2018 June US Open Memorabilia Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/17/2018
1921 US Amateur Championship at St. Louis CC Contestant Badge - Seldom Seen! Jones at 19
St. Louis Country Club was the site where Jesse Guilford would triumph over Robert Gardner in the 1921 US Amateur, the first USGA staged Championship west of the Mississippi River. Offered in this marquee lot is certainly one of the finest examples of the seldom seen 1921 US Amateur contestants pin. This pin served as a badge of passage to the course for the elite few golfers who had risen to the apex of amateur competition in the United States. Throughout the 1910's and 1920's, the United States Golf Association applied a similar design for this badge. The 1921 badge presents as a circular pin featuring a scalloped edge of gold. At the top of the pin in white enamel is the wording "CONTESTANT". Encircling the pin in bright red enamel is "NATIONAL AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP Sept. 17 TO 24, 1921". The interior area of the badge has raised scripting "USGA". This is a spectacular example of this early contestants badge, with perfect enamel and with only the hints of light wear visible along the border. The reverse contains the stampings of the manufacturer Whitehead & Hoag. Co. Newark, N.J., and its original clasping pin is still operational today. As significant as this badge, from an unknown contestant, is for scarcity and condition of equal appeal to collectors is that a participant in '21 was the 19-year-old Bobby Jones. This 1921 Contestants badge provides all the requisites of the ideal golf collectible, and would be a worthy inclusion in just about any advanced collection.
Please note: This auction will end at 5:00pm EST on Sunday, June 17th, with EXTENDED BIDDING to follow. All items in the auction will remain open until no items have received a bid within a 15 minute time period. Still the lowest rate among major golf auction houses, there is a buyer's premium of 17.5% for all items. All lots are free to be bid on until extended bidding has ended.
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