One of several golf clubs, or cleeks, in our collection, this was hand forged in Anstruther by R Brodie and Sons. They also made clubs for Old Tom Morris’ shop, with Old Tom’s head as a cleekmark, around 1910.
Cleeks were made and sold under different brands. In the 15th century, a cleek, or cleque, was a hook for catching hold of something; the first recorded use of golfers’ “drivers and cleeks” dates from 1829 in St Andrews.
Alex Anderson of Anstruther was one of the largest manufacturers, working well into the 1930s. He inherited the business Anderson & Son from his father, James Anderson in the late 1800s.