This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/19/2018
1934 Augusta National Invitation Tournament Program (1st Masters) - NEW FIND! TOP CONDITION!
The Golf Auction is pleased to have one of the most treasured artifacts in golf collecting, the 1934 Augusta National Invitational Tournament Program. Augusta National produced a very limited number of programs for its first tournament in 1934 due to financial constraints, and fear of limited interest in the event. This lot contains one of these seldom seen 1934 programs. The 1934 Augusta Invitation Tournament program was produced to be used as an advertising tool to solicit new membership for the Augusta National and to make some much needed revenue for the start-up club.Now here we over 84 years later and, remarkably, the delicate paper relic looks much the same as it did then, with bright colors, and bold printing. Completely unrestored, it showcases interior pages that rate near mint overall, while the covers feature corners which still come to solid points devoid of rounding normally apparent on programs of this age, please see pictures. This program is the original program produced with the added feature of scores from Horton Smith's victory in the first year tournament placed in publication which was then used as the fore mentioned advertising piece to solicit memberships and advertising for the 1935 season and program. A scant 30 to 40 copies of this program are verified to exist in any condition. This superior preserved program would be a centerpiece to any Masters collections and is truly a museum worthy addition.
Below is a excerpt from David Owen's book on Augusta and the Start of the Masters regarding the 1934 Program:
"The program was forty-four pages long and contained a map of the course, descriptions of the holes (written by MacKenzie), photographs of the clubhouse and other points of interest, historical information about the property, photographs of most of the members of the club, and several dozen advertisements. It sold for twenty-five cents. Over-represented among the advertisers were the club's numerous creditors, who had been offered space in lieu of payment."
Please note: This auction will end at 5:00pm EST Sunday, November 18th, 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 (up to 9pm EST, then countdown clock will adjust to 5min time period). 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.