Equipment

Spalding

Bobby Jones won ten of his thirteen national championships with a putter made by Spalding. Calamity Jane II was a replica of the club he had used for his first three titles. J. Victor East made it in Chicopee, Massachusetts.¹

Spalding Mark unavailable

Wordmark used on Spalding’s official golf site. Shared across sports; date of introduction unverified. Logo source

A vintage golf ball with a red Spalding Dot stamp clearly visible on its cracked, off-white cover. — Spalding Dot golf ball, with the maker’s stamp visible on its aged cover. Photograph: The Golf Auction. Manufacture date not stated. Image source

A putter is the club used chiefly to roll the ball on the green. Mass Golf’s account of the USGA Museum records six Spalding replicas of Jones’s original. Jones gave Calamity Jane II to the museum in 1938, leaving a surviving example of the club behind ten of his national titles.¹³

The company’s equipment history reaches beyond that single club. A.G. Spalding & Brothers opened its first sporting-goods store in Chicago in 1876. Its golf range later included balls as well as clubs: the company’s timeline dates the Executive golf ball to 1968.²

At a glance

First store: 1876, Chicago²
Calamity Jane II: J. Victor East / A.G. Spalding, Chicopee, Massachusetts¹
Museum donation: 1938, by Bobby Jones¹
Executive ball: Two-piece construction; dated 1968 in Spalding’s timeline²

Sources

Steve Derderian, Mass GolfWalking Through Golf History at the USGA Museum
SpaldingThe Spalding Story
The R&A / USGAEquipment Rules: Golf Clubs, General

At a glance

Sources

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