Willie Park Authentic Gutty Era Set

Wm. Park Authentic Antique Gutty-Era Play Set

A rare opportunity to acquire a complete and authentic pre-1900 gutty-era play set, assembled around clubs bearing the Wm. Park name.

Unlike many collections of early golf clubs, this set was assembled to be played. It represents the type of compact set a golfer might have carried during the gutta-percha era, when golfers played with far fewer clubs and selected lofts that covered a broad range of shots.

The Set

Wm. Park Long-Nose Driver

Wm. Park Cleek — 20°

Wm. Park General Iron — 30°

Wm. Park Lofter — 40°

Wm. Park Niblick — 50°

Wm. Park Long-Nose Putter

The irons and putter formed part of my personal authentic gutty-era play set and are exceptional playing clubs. The irons progress in approximately 10-degree loft increments, providing a remarkably practical progression from cleek through niblick.

Such spacing is very much in keeping with golf of the period. The gutta-percha ball traveled considerably shorter distances than the modern golf ball, reducing the need for the closely spaced lofts found in today’s sets. Golf bags were also not yet in widespread use, so golfers commonly played with a relatively small collection of clubs that could be carried by hand.

What makes these clubs particularly special for play are their shafts and overall weight. The shafts are wonderfully stout for their age, and the clubs possess an exceptional play weight and balance that is increasingly difficult to find among surviving 19th-century clubs.

The one club I would not play is the Wm. Park long-nose driver. Its face retains what appear to be actual bramble-pattern ball marks, an extraordinary physical connection to the era in which it was used. I consider it too historically interesting to risk through continued play.

For the serious gutty golfer, this is far more than a display set. It is a thoughtfully assembled, authentic set of 19th-century clubs capable of putting a golfer remarkably close to the experience of playing the game as it was played more than 125 years ago.

In terms of authenticity, completeness and playability, I would consider this among the top tier of surviving gutty-era play sets available to the modern golfer.