Antique Golf Clubs from Scotland: Clubmakers

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Clubmakers

Wanamaker
Philadelphia/NYC/Chicago

Neither a professional golfer nor a clubmaker, Rodman Wanamaker was one of the most influential figures in American golf. The son of John Wanamaker, who had founded one of the first department stores in the US, the Grand Depot in Philadelphia in 1876, Rodman was responsible for much of the company’s emphasis on sporting goods, especially imported golf equipment which they sold both retail and wholesale to club professionals.

Once the world’s largest sporting retailer, by 1916 they also had two stores in New York but had fallen behind A G Spalding in golfing sales. At the encouragement of his then head golf salesman, three-times US Open runner-up Tom McNamara, Wanamaker organised a lunch at his private restaurant in New York where 35 golf professionals attended. Previously there had been unwillingness to have a national professional golfer’s association but Wanamaker’s commitment to put up money for a championship won over the doubters. The PGA of America was officially launched and the first PGA Championship played for in October at Siwanoy, Long Island, in October 1916. The first winner, Jim Barnes, was presented with a gold medal and the Wanamaker trophy which is still played for today.

The relationship between the professionals and Wanamaker was a fractious one, always likely when your main supplier also sells retail and the financial connection for the tournament severed.

Wanamaker’s sponsored the US tour of George Duncan and Abe Mitchell in 1921 and they used it to heavily advertise Silver King golf balls. That tour was organised by George Braid, a St Andrews émigré, and, over the years Wanamaker’s provided employment for many Scottish instructors and clubmakers from A H Findlay in the early days on to Charlie Adams, Walter Stoddart, Harry Cowie and John Duncan Dunn who ran their New York golf school for a season.

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