Circa 1910 Standard Mills
Schenectady-Style Putter

This center-shafted putter with a bore-through shaft was made by the Standard Golf Co. of Sunderland, England. Standard was the golf club-producing company of William Mills, who was a pioneer in aluminum manufacturing. As a result, his line of clubs utilized aluminum heads and were commonly referred to as “Mills” clubs.

The design of this particular putter is based on the infamous Schenectady center-shafted putter developed by Arthur Knight around the turn of the century. That putter also had an aluminum head and was put into play by Walter Travis, who used it to win the 1903 U.S. Amateur and 1904 British Amateur. Travis’ win with the controversial putter in the U.K. led the Royal & Ancient Committee to ban its use in 1911. By that point, it was a popular design and had inspired many copy-cats including this example by Mills.

It’s difficult to pinpoint a date for this particular example, but I’m estimating it was made sometime between 1905 and 1910 based on its considerable loft. Putters from the early 1900s and before often have a loft of 8 degrees or more based on the green conditions of the day. It’s also difficult to find examples of these aluminum-head putters that don’t have a crack near the hosel pin due to the brittle nature of aluminum. This one does, unfortunately, but as it’s a putter, the head is still tight enough to the shaft to be played without issue.

• 12 degrees of loft, C0 swingweight, 35-1/2 inches long

• Vintage grip and whipping

• Good as-found condition - hairline crack near top of hosel

• SOLD