Ladies Abe Mitchells by Gibson for Charlie Boyle, Havana Golf Club
This is truely one of the gems I have been lucky to work on. A set of Abe Mitchells made by Gibson for Charlie Boyle, Golf professional, Havana Golf Club, Cuba 1926 to 1945.
The stamps are amazing, even if you were never to hit a ball they are just so good just to look at.....
After depinning the heads and stripping the shafts I found out they are the original SuperStar shafts in really good condition underneath the original layers of old shellac. Heads are now repinned and set with epoxy. grips completely stripped back to bare shaft and the butt ends rebuilt for the flare into the palm of the grip. 1x full length layer, 1x 2/3rds length and 1x 1/3rd length underwhipping giving a nice tapered grip into the butt of the club.
Grips are butter softpunched Neuman calfskin in Tan. 40 years old but brand new just lovely in the hand.
The irons come complete with a Jigger just to help get out of the long grass.....
Clubs included are1 iron, 2 iron, 3 iron, 5 Jigger, 6 Mashie, 8 Mashie Niblick, 9 Niblick
Shafts are firm .
Now for a bit of history....
Charlie Boyle left Carnoustie in 1905. He was a foundry worker and went to the USA to work at that trade. He was prevailed upon to adopt golf as a profession. He started at Haworth GC , NJ in 1910 then professional to Havana CC Cuba from 1916 until his death in 1945.
Charlie Boyle was a very good amateur player in Carnoustie at the start of the twentieth century, regularly winning local competitions and featuring in the Scottish Amateur Championship.
One only needs to look at the returns for monthly medal competitions he competed in to see the strength of amateur golf in Carnoustie at the time: Jimmy and Stewart Maiden, of Atlanta fame, Carnegie Clark, three time Australian Open winner, George Fotheringham, five times South African champion, were some of his rivals.
He emigrated to the United States as an engineer but the standard of his golf was such that he was persuaded to take it up professionally. As a result he became professional at the Haworth Country Club in New Jersey in 1910.
He was appointed professional at the Havana Country Club in Cuba in 1916 where he remained until his death in 1945.
Warranty & Return
The clubs are usually around 100 years old and are playing antiques. As such they may break and get damaged over time, depending on use. We can only do a visual inspection of each club and the clubs are sold on the basis that the customer understands the risk and that the seller is indemnified for any damage to the club. No Warranty is implied or given. Returns are negotiated on a case by case basis and the seller has the right of refusal
General Information
The pricing is in New Zealand dollars.
The heads on all the clubs are in good clean condition with the expected play nicks and dings. Please be sure and look at the many zoom pictures for a better idea of condition. The shafts are all old hickories that have been restored and re-set for play as required. I see no cracks in any of them. Some Woods have been reshafted. Some overlay grips may shift in time if the original grip gives way from use.
If you are thinking about value for money buy these clubs individually and then have someone do all the work and see what the set ends up costing you.
The clubs have been reworked to be a playing set and whilst I see no issues with these hickory shafts (other than those mentioned above), I suggest that all hickory shafts be re-set prior to play (if not already done). These hickory shafts often have hidden defects and are liable to break at any time. I do not guarantee hickory shafts against breakage when put into play. Never hit an old hickory shafted club off a driving range mat. Never hit an old hickory shafted club with a hard range ball.