Did Harry Invent the Vardon Grip?
There has been much written, discussed, debated and argued as to the finer techniques of the grip. The act of resting ones hands upon the club was perhaps one of pure instinct to golfers of old. There were no hard and fast rules governing the grip. It was just a question of gripping the club in both hands and as long as it felt comfortable then it was the best one suited for their game. Very little is known in those far off days about the positioning of the hands on the club. All we do know is that all ten fingers were used and which is now referred to as the ‘baseball’ grip. The reason golfers of that period held the club thus, may simply be because grips were very thick. The top of the shaft was first bound by wool which was then overlaid by strips of leather. This made it practically impossible to overlap the fingers in what today is commonly known as the ‘Vardon’ grip. The overlap or ‘Vardon’ grip came about much later as grips became thinner. It is particularly noted however, that
