2015 British Open Week Exclusive Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/19/2015
Harold Ridgely's 1957 British Amateur Runner-Up Sterling Silver Medal - .925 with letter from Son
As many golfer’s during his day, Harold Ridgely learned the game of golf as a caddy. Nicknamed ‘Reds’, Ridgely caddied for Harry “Lighthouse” Cooper as they made the trek around Merion during the 1934 US Open. This was not enough for the 20 year old Philadelphian, as he was playing golf anywhere and with anyone that he could. Into his late 20’s he found himself in money games with the likes of George Fazio and Billy Hyndman, noted as some of the best golfer’s in Philadelphia. Just before his 30th birthday ‘Reds’ was drafted into military service during World War II. While stationed in England, it was during his 23rd mission that his plane was unfortunately shot down over Germany. A B-17 tail-gunner, Ridgely parachuted to safety only to be captured by the enemy forces and spent the remainder of World War II in a POW camp. Once the war was over, he was sent to Atlantic City in 1945 in order to complete some rehabilitation. Not wasting any time to get back into the swing of things, ‘Reds’ won the Bright Memorial Tournament that summer at Wildwood, and then followed that up with a reenlistment in the Army. While returning to England during his enlistment, Harold began taking aim at local and military tournaments, achieve many victories. After already attempting the US Open a few years back, ‘Reds’ tried his hand at the British Amateur. He won 3 matches one year, and 5 another, but in 1957 he would go on to make his mark.
In 1957 Harold made it the finals of the British Amateur, only to then lose a close battle to Reid Jack, 2&1. A final run at the Amateur in 1959 saw Ridgely play against his old friend Hyndman in the 5th round. Reds had caddied for Hyndman 26 years prior. Upon retirement, Ridgely moved down south to Ft. Lauderdale where he would join the Rolling Hills Country Club. An interesting note to cap off an intriguing list of accomplishments and accolades for Ridgely was still to be had. The infamous golf movie ‘Caddyshack’ was filmed at Rolling Hills Country Club, and since Rodney Dangerfield was a far superior actor than golfer, Harold played all of Rodney’s golf shots seen in “Caddyshack”
Measures 1 3/4" x 1 3/4"
Please note: This auction will end at 7:00pm EST on July 19th 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. All lots are free to be bid on until extended bidding has ended
Click above for larger image.