This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/5/2011
When you consider various virtuoso of history, names which immediately come to mind are Hemingway with his pen and Rembrandt with his paint brush. Bobby Locke with a hickory shafted putter in his hand had a similar impact on his opponents. He was the savant of putting, easily in the argument as the greatest putter of all time. Locke between 1949 and 1957 won four British Opens to highlight his Hall of Fame career. He did this with a swing which was supremely eccentric. Every shot a draw, some spinning as dramatically as to cause witnesses to speak of boomerangs. Still those shots found their targets on the green but often 30 to 50 feet from the hole on occasion even greater distances. It was there that Locke's genius took over and he won his titles with his putting. He called his putter the "pay-off club" and he used it to beat Ben Hogan and Sam Snead in their primes like a drum. Taking Hogan "the Wee Iceman" out of his game was near impossible, but Locke's putting did just that.Paired with Hogan in the third round of the 1947 Philadelphia Inquirer Tournament he holed a near impossible 35-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole that so unnerved Hogan he played out par, bogey, bogey and allowed Locke to pass him and win the next day by four strokes. By this time Sam Snead had already been convinced of Locke's skills having dropped 12 of 16 challenge matches to Locke in 1946. Snead summed up his drubbing,"In some matches, my ball was inside his from tee to green on 15 holes, yet Locke would win, one up. He dropped 30 and 40 footers without thinking twice."
Offered here is the club that helped to humble the greatest pro golfers of the 1940's and 50's, Locke's heavily used wood shafted putter. It was noted in the day that Locke's putter was longer than most and this club fits the bill measuring at 32 7/8 inches from endcap to hosel with hosel to base an additional 4 inches.The Locke "Magic Wand" features a 3 1/2 inch blade. The blade is stamped Locke's accustomed putter manufacturer Gradidge on the sole and has lead added to the back to get it to Bobby's exact specs. The Grip is a 19 inch custom grip, with three distinct kinds of wrapping, first is a leather grip stamped made in England,which attaches to a red leather grip, which is finally completed with black tape. This club shows extensive use and has had a major repair done to its hickory shaft, most likely by Locke to keep it in play. Bobby must have kept this putter around forever keeping it tuned up ready to destroy his opponents with the slight pinging or clicking noise ball and putter made as Locke executed the perfectly-struck putt. Detailed one page letter on attractive Bobby Locke stationery comes from Mary Locke (Mrs A.D. Bobby Locke),who Bobby married in 1958. In this TLS which accompanies the lot, Mrs. Locke with much sentiment describes the club offered here as, "our dear Bobby's putter". The previous owner of this cherished Locke putter has designed a 44 X 15 1/2 solid wood display with an undistinguished golf ball added for effect to house this relic of putting dominance.
Should the winning bidder wish to receive this display with the putter, arrangements will need to be made for it to be picked up at our offices, or be prepared for excessive shipping charges (billed at actual cost) as the stand is made out of solid wood.