The
latter had a guide price of Ir£40-Ir£50 on all these programmes,
they could have expected between Stg£4000-Stg5000 if the they
were sold separately. The Portrush programme is a
particularly rare programme for a collector of Open Championship
memorabilia and you are unlikely to see another for some time
unless the high bidder in the above auction puts them back up
for auction. If you decided you wanted to get your hands on Fred
Daly's open programme from Hoylake 1947 again you can expect to
pay Stg£500-Stg£600.
One
of the oldest Irish programmes to come to market is an Irish Amateur
Open programme from 1900 which was played over the Newcastle Royal
County Down links and won by Harold Hilton. This programme was
reportedly professionally appraised at between US$1000-US$2000
and is probably the rarest Irish golf programme to come up for
auction, it eventually sold for EUR650.
In July
1995 Sotheby's listed Max Faulkner's Open Championship medal for
sale but it was withdrawn with a Guide Price of Stg20,000-Stg30,000.
"An
Open Championship Cased Medal hallmarked Sheffield 1950 Walker
and Hall in original case, won by Max Faulkner with a score of
285 in the Open Championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club Co
Antrim Northern Ireland - the only time in history that the Open
Championship has been played off the mainland. Max was known as
the 'Clown Prince' of golfers and one of the first players to
wear exotic colours, his favourite being Canary yellow. 1 5/8ths
ins (4cm)"
Sotheby's
1995
When
Bobby Locke's collection was sold off by Christies in 1993 one
of the lots contained his 1938 Irish Open Championship medal which
eventually sold for Stg£2,070.
The
Golfing Union of Ireland Open Championship 1938, gold and enamel
winner's medal , 1 5/8in (3cm) wide in original blue leather fitted
case. The Irish Open of 1938 was played at Portmarnock, in difficult
conditions, with the final round to play, Henry Cotton was leading
by five strokes from Locke but a finish by Locke of four consecutive
birdies gave him a final round of 70 and a total of 292 to win
from Cotton by two strokes.
Golf
Art is also much sought after and early pictures of the Irish
Golf courses are no less treasured. One of the main exponents
of this in the early years was James Michael Brown (1853-1947)
a land and seascape artist whose passion for Golf was transposed
to his art.
J Michael
Brown Original Artwork for the LIFE ASSOCIATION OF SCOTLAND Calender
1914, ROYAL COUNTY DOWN G.C. 1913 signed Michael Brown , watercolour
and pencil 12.5"x19.5" (32x50cm). It shows the Rt Hon
The Earl Ormealey, Col. Robert H Wallace CBE. Mr Lionel C Munn
and Mr Harold Reader driving with the town of Newcastle Co Down
and the Mourne Mountains in the background.
Sotheby's
1995
Early
Golf Balls and clubs were made in Ireland however there are very
few examples of these today. Fred Smyth who operated out of the
Royal Dublin Golf Club engraved some of his hickory shafted golf
clubs but there have been very few significant finds relating
to Irish Golf. Similarily with Golf Balls the rarest of which
is probably the 'Portrush Lily' which was made by John Veitch
Aitken, the Portrush golfer who named his golf ball after his
daughter.
Irish
autographs are not generally as sought after by collectors and
can sometimes be difficult to assess authenticity although they
do enhance the value of any piece of memorabilia. Obviously Fred
Daly would be one of our more sought after autographs but this
would obviously not be as rare as the earlier golfers which would
command even higher prices. Gilchrist's guide to golf collectibles
[1998 edition] estimates the value of autographs and included
in this very extensive list are Rhona Adair ($75), Fred Daly ($50),
Harry Bradshaw ($20), Jimmy Bruen ($45), Joe Carr ($25), Philomena
Garvey ($10), May Hezlet ($100) and Himself ($20). These prices
would increase if the signature was on a item of significance
e.g. programme, book etc which would make it more historically
significant. The most unusual piece of Irish autographed golfiana
came up for auction in 2000, it was a menu from the Grand Central
Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland signed by Walter Hagen, Joe
Kirkwood and Walter Smith (Hagen's caddie). These signatures were
obtained in person on 14th September 1937 by a Mrs Denning, an
employee of the Hotel. Mrs Denning collected autographs of all
the noteable personalities of the 1930s, both in sport and entertainment,
who stayed at the Grand Central in Belfast. It sold for $138 at
auction.
The
earlier Irish Golf Magazines are also rare finds and do not often
appear under the auctioneers gavel. The earliest of these magazines
is 'The Irish Golfer' which began publication in September 1898?
(the Rev John Kerr aka The Sporting Padre assembled a collection
of Golfiana for a Glasgow exhibition and the catalogue suggests
the Irish Golfer began in 1898) and another magazine 'Irish Golf'
which began in 1927.
Just
bear in mind everything has a value in the world of golf memorabilia
and there will always be some individual who will thinks there
a a big void in their life unless they have got that particular
item which commemorates an event, golfer, course etc. although
you may have to be patient to find out who it is. Whether it be
a photograph, marker, badge, scorecard just think twice about
discarding it as it might pay part of your next green fee or all
of your next holiday. Alternatively your first instincts may have
been correct and it is in fact worthless.
