Building a custom hickory golf club means choosing four things: a $15 club head,
a hickory shaft (pick your flex), a leather grip (suede or tacky, pick your color), and
how you want it built. DIY kit ships in 2-3 days — parts in a box, you put it together.
Assembled by Brad ships in 14 days because staining and varnishing the shaft takes time.
Pick your parts below.
DIY kit: ships in 2-3 days.
Assembled by Brad: ships in 14 days.
1 Head
2 Shaft
3 Grip
4 Build
Step 1 — Pick your head
Pick the head you want to swing. These are club heads pulled straight from the original
inventory. Wood heads need the hosel bored and refinished before you can shaft them;
antique iron heads were made for hickory, so the hosel is already sized and they just
need cleaning up. Either way you're getting the raw material to build a club, not a
finished head.
If you pick the DIY kit, that work is on you. If you pick “Assembled by Brad,”
he does it for you before the build.
What you're getting: a club head that needs refinishing, plus a hosel
bore-out if it's a wood. DIY kit: you do the work. Assembled by Brad: he fits it, stains
the shaft, sets the grip, and varnishes it. Building a wood and want us to bore it for
you on a DIY kit? Add the $5 bore-out service at checkout.
Step 2 — Pick your shaft
Now pick the shaft. Hickory for woods comes in three flexes. Standard plays softer, stiff plays
firmer, X-stiff is for the long hitters who want feedback. You'll bore the hosel to fit
the shaft you pick (or add the $5 bore-out service at checkout and we'll do it).An iron shaft is a single spec — the hosel on an antique iron is already sized for it, so there's no bore-out to do.
Then stain the shaft, cut it to length, and grip it with suede or tacky leather.
Your head:
Step 3 — Pick your grip
Suede is a soft-finish wrap that feels broken-in from day one, in a
handful of colors. Tacky leather is a grippier surface that stays put when
your hands sweat. Antique leather is an original grip pulled from a vintage
club, for a fully period build.
Step 4 — How do you want it built?
Two paths. DIY kit is the parts in a box: head, shaft, and grip. You build it.
The whipping cord and back screw aren't included — you supply those. Ships in 2-3 days.
Assembled by Brad means I fit it, stain the shaft, set the grip, varnish it, and
whip it.I fit the head, pin and glue it, stain the shaft, and set the grip.
Ready to play. Adds 2 weeks for staining and finishing because shellac doesn't dry on a deadline.
Not everyone wants a build. If you'd rather skip the bore-out and staining and get a
complete, swing-ready club right away, browse the
Playable Hickory Clubs collection.
Every club there is a finished original, one of one, ready to play the day it ships.
Match a hickory shaft to your head, then pick the flex by feel. Standard is the most
forgiving. Stiff gives more feedback. X-stiff is for the strong hitters. Flex applies to
wood shafts; iron shafts are a single spec. On a wood you'll bore the
hosel to fit the shaft you pick (or add the $5 bore-out service at
checkout and we'll do it for you).
The club heads in the builder are $15 heads from the original inventory. They haven't
been refinished or fitted yet, and a wood still needs boring. You'll bore a wood hosel to the right depth and
diameter for your shaft, refinish the head, then install the shaft — that means staining
it, cutting it to length, and gripping it with suede or tacky leather. Want us to bore
the hosel for you? Add the $5 bore-out service at checkout. An antique iron hosel is
already sized for hickory, so there's nothing to bore.
The kit ships you the parts in a box — head, shaft, and grip — and you put the club together yourself.
Assembled means I do it. I fit the head, stain and varnish the shaft, set the grip, finish the neck —
whipped on a wood, pinned and glued on an iron — and ship it ready to play. The kit is faster and cheaper. Assembled takes 2 weeks because staining
can't be rushed.
Shellac and varnish need time to cure. Rushing it gets you a sticky shaft and a finish that lifts
off in a season. I do my staining in batches and let everything dry slow. 14 days is the honest number.
If you need it faster, the DIY kit goes out in 2-3 days.
Head, shaft, and grip in a box. Ships in 2-3 days. You clean up the
head, stain and varnish the shaft, and set the grip. A wood is finished by whipping the
hosel; its whipping cord and back screw aren't included, so you supply those. An iron is
pinned and glued instead of whipped.
On a wood, yes — there's an optional add-on in the build summary. Check the "Have us bore out the
hosel for you" box and we'll bore the head to the right depth and diameter for your shaft
before it ships. Adds $5 to the build. Works with both DIY kits and assembled builds.
It's the box of consumables a DIY wood build needs but the parts kit doesn't include: epoxy,
whipping thread, a thread puller, wood putty to bring the neck flush with the shaft, and a
back screw with grip tacks. Pick the DIY kit and you'll see an optional "Add the retro-fit
rebuild kit" box in your build summary — check it and the supplies ship with your parts.
Building an iron? It doesn't apply — an iron is pinned, not whipped. Building an assembled
club instead? You don't need it; Brad supplies all of that.
Each part is a separate item on the order. If something's wrong, email me at
brad@oldworldhickorygolf.com and we'll work it out. Assembled builds, once they're stained and built
to your specs, are final sale — same as a tailored suit.
The site checks inventory at every step. If a head goes to zero between when you pick it and
when you check out, you'll see a notice. You can pick a different head and keep your shaft and
grip choices.
We use cookies to improve your experience. Learn more
