Elmer Nahum: Practical Clubmaker

Elmer Nahum, the author of Practical Clubmaking: A Guide to Long Nose Era Clubmaking, is a retired interventional radiologist who has a passion for traditional woodworking and golf history. Playing Bobby Jones’ home course of East Lake in the 1980s, which served as his college team’s home course, spawned Elm’s interest in golf history. Over the years, he has read a collection of golf books on the early history of the game as well as biographies of notable players.

His woodworking focuses on making 18th- and 19th-century furniture, primarily using hand tools with traditional methods. Nineteenth-century replica golf clubmaking is a natural offshoot of these two hobbies, with a club or two fashioned in between other larger projects.

The golf bug occasionally finds its way into some furniture manifested as a subtle golf motif. His woodworking knowledge stems from classes, books, the internet, and simply discovering while woodworking. Each attempt at making a replica 19th-century golf club offers a chance to gain new insights into the traditional methods and history of clubmaking and woodworking.