An excellent article from 2007 by Sports Illustrated's John Garrity about Mr. O.B. Keeler.
From a 1924 article published in The American Golfer:
Returning with a degree from Harvard University toward the middle of February, Bobby Jones brought home to Atlanta along with a considerable portion of classical education a new engineering idea in the matter of long-range golf clubs which he has lately put into practical execution, somewhat over the protest of his friend and mentor, Stewart Maiden, who at the outset declared himself briefly but firmly as distinctly not in favor of his star pupil's departure from the accepted and established form and make of such implements. In a word, while at Cambridge, in the interludes of battling with Cicero against the iniquitous Cataline, and other scholastic problems, Bobby hauled out his old drawing instruments, used at the Georgia School of Technology, and made a set of drawings for a pair of wood clubs which, I am convinced, are unlike any the ancient game has yet produced. I understand that when Mr. Maiden got his first glimpse of the prodigious heads of these golf clubs, made to Bobby's design by A. G. Spalding and Bros., he expressed the opinion that if they represented truly the mechanical inclination of Bobby's mind, he (Bobby) would better have omitted the mechanical engineering course at Tech and have gone to Harvard in the first place.
As a proponent of wood clubs with large heads and faces, the writer cannot but feel eminently gratified by this expression of the American open champion's ideas. Certainly these new clubs have large heads and ample faces—the largest and amplest I have ever seen; larger, I feel sure, than the largest of the original Dreadnoughts designed and executed by the diminutive and original Benny Sayers some fifteen or twenty years ago. And it must be said that with the new weapons Mr. Jones is achieving results in his rounds at East Lake and Druid Hills; he is hitting a tremendous length from the tee and through the green, on the infrequent occasions when his drive leaves him a full clout with the wood to get home. The trend of recent years has been away from the small, compact heads and short faces, of which there was an epidemic some years ago among the manufacturers—for what reason the writer never has been able to figure out, unless it was easier to get smaller suitable chunks of persimmon than large ones. It may be recalled that three years ago I wrote for The American Golfer an almost tearful protest against this fad, which was positively afflicting the golfing laity and the beginners at the game, who knew no better than to buy and essay to use what was on the market. I said then that the small head with the small face made a hard game harder; and directed attention to the fact that most of the great golfers, both amateur and professional —but especially professional— employed wood clubs with heads ofgood size and plenty of hitting surface, citingHarry Vardon, Abe Mitchell and George Duncan as particular examples. Bobby never fell for the small-head fad. Indeed, he had his clubs made with faces deeper and deeper, until the driver he was using at Inwood, when he won the open championship, had a face nearly two inches in depth, though quite narrow at the sole.
As a proponent of wood clubs with large heads and faces, the writer cannot but feel eminently gratified by this expression of the American open champion's ideas. Certainly these new clubs have large heads and ample faces—the largest and amplest I have ever seen; larger, I feel sure, than the largest of the original Dreadnoughts designed and executed by the diminutive and original Benny Sayers some fifteen or twenty years ago. And it must be said that with the new weapons Mr. Jones is achieving results in his rounds at East Lake and Druid Hills; he is hitting a tremendous length from the tee and through the green, on the infrequent occasions when his drive leaves him a full clout with the wood to get home. The trend of recent years has been away from the small, compact heads and short faces, of which there was an epidemic some years ago among the manufacturers—for what reason the writer never has been able to figure out, unless it was easier to get smaller suitable chunks of persimmon than large ones. It may be recalled that three years ago I wrote for The American Golfer an almost tearful protest against this fad, which was positively afflicting the golfing laity and the beginners at the game, who knew no better than to buy and essay to use what was on the market. I said then that the small head with the small face made a hard game harder; and directed attention to the fact that most of the great golfers, both amateur and professional —but especially professional— employed wood clubs with heads ofgood size and plenty of hitting surface, citingHarry Vardon, Abe Mitchell and George Duncan as particular examples. Bobby never fell for the small-head fad. Indeed, he had his clubs made with faces deeper and deeper, until the driver he was using at Inwood, when he won the open championship, had a face nearly two inches in depth, though quite narrow at the sole.
The driver and brassie he now is using, of his own design, are of a size almost colossal. I am informed that they were even larger, as they came from the factory to the shop of Stewart Maiden, where heads and shafts were to be assembled; and that there were words—short, strong Caledonian words—heard in that shop before the clubs were duly put together. Indeed, there was a compromise; I am told that fully an eighth of an inch was taken from the club-heads in every direction before they finally were spliced to the beautiful bamboo shafts, by the old method of a "scared" joint. The first time I saw the clubs I told Bobby the heads really ought to be stream-lined, to lessen the air resistance in the swing. They give that impression. If you will pick out the largest of your wood clubs and compare the measurements with the following, of Bobby's new driver, you will gain something of an idea as to the expansiveness of his design. The face, with only enough loft to enable the player to see the lower edge with the club grounded— practically no loft at all—is 1 9/16 inches in depth, three inches long at the top, and 1½ inches long at the sole. The head measures 3 inches across the top at the widest point, front to back. The bulge is so emphatic that a line drawn across the top of the head from one extremity of the face to the other will show a protuberance of 3/8 inch at the middle of the rounded hitting surface.
I can get with conventional clubs, and the ball has much more life and run after it takes the turf. In other words, the tendency to 'climb' by a ball hit with much backspin seems to be almost obviated. Hit in the back with this club, the ball seems rather to bore its way through the air and to retain considerable running ability on landing. I think it will be a good club for use in a hard wind. I find also that I can hit as hard as I please without the 'climbing' tendency taking length off the shot." Two well-established theories are found supporting this idea—that backspin causes the ball to climb, and that a deep face tends to keep the ball down. How Bobby reconciles the equal carry of the ball hit with the new club with that from the older weapons, with backspin, I do not profess to explain. I fancy he simply swats it harder. Of course it is obvious that only the most accurate swing can be relied on to hit the ball regularly "in the back" from so lofty a tee; similar ambitions by anyone but an expert would meet with blue ruin in disastrous proportion. Bobby has an exceedingly accurate swing; it requires that to take the highteed ball exactly at the start of the upward motion of the club, and not smother it with the unlofted face. The plan may not be original; I think Walter Hagen tried out something very like it two years ago. But the design of the clubs, and their heroic size, will stamp this latest endeavor at least as distinctive, and Bobby's further experimentation will be watched with considerable interest. face—the most startling bulge I ever saw on a golf club. The driver weighs 13½ ounces, of which 7½ ounces are in the head and 6 ounces in the shaft; radical departure from the old proportions in wood clubs, which usually had the weight of head and shaft approximately equal. This significant change was made possible by the bamboo shaft, which is lighter in proportion to its stiffness than a hickory shaft. In fact, a friend of Bobby's, having one of the sample club-heads made up with a hickory shaft, found that the resultant club was so heavy that no lead could be used in the head. Very little lead is used in the head of Bobby's driver; only three-quarters of an ounce, in cylindrical form, half an inch in diameter, set directly back of the correct point of impact and extending three-quarters of an inch into the head. The length of the club over all is 44 inches. The bamboo shaft is stiff, yet there is a bit of "feel" to it. "So heavy a club needs to be 'felt' for timing the swing," Bobby explains. "I think if I got a hickory shaft light enough to enable me to 'feel' the head, it would have too much whip. I don't believe a hickory shaft of six ounces could be found or made that would have backbone enough to stand up under the fast swing of a club like this." And now the effect of this remarkable combination, with the celebrated Jones string. Bobby's own theory follows: "I tee the ball about three-quarters of an inch high and try to hit it directly 'in the back.' This stroke, with a deep-faced club with practically no loft, seems to give me as long a carry.
I can get with conventional clubs, and the ball has much more life and run after it takes the turf. In other words, the tendency to 'climb' by a ball hit with much backspin seems to be almost obviated. Hit in the back with this club, the ball seems rather to bore its way through the air and to retain considerable running ability on landing. I think it will be a good club for use in a hard wind. I find also that I can hit as hard as I please without the 'climbing' tendency taking length off the shot." Two well-established theories are found supporting this idea—that backspin causes the ball to climb, and that a deep face tends to keep the ball down. How Bobby reconciles the equal carry of the ball hit with the new club with that from the older weapons, with backspin, I do not profess to explain. I fancy he simply swats it harder. Of course it is obvious that only the most accurate swing can be relied on to hit the ball regularly "in the back" from so lofty a tee; similar ambitions by anyone but an expert would meet with blue ruin in disastrous proportion. Bobby has an exceedingly accurate swing; it requires that to take the highteed ball exactly at the start of the upward motion of the club, and not smother it with the unlofted face. The plan may not be original; I think Walter Hagen tried out something very like it two years ago. But the design of the clubs, and their heroic size, will stamp this latest endeavor at least as distinctive, and Bobby's further experimentation will be watched with considerable interest. face—the most startling bulge I ever saw on a golf club. The driver weighs 13½ ounces, of which 7½ ounces are in the head and 6 ounces in the shaft; radical departure from the old proportions in wood clubs, which usually had the weight of head and shaft approximately equal. This significant change was made possible by the bamboo shaft, which is lighter in proportion to its stiffness than a hickory shaft. In fact, a friend of Bobby's, having one of the sample club-heads made up with a hickory shaft, found that the resultant club was so heavy that no lead could be used in the head. Very little lead is used in the head of Bobby's driver; only three-quarters of an ounce, in cylindrical form, half an inch in diameter, set directly back of the correct point of impact and extending three-quarters of an inch into the head. The length of the club over all is 44 inches. The bamboo shaft is stiff, yet there is a bit of "feel" to it. "So heavy a club needs to be 'felt' for timing the swing," Bobby explains. "I think if I got a hickory shaft light enough to enable me to 'feel' the head, it would have too much whip. I don't believe a hickory shaft of six ounces could be found or made that would have backbone enough to stand up under the fast swing of a club like this." And now the effect of this remarkable combination, with the celebrated Jones string. Bobby's own theory follows: "I tee the ball about three-quarters of an inch high and try to hit it directly 'in the back.' This stroke, with a deep-faced club with practically no loft, seems to give me as long a carry.
Also, how amazing is this . . . A letter sent from O.B. Keeler to Walter Hagen on the 25th Anniversary of his 1914 U.S. Open victory.
It is difficult to read, so I transcribed it below:
My dear Walter:
After all, it was Alexandre Dumas who could have come nearest to doing justice to this Silver Anniversary of your first winning of the United States Open Championship, August 21, 1914. And M. Dumas might have well titled it, "Twenty-five Years After."
My dear Walter, it's not only to a geat champion and the greatest competitor that I take the hat off my graying old bean; it's to the gentleman and the sportsman who for the span of more than a quarter of a centrury has been playing the game -- playing the game of life as well as the game of golf. And in congratulating you, I'm congratulating these games, both of them, and also myself, in being lucky enough to know you. A thousand friends will be telling you that, on this Silver Anniversary, but none who means it more sinceerly and affectionately than
Your faithful friend and admierer,
O.B. Keeler
Photo(s): Bobby Jones, O.B. Keeler letter,
1 comment:
O.B.Keeler's description of Bobby Jones' flirtation with golf design is wonderful. I was particularly taken with Stewart Maiden's (Bobby's golf professional) reaction to the "shockingly" large club heads. And, we should all consider that the shaft on the driver weighed 6 ounces while today's shafts range from 2 to 3 ounces!
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