ROBERT FORGAN c. 1880's Long Nose Golf Club ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

This is a Robert Forgan, of St. Andrews, Scotland, long nose golf club from circa 1885 in nice displayable condition.The club is 43" long with 12 degrees of loft and was probably used as a driving brassie in the era.The shaft is straight, stiff, and undamaged with an "Auchterlonie, St. Andrews" stamp just below the grip.The replacement grip is in excellent condition, replicating the look of a worn sheepskin grip from the era.The clubhead has a layer of shellac covering the original finish; there are no chunks or missing wood on the clubhead, but there appears to be a possible hairline crack on the backside of the neck (that is not very noticeable) so it would not be recommended to play this club, even though it looks like it would be fine for that.There is a full brass soleplate below the horn slip, a lead backweight, and tight whipping joining the splice attachment.Robert Forgan apprenticed with the great Hugh Philp starting in 1852, opening his own shop in 1856, and was known as the very finest maker of long nose woods at the time that this club was produced.  Forgan's shop was next to the Old Tom Morris golf shop along the 18th fairway of the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland and "Forgan" is still imprinted into the concrete walkway leading into the old building that now houses a clothing outlet.This club has the "Prince of Wales" cleekmark just below the "R. Forgan" stamp on the top of the clubhead.  Forgan used this cleekmark from 1883 until 1901 when the Prince became the King and a crown replaced the plume of feathers.Great display club showcasing a wonderful example of the long clubheads used during the gutty ball era of golf (1850-1900).