2022 July Golf Memorabilia Auction - Closing Date 07/17/2022
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/17/2022
1964 Open Championship at St Andrews Contestant Badge Engraved & Attributed to Champion Tony Lema
Issued at the 1964 Open Championship at St. Andrews was this contestant badge attributed to crowned 'Champion Golfer of the Year' Tony Lema. 'Champagne' Tony Lema won his career defining major championship in a thrilling five stroke victory over Jack Nicklaus and the rest of the field. Catastrophically Lema's career and life was cut short following the 1966 PGA Championship in Akron, Ohio when he and his wife were on a charter airplane heading to an exhibition tournament south of Chicago, the Little Buick Open in Crete, Illinois. Ironically, Lema would crash onto a golf course, landing in a water hazard on the 7th hole of the Lansing Country Club, less than a mile from their destination. This badge remains in good to very good condition, with very little blemishing and close to the condition in which Lema was given to wear for those four rounds en route to hoisting the Claret Jug in 1965 at The Home of Golf - The Old Course of St Andrews. Please note that this engraved contestant badge does not come with any paperwork or provenance securing the claim that it belonged to Tony Lema. The engraving is the only indicator that would allow us to present it as being attributed.
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