Antique Golf Clubs from Scotland: Clubmakers

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Clubmakers

Grange Alves
Aberdeen/Cleveland

An exotic sounding name, but Grange Alves was born in Aberdeen in 1885 and was one of at least three generations to have that forename. He was links champion at Balgownie sometime in the first five years of the twentieth century and a match was set up there on 16 March 1907, against Archie Simpson and W Mearns, to mark his departure for the United States to become a professional the following week.

His first appointment was at the French Lick Springs resort in Indiana. He befriended Donald Ross which was useful as he was asked by a group of investors to set up a course in Cleveland, Ohio, which he did at Shaker Heights, with Ross’s help, in 1915 with Alves as head professional. Clearly he learned from the experience as he designed a dozen courses in Ohio himself between 1924 and 1930.

During the First World War his brother ran Alex Marling’s clubmaking shop at Balgownie. His father, also Grange, initially a joiner and wheelwright, who had worked as a clubmaker at Balgownie also in Archie Simpson’s time, was still turning out for the Bon Accord club with a ten handicap, but came to the United States in 1921, the year Grange won the Ohio Open, and spent a year working for his son.

Grange snr died in 1937 followed shortly by his son in June 1939.

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