Bing Crosby Combination Lot: Letter, Note Card, Contestants Pins, Scorecards, Films

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/10/2014

1. 1942 Bing Crosby Letter to Charley Penna - Great Gambling, Golf Content

This typed letter on Bing Crosby Hollywood letterhead with a secretarial signed Bing was in the summer of 1942. It has tremendous golf content throughout the text referring to the 1942 Hale American Open(Famous wartime event taking place of U.S. Open and won by Ben Hogan), also PGA pro Chick Harbert and the Silver Scot. The wording of Crosby in this letter also refers to his golf swing, "I'm hitting a long, low hook-"A working ball". A third part of this letter of great interest is the course gambling reference of Crosby, "Just scrape up some important money and you can get plenty of action". This letter between two friends was sent to Charley Penna at the Medinah Country Club. This triple folded for mailing purposes missive contains all you could ask for in a letter from legendary entertainer and Hall of Fame Golfer Bing Crosby. The Penna's had a very intimate relationship with the A-list celebrities of the 40's-60's. One of the top celebrities of the Day was Bing Crosby. The Penna's were personal friends as much as golf teacher to pupil. They would play in Bing's tournaments as well as meet him around the country to play exclusive courses like Medinah, Pebble Beach and many more.

2. Gift Notecard from Bing Crosby to Charley Penna-Wear This Sweater in the U.S. Open JSA COA

This notecard demonstrates the depth of the relationship the Penna brothers had with Bing Crosby. The leading entertainer of the day took time to send Charley Penna a sweater for him to wear while competing in the U.S. Open. This lot is for the simple signed note card measuring 3 1/2" x 2" that was included with the gift. Autograph is a 9 and comes with a COA from JSA.

3. Lot of Two 1960's Monterrey Peninsula CC Scorecards

One scorecard says the town of Del Monte while the other says Pebble Beach. Note the differences in total yardage. The back nine changed and the domicile changed before 1960. Excellent condition, there is some tape on the one Monterrey scorecard. PB: 6 3/4" x 4". MP: 6" x 4"

4. 1950 Bing Crosby Pro-Am Contestants Pin and Button for Pebble Beach and Del Monte

From the Penna family collection comes this two item lot pertaining to the 1950 Bing Crosby Pro-Am. Included from this star studded event, which brought together top Hollywood talent and top PGA touring professionals, are a Contestants pin which appears as a small medal charm and a pin back button (which was possibly used for VIP guest admission. Both items remain in excellent to near mint condition.

5. Two Films 1) Fabulous Montague Golf Trick Shots,1948 World Series, Mickey Mouse 2)Hockey Super Series '76

Offered in this lot from the Penna family collection are two films. Cannister one contains clips from 1930's/40's golf trick shot artist John Montague; who made birdie to beat Bing Crosby on a hole using a baseball bat as a driver, a shovel as a sand wedge and a rake as a putter. Included in Montague's film footage is his burying three golf balls one on top of another in a sand trap. From here he proceeds to hit one ball out of the trap onto the green while leaving the other two balls still in the sand. Second part of this cannister of film shows game action from the 1948 World Series between the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians. The final aspect of this first cannister of film is a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Offered in the second cannister of film is the January 7, 1976 hockey game between the Soviet Wings (Russia) and the Chicago Blackhawks from Chicago Stadium. This game won by the Soviet Wings 4-2 was part of the Super Series '76, a matchup of two top Russian hockey squads the Red Army club and Soviet Wings against NHL teams contested in late December 1975 and early January 1976. Both cannisters contain much seldom seen content with the golf trick shots being of interest to everyone from the casual fan to most advanced player. A DVD of these two canisters is also provided for easy review of these two films.

This item comes from the Penna Family Collection. This highly successful and respected professional golfing family offers golf mementoes from the careers of brothers Toney Penna and Charley Penna, and Tommy Armour whom Toney and Charley worked under for many years as pros at Boca Raton in Florida and various courses in the Chicago area. Toney was a consistent top 20 money winner on the PGA Tour in the 1930's and 40's while his brother Charley competed in 20 U.S. Open and PGA Championships. We have it all from their storied careers in golf both on and off the course, including everything from contestant’s pins, to used sets of clubs, and prototypes for Penna's famous clubs. Toney is an icon when it comes to club making in the 20th Century, first with the MacGregor Golf Company as their chief of design and then later with his own brand of Penna clubs. Many of the designs of club heads used today were first developed by the genius of Toney. We introduce you to this extraordinary collection by offering various lots from the family’s collection in this special British Open offering. This is an opportunity to acquire golf history, possibly for the last time.

In order to bid in extended bidding you must place a bid on the lot before 9pm on auction closing day. The Golf Auction's Spring Auction will end in two sessions on April 10th and April 13th, 2014. Session 1 (Lots 1-400) will end on April 10th, 2014 at 9:00pm EST with extended bidding to follow. Session 2 (Lots 401+) will end on April 13th, 2014 at 9:00pm EST with extended bidding to follow. Get your bids in before the session ends.