- Title: USA: Rare antique gold golf club collection to be auctioned at Sotheby's
- Date: 1st October 2007
- Summary: AN OLD GOLFING PICTURE AND CLUBS SHOWCASED NEXT TO IT
- Embargoed: 16th October 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA10IOMSDAXFS5FRJN8WATEKG91
- Story Text: From eighteenth century golf irons with intricate carvings to early twentieth century oversized wooden clubs -- the Jeffery B. Ellis Antique Golf Club Collection has some of the most historically important golf clubs in the world. And now golf aficionados can get their hands on golf instruments from this wide-ranging collection as it goes on sale at the New York Sotheby's later this month, for a price.
Ellis spent more than 30 years travelling the world in search of the most creative and historical golf clubs. Eventually, his collection shaped into one that included more than 700 golf clubs that spanned the history of clubmaking from its earliest days to the beginning of the steel shaft era in the twentieth century. After writing three books that detail the history of these clubs, Ellis felt it was time to share the collection with the rest of the world.
"I've kind of come to a natural culmination in my journey, where I have all these clubs and the books are done, and I have all these clubs and no place really to display them, so it' s time to share them," said Ellis.
Some of the most eye-catching parts of the collection include an ingenious array of diverse equipment designed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before restrictive golf regulations came up. Such as the whimsical gadget putter created by Tom Fry, circa 1934. It features a stoke counter, compass, a wind direction indicator, bubble level anemometer, thermometer, three-minute hour glass and even a towel. Then there is a range of rake or water irons which were used to hit balls submerged in little puddles and are no longer made.
Other unusual items include colourful handcrafted woods covered with a finish known as black "mac-oid". And a "Radio" golf ball that Ellis says has a radioactive core.
Sotheby's Golf Consultant, Graham Budd, explained what makes the antique clubs in this collection so valuable in the market for golf items.
"What we're seeing here as you say are the really exceptional clubs, which have some unique design, some weird and whacky patent that was thought to be a great idea at the time, perhaps wasn't and often these things were either just prototypes or in production for very, for very short period and weren't successful commercially. And that's really what makes them rare on today's market."
The golf clubs that are expected to bring in the highest amounts though are not as special in terms of colour, as they are in sheer shape, design and history. A long-nosed putter stamped "A.D." - attributed to Andrew Dickson, circa 18th century, is estimated at $200,000-300,000. Dickson is considered the oldest known clubmaker to mark his clubs.
A long-nosed scraper long spoon, also circa 18th century, by an unknown maker, might bring in between $100,000-150,000, while a very early square toe light from the 17th century is estimated at $125,000-200,000. Ellis maintains that very few such examples dating to 1600-1800 remain.
Another highlight is a presentation putter with a carved celtic cross, estimated at $35,000-45,000, by Hugh Philp, who is considered the Stradivarius of clubmakers for his meticulous craftsmanship.
This auction will spread over two days - 27th and 28th September - and will have more than 600 lots with single items ranging from $200 to $300,000.
As a whole, the auction is estimated to bring in about $4 million dollars. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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