2020 May Memorabilia Auction Featuring Ken Venturi Collection
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/24/2020
1953 PGA Championship at Birmingham CC Contestant Badge - Rod Munday Collection
The 1953 PGA Championship marked the last year a stick clasping pin 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" metal badge would be used to designate players in the field. In 1954 the PGA would switch to money clips as the means of admittance for players. The 64 player match play which would eventually be won by Walter Burkemo at Birmingham C.C. in Birmingham, Michigan. One of only 136 crafted for players in the event, this example retains its gold and green enamel luster from the day 1953 contestants pins were distributed.
Detroit, Michigan native Walter Burkemo was an excellent match player, he fought his way to the final round of the PGA Championship three times in four years. In 1951 he ran afoul of Sam Snead and was beaten. 1953 of course represented his win 2 and 1 over Felice Torza at the Birmingham (Mich) C.C. only six miles away from his club pro position at Franklin Hills Country Club. In 1954 he lost to the long hitting Chick Harbert. In the entire history of the PGA Championship being contested as match play (which would be the format through 1957), only five players (all Hall of Famers) would reach the finals more often then Burkemo: James Barnes, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead. Badge also comes with the championship rules sheet.
Rod Munday Collection
A contemporary of Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, and Paul Runyan, Rod Munday traveled the same proving ground as many of the touring and club professionals in a career that spanned over 50 years. His friendship with those individuals and fellow teaching professionals lasted throughout his life as a pro golfer that started in Northern California and ended in Pennsylvania. Rod competed in many pro tournaments including both the 1940 and 1946 Masters Tournaments. He frequently qualified for and played in the PGA Championship from the 1930’s through the early 1960’s, and competed in the 1934, 1935, 1946, and 1947 US Open. If a putt would have fallen one way or another, Munday could have been a golfer that was mentioned in the same sentence as the legendary golfers of his day.
Munday, a World War II army vet who received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, was the preferred teaching professional for many celebrities and dignitaries, none larger than President and General Dwight D Eisenhower. Eisenhower became Rod’s #1 pupil at the Gettysburg Country Club in Pennsylvania. Munday was just as much a personal friend to these larger than life figures as a golf instructor. Many of the leading tour players such as 1941 Masters champion Craig Wood, considered Rod Munday one of the top putting minds of the 1950’s. Horton Smith, Byron Nelson, Henry Cotton, Jack Grout, and Gene Sarazen all kept in contact with Munday over the years. The allure to play exhibitions at Munday’s clubs at Highland Meadows in Toledo, Ohio and the Country Club of York in Pennsylvania was there for many, including visits and fundraisers attended by one of his closest friends, Ben Hogan.
The Golf Auction is proud to offer the Rod Munday Collection, helping to tell the story of the man himself.
Place your bids now as this auction will end at 9:00pm EST Sunday, May 24th with EXTENDED BIDDING to follow. All items that have received multiple bids in the auction will remain open until no items have received a bid within a 15 minute time period (at 10pm EST, the countdown clock will be adjusted to a 5 minute interval). Place your bids now!
1. You must place your initial bids BEFORE extended bidding begins in order to bid on the item in extended bidding
2. During extended bidding, you are allowed to bid only on items you PREVIOUSLY placed a bid on.
3. All lots that are active in extended bidding will close at the same time, and those with only ONE or NO BIDS will close at 9pm EST
**If extended bidding goes pass midnight ET, The Golf Auction reserves the right to close the auction at any time. We recommend bidders place their maximum bids prior to that time. Thank you**
Click above for larger image.