Gavin Bottrell, of Time Warp Golf, has seen a huge increase in interest for
anything connected with the history of golf.

"The trade in golf memorabilia is booming in Britain and it always intensifies
around July," he said. "The golf memorabilia market had a rough time in 1992  when Japanese buyers
stopped for a while because of a downturn in their economy but it has made up
for it since.

"Over the last two years especially there's been a significant increase in
demand for original hickory-shafted golf clubs, which were phased out in favour
of steel in the 1930s. I've had interest from Sweden, Germany, Japan, Australia,
China, North America, Spain, India and Italy." said Mr Bottrell.

At St Andrews Golf company, the only the only manufacturer in the UK making traditional
hickory clubs, there has been a 40 per cent rise in the sales since 2008.

"The people who buy them tend to be those taking up hickory golf and
I'd say the Swedes in particular are buying the most," said Ewen Glen, Chief
Executive of the St Andrew's Golf Club.

"We also get people buying them simply because they are just nice things to collect or to present."