recognize a lot of the names
and have had the opportunity to play with several of the guys listed in the past year and a half.

David Rummels - the former PGA Tour player? I know David Frost has played in that tournament in
the past.


Edit: Hey gvogel - I see you were a participant as well.

Edited by Bella Woods, 23 January 2013 - 08:21 PM.

[stixman]

What would be really interesting would be a breakdown of who played replicas, I'm pretty sure Mike Stevens plays originals for example. Then we can get into 'who played what clubs' !

[gvogel]

stixman, on 24 January 2013 - 04:27 AM, said:

What would be really interesting would be a breakdown of who played replicas, I'm pretty sure Mike Stevens plays originals for example. Then we can get into 'who played what clubs' !

Mike was playing a Mike Just driver and fairway wood, and Tad's Star OA irons - but he had one original iron in his bag.  Not sure about wedges and putters.

Jon Benson played my set of Star OA irons, a 3 Star driver and Star OA spoon.

I think that many players had mixed bags between originals and reproductions.

[gvogel]

Bella Woods, on 23 January 2013 - 06:57 PM, said:

Thanks for the info gvogel - pretty good scores all in all. I recognize a lot of the names
and have had the opportunity to play with several of the guys listed in the past year and a half.

David Rummels - the former PGA Tour player? I know David Frost has played in that tournament in
the past.


Edit: Hey gvogel - I see you were a participant as well.

Actually I spelled his name incorrectly - it is Rummells, and I believe he did play on the PGA Tour.  Jeff Leonard also played on the PGA Tour, and I had the pleasure of playing with him.  Jeff had originals in his bag.