Old Golf Club Names
Before golf clubs had numbers, they had names. A golfer in 1900 didn't reach for a 5 iron or a 3 wood: they asked for the mashie or the spoon. The names faded in the 1930s, when matched numbered sets arrived, but they still turn up in golf writing, quizzes and hickory golf events.
Here's what each old club was and what it roughly matches today.
The quick conversion chart
| Old name | Type | Rough modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Play club | Wood | Driver |
| Brassie | Wood | 2 wood |
| Spoon | Wood | 3 or 4 wood |
| Baffy (baffing spoon) | Wood | 4 or 5 wood |
| Cleek | Iron | 1 or 2 iron |
| Mid iron | Iron | 2 iron |
| Mid mashie | Iron | 3 iron |
| Mashie iron | Iron | 4 iron |
| Mashie | Iron | 5 iron |
| Spade mashie | Iron | 6 iron |
| Mashie niblick | Iron | 7 iron |
| Pitching niblick | Iron | 8 iron |
| Niblick | Iron | 9 iron or wedge |
| Jigger | Iron | Low-lofted iron on a short shaft, for running shots |
A word of warning: these are approximate. Clubs were made by hand, every maker had their own ideas, and names were used loosely. You'll find charts that differ by a club here and there.
The woods
Old woods really were wood, usually with heads of beech and later persimmon.
- Play club: the long-nosed club for driving off the tee. It's the ancestor of the modern driver.
- Brassie: named after the brass plate screwed to its sole. The plate protected the wood when hitting off hard ground and fairway lies.
- Spoon: a lofted wood with a concave, slightly "spooned" face. There were long, middle and short spoons, from less to more loft.
- Baffy: a short, lofted wood for getting the ball up quickly. "Baffing" was an old word for striking the ground behind the ball to loft it.
The irons
Early golfers carried only a few irons, since iron heads could damage the fragile balls of the time. As balls became tougher, the iron family grew.
- Cleek: a long, low-lofted iron for distance shots and running approaches. There was also a putting cleek, which explains why the name crops up on old putters.
- Mid iron: a little more loft than the cleek, for long approaches.
- Mashie: the classic approach club, with roughly the loft of a 5 iron. Read more in what is a mashie golf club?
- Spade mashie: a deeper-faced mashie with a bit more loft.
- Mashie niblick: halfway between the mashie and the niblick, around a 7 iron. Many hickory players call it the most useful club in the bag.
- Niblick: a small, heavily lofted head for high shots, bunkers and bad lies. The closest thing they had to a wedge.
- Jigger: a low-lofted iron, often on a shorter shaft, for chip-and-run shots from around the green.
Why names gave way to numbers
In the 1920s, steel shafts were approved, first by the USGA and then by the R&A. Steel made clubs consistent enough to be sold in matched sets, with each iron a set step in loft and length from the next. Numbers made more sense than names for a set like that, and by the end of the 1930s most new clubs were numbered.
The sand wedge came along at about the same time, and later the pitching, gap and lob wedges filled in the short end of the bag. Modern clubs are explained in golf clubs explained: irons, chips and putts.
Old names you still hear
- Spoon is still used now and then for a 3 wood, especially in Japan and in some club names.
- Niblick pops up in golf crosswords, quizzes and clubhouse names.
- Mashie is the name behind Mashy, a free pixel-art pitch & putt game in your browser. Mashy is named after the mashie, and its free stock irons are called Hickory Mashies. There's no driver or woods in the game: just irons from a 7 iron down, three wedges and a putter.
Fancy testing yourself? Try our golf trivia questions.
Frequently asked questions
What is a niblick in golf?
A niblick was a hickory-era iron with a small, heavily lofted head, roughly equal to a modern 9 iron or wedge. Golfers used it for high shots, for getting out of bunkers and for escaping bad lies such as ruts and long grass. The mashie niblick was a slightly less lofted version, close to a 7 iron.
What is a spoon in golf?
A spoon was a lofted wooden club with a slightly concave face, used for long shots from the fairway. There were long, middle and short spoons with increasing loft. Today the word usually means a 3 wood, and you will still hear it used that way, particularly in Japan.
Why was it called a brassie?
The brassie got its name from the brass plate fixed to the sole of the clubhead. The plate protected the wooden head when golfers hit from hard ground or fairway lies. It was roughly the same as a modern 2 wood, sitting between the driver and the spoon.
What is a cleek golf club?
A cleek was a long, low-lofted iron, roughly a modern 1 or 2 iron, used for long shots and running approaches. Some old putters were also called putting cleeks. The word was used so widely that the craftsmen who forged iron heads became known as cleekmakers.
When did golf clubs get numbers instead of names?
Numbered clubs took over during the 1930s. After steel shafts were approved in the 1920s, makers could produce matched sets with consistent lofts and lengths, and numbering each club made the set easy to understand. Names like mashie and niblick then fell out of everyday use.