In a set of vintage golf clubs how many would have been referenced by the name “mashie”?

“The Historical Dictionary of Golfing Terms” suggests that the term “mashie” was perhaps from the billiards term “massé", a shot in billiards in which the cue is used in such a way as to impart maximum backspin on the billiard ball. This idea makes sense given that the “mashie” golf club originally entered the game for its higher loft (relative to other clubs of its time), giving golfers the ability to impart more backspin.

For much of golf history, golf clubs in a set were not identified by number (e.g., 5-iron), but by name. There were clubs called “mashies”, “niblicks”, “mashie-niblicks”, “cleeks”, “jiggers”, “baffies and spoons”.

There were 5 clubs in the “mashie” group of clubs. The “mid mashie” was used in a manner of a modern 3-iron. The “mashie iron” was used like today’s 4-iron. The straightforward “mashie” most closely resembled today's 5-iron in its function. The “spade mashie” was equivalent in use to a 6-iron, while the “mashie niblick” had the role of the 7-iron among antique golf clubs.

The game of golf originated in Scotland, in Edinburgh, during the high medieval period (around 1000 to 1250 AD). King James IV of Scotland became the first monarch to partake in the pastime in the 1400s and thereby popularised the game.

It took until the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries before standardisation, from set to set, of golf clubs began to emerge. The transition to modern sets and descriptions was not completed until the late 1930s, early 1940s.