Club: R. Grimsdell Left Handed Driver

Maker: R. Grimsdell, Johannesburg, South Africa

Year: c.1927

Shaft: Original, straight shaft, with original 13" calf skin grip. 

Length: 44”

Condition: Excellent condition for its age. No visible splits or cracks.

Other details:

Robert "Bob" Grimsdell (b. England , 1897 – d. South Africa , 1986 ) was an English golfer and golf course architect .

Grimsdell was one of the first golf course architects in South Africa, designing courses from the 1930s to the 1970s .

In his teens, Grimsdell travelled to South Africa, joining the South African army, and fought in France during the First World War . After the war, he returned to England, becoming the golf professional at the Chorley Golf Club , in Lancashire . During this time, he became friends with the golf course architects Harry Colt and Charles Alison, and learned the skills of golf course design and construction.

In the early 1920s he returned to Cape Town with his wife and joined the Mowbray Golf Club . In 1926 he became Professional/Greenkeeper of the Royal Johannesburg Golf Club, and in 1933 laid out the East Course, using the knowledge he had acquired from Colt and Alison in England. For the next twenty years he played certain golf tournaments and in between he was also active as a golf course architect.

Grimsdell was also a good golfer, becoming the runner-up of the South African Open twice . He also competed in the South African Match Play Championship, reaching the finals four times, but lost each time, in 1925, 1927, 1929 and 1932.