Unfinished Golf Wood Head with Insert

In the years before mass-produced clubs, woods were created from rough blocks which were - progressively - sawn, turned, rasped, filed, and sanded into the finished product,. This was both time-consuming and meticulous work. One of the last steps before fitting the club head to a shaft was fitting an insert to the club face.

Inserts protect the face of the wood from the impact with the much harder ball. Over the years, many diferent materials have been used. These include ram's horn, rubber, leather, fibre, various metals, fibreglass, perspex, and even glass.