Wulff “1860 Series”
Premium Middle Spoon
The Wulff long-nose clubs in the 1860 series commemorate the clubs designed during the “gutty” era, which lasted from the late 1840s to the early 1900s. After the introduction of the gutta percha ball in 1848, club makers needed to improve the durability of long-nose clubs to hold up to the harder “guttie.” Eventually, the delicate and graceful designs of the fruit wood long-nose clubs of the featherie era took a backseat to characteristics that prioritized durability such as denser wood, thicker necks, and leather faces. The long-nose clubs in this series pay homage to the workhorses of the gutty era and are made with materials and a design suitable for play with the synthetic gutta percha ball as well as modern low-compression balls.
The Wulff 1860 Premium Middle Spoon is loosely based on an actual 1860s-era middle spoon made by Willie Park Sr. The example pictured here is made from spalted maple and is the premium version of the base model Wulff 1860 Middle Spoon. These premium models are sold individually for $260.
In addition to the striking spalted maple wood, the dominant feature on this example is the thick leather face, which was a common repair for wood faces damaged by the gutta percha ball. For my leather faces, I use natural vegetable tanned leather that’s cut to shape, soaked in hot water, then compressed between two pieces of hard maple for about a week to ensure the leather is dry and hard. At this point, the leather is workable like wood and I fit the insert using traditional hide glue and small brad nails to secure it in place. It’s then stained with oil stain or asphaltum.
Traditionally, the material on the leading edge of the sole would have been made of ram’s horn, but in the spirit of “embracing a history that never was,” I use the dense hardwoods that would have been available to a hypothetical club maker living and working on Long Island, NY, in the mid-1800s. In this example, I used persimmon but I generally use lignum vitae, which is one of the hardest woods in the world and it holds up well to the synthetic gutta percha ball. It’s secured to the sole with traditional hide glue and hickory pegs. The weight on the back of the head is poured and hammered lead.
As you can see from the photos, spalted maple has some striking visual character so I opted for a natural finish that’s simply several coats of linseed oil and shellac to help protect the head from moisture.
The shaft on the 1860 middle spoon is generally a vintage hickory shaft, though I also make some premium models that include a hand-carved hickory shaft that’s stamped “WULFF” at the base of the grip. The grip is a thick strip leather, suede-side-out, on top of a strip of felt under listing that’s secured to the end of the shaft in the traditional way with a bent nail.
With the leather face, the spalted maple model of the Wulff 1860 middle spoon can be played with both synthetic gutta percha and modern low-compression balls.
General spec range:
15-20 degrees loft
high Ds swing weight
40-42 inches long
Sold individually for $275 (shipping included for the continental USA)
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