#Spoon May 14

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In May 2025, many of us have decided to participate in the 30-Day Golf Coach4aday Challenge. Each day the goal is to share something about a particular golf course, golf equipment, or to actually get on the course and play a few holes. Golf is the only sport where you can be furious, humbled, and ecstatic—all in the span of one hole, and still call it “relaxing.” It’s a game where you are cajoling and chasing a tiny ball into a gopher hole. For many it becomes a lifelong obsession and an excuse to buy outrageous pants and the latest driver.

Today my golf observation is on an antique golf club called a SPOON.

This challenge will not be for everybody but there are plenty that enjoy the game despite not being anywhere close to playing at a high level. That includes me.

Golf 30-Day Challenge Guidelines

As with previous challenges, participants are encouraged to adapt the guidelines to fit their own circumstances. If you can, commit to getting out on the golf course—but if that’s not in the cards, share a story about a favorite course or a piece of gear you love (or love to hate).

1. Record something about your day on the course or talk about a golf course or piece of equipment.
2. Share with a challenge partner if you have one.
3. Join the conversation by posting on social media with the hashtag #Coach4adayChallenge

Day 14-Spoon

The things I regret from my childhood was discarding a set of hickory shaft golf clubs my Uncle Jack Bourke gave my brothers and me. He was a saddler, and a customer gave him a set of clubs to regrip but never came back to claim them. That golfer probably upgraded to a more modern set but for us they were clubs we used.

One of the clubs in that set was a spoon. It resembled what you see below

The term spoon could apply to a number of clubs today. A “spoon” was an old-fashioned golf club, roughly equivalent to today’s 3-5-or 7wood. Golfers used it for longer fairway shots, typically when they needed distance but didn’t want to use a driver—especially off the deck (without a tee).

In the world of golf club collectibles anything older than 100 years is considered an antique less than that vintage. The clubs that I used as a child were probably from the 1930’s.

Hickory shaft golf clubs began losing popularity in the late 1920s to early 1930s, when steel shafts were introduced and started gaining acceptance. Although the USGA legalized steel shafts in 1924, it wasn’t until around 1930—when manufacturers improved the quality and consistency of steel—that players began switching en masse. By the mid-1930s, most professionals and serious amateurs had moved on from hickory, as steel shafts offered more durability, consistency, and distance.