Aluminum used to be more prized than gold, but not necessarily in golf.

The first leader of the French Republic, Napoleon III, used to serve food to VIP guests on aluminum plates because the material was thought to be so special; gold and silver plates were used for lesser guests. In golf, however, aluminum proved not so coveted as a shaft material, due to it being whippy and inconsistent. Pros and amateurs alike had issues with it but, despite any problems it might have presented, Arnold Palmer managed two of his 92 career victories playing with aluminum-shafted clubs: the 1967 Los Angeles Open and Tucson Open. But then Arnie wasn't a workman who blamed the tools, especially after he'd ground, bent and shaped them to his liking. Famous for tinkering in his workshop, Palmer took the notion of "custom clubs" to another level—though if you really want to know, we're fairly sure he could've beat the pants off most golfers with any garage-sale special plucked from a bin. After all, how could a club say no to Arnold Palmer?

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