A Texas Tribute – Lone Star Burke Mashie

This was a special restoration. My dad is the reason I even understand what golf is. When I was young he would take me out when he played sometimes and I would get to hit off the tee box and then chip and putt. He was very patient and young me would typically loose interest about 6 or 7 holes in and just want to go back and play video games.

Over the years those memories of our times out together have started to define me more. Now I try to get my kids out swinging clubs and although it is often at a more kid friendly place like TopGolf or a local simulator bay they are also building up memories of golf being fun.

In order to honor my dad, I wanted to get back to his roots. He was born in a small town in Texas and lived there until after he graduated college. Life has taken him many places, finally landing him in Colorado. I wanted to find a club with a similar story, one that had its start in Texas but moved around just like he did. One that has seen many places and played golf all over.

I came across a listing on eBay for a club that was stamped with a retail company in Ft. Worth Texas and I knew that it was just what I was looking for.

**The club head and grip when I got it, you can see the rust and how the grip is falling apart.

I got to work on bringing it back to life in October of 2026. First I removed the club head by driving out the old pin and knocking it off the old broken shaft. Then the head went into a vinegar bath overnight with an occasional scrub with a brass bristle brush to get the rust off. It came out looking well aged and with a perfect patina. The old shaft had served the club well over many years but was no longer going to function going forward. It was set aside for bend repair testing and whipping practice.

**The club head after the vinegar soak and scrub.

A new shaft was needed so I took a blank pre-turned shaft and shaved down the cone so it fit the hosel. After that I hand sanded the shaft to the right size and flex for the club and trimmed the shaft down to the correct length for the club head. The shaft got a quick alcohol wipe to remove all sawdust and then it was stained a beautiful honey color to match the original shaft color.

**The new blank shaft cone being filed down.

** The new blank shaft being sanded to create a taper and the proper flex, this took a while but was worth the effort.

**The new blank shaft (center), cut down and stained. You can see the raw color (left) and an older shaft (right).

With the shaft ready to go I applied the first coat of finish to it and then re-attached the club head with a modern epoxy. It cured for about a day and a half then I drilled out the pin hole through the new cone of the shaft. I cut a new brass pin from a piece of ⅛” brass rod and hammered it into place to help hold the head on the new club. The pin was then peened out to lock it in place and polished with 0000 stainless steel wool to remove any sharp edges.

With the head now re-attached to the shaft it was time for the new whipping to go onto the club. I wanted to honor the Texas history of the club and what better way than to use the colors and style of the Texas flag. Near the hosel, I started with a band of white thread, added an equal size band of red thread, and finished it with a large band of royal blue thread. To top it off I attached a pewter star in the middle of the blue whipped section and it really completed the look.

**The Texas themed whip with pewter star and also the new brass hosel pin

With the club head end looking sharp, the next step was to put a new grip on the club. I wavered on this for a long time. Did I want to continue that Texas theme on the gip end as well or did I want it to be more subtle? 

I started with a couple of layers of cloth friction tape as an underlisting to help build up a taper on the grip end. Next, a new blue grip was tacked on with brass tacks and wrapped tightly around the shaft. To accent the new grip, I added white and red whips to both ends of the grip.

**The grip end of the club with whips

From there it was just the final steps left to finish the club. I applied a few more thin coats of finish on the exposed parts of the shaft and did a final buff with a beeswax and linseed oil mixture to make it beautiful. The once rusty club with a broken shaft and dead grip is now a fully restored club!

I gave him the club along with a special journal that I made for him and he was really excited to have a piece of golf history that mimicked his own history. It now hangs on the wall in his office where he can share its story with company. It also occasionally gets to ride in his golf bag around the course too!