2017 September President's Cup Memorabilia Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/1/2017
Ben Hogan's Handwritten Notes for Thank you Letter to Host Course Carnoustie After 1953 Open Win
In 1953, before the largest gallery in Open history, Ben Hogan's Sunday round 68 was a new single round record at Carnoustie, and his 72 hole score of 282 was also the best in a British Open Championship. Hogan had claimed his third straight Major title of the year. He returned to the States for a New York ticker tape parade which was followed by a similar parade in his hometown of Fort Worth on Monday July 27th. Offered here is an incredible opportunity to own a piece of Hogan History. These notes composed on the back of two pages of club scoring sheets come from Bantam Ben's own hands, guiding him through a rough draft of thanks to host club Carnoustie after winning the Open Championship their. Hogan thanks Carnoustie, and mentions the train and engineer that he saw while qualifying, grateful for the whistles of encouragement. James Spence Authentication (JSA) has compared their handwritten examples from Hogan, and find these two pages to be solely in his hand.
Dear Carnoustie,
Please let me respond to the wonderful time that I enjoyed at your club, when I was there for the 1953 British Open.
I shall never forget when I was teeing off in the qualifying round on the other course, the train came by and stopped
and the engineer stopped the train and gave me two or three toots on his whissel. What I thought he was saying, good luck
and I believe he was saying good luck. Even though we played the championship course in the tournament which was some
distance away, in my mind I could still hear his whissel blowing each day. As a matter of fact, I still on occasion hear his
whissel blowing now. I shall never forget my trip to Carnoustie even not because I won the British Open, but because the
people were so gratious, pleasant, dignified, and so helpful in their efforts in being friendly and courteous.
THE BOB COFFIN COLLECTION SOURCED FROM BEN HOGAN'S PERSONAL SECRETARY SHARON RAE
Bob Coffin is a man of action, as seen by a career of public service which began 35 years ago with his election to the Nevada Assembly. From that office Coffin was the people's choice for a seat in the Nevada State Senate. After serving in that position for the length that Nevada term limitations would allow, Coffin returned to his hometown of Las Vegas where he continues to serve his constituents as a city councilman to this day. For Coffin this passion for service to his country began with a stint in the United States Army, the same branch of service that his lifelong hero Ben Hogan had served in during World War II. Coffin a student of the Hogan approach to golf, learned his lessons well, so well, that he won the 1969 Nevada Amateur Golf Championship. Following that triumph it was only natural in 1979 that the hometown Las Vegas newspaper, the Review Journal, called on Bob to write a golf column for the paper. To this day accolades continue to pour in for this highly respected man in so many arenas be it golf, military, or politics. Most recently, he was named Person of the Year by the Southern Nevada Chapter of the Professional Golfers Association and received the Charles Dick Medal of Honor Award from the United States National Guard.
This career of public service over the lifetime of Bob Coffin offers much for us to respect. We owe him gratitude, but an even larger thank you as golf collectors is due him for his action in preserving the personal ephemera which belonged to Ben and Valerie Hogan. These mementos covering various stages of their storied lives had been gifted by both Ben and Valerie to their trusted personal secretary Sharon Rae (Please see photo that accompanies this lot of Mr. Hogan and Sharon Rae). Mrs. Rae following Ben's passing in 1997 became such a vital part of Mrs. Hogan's life that she accompanied her to both Ben Hogan's tribute at the 1999 Memorial Tournament and to the dedication of the United States Golf Association's Ben Hogan room that same year. Her prominence in the lives of the Hogan's was evident when she was remembered in both Ben's will with a cash bequest and a much larger bequest in Valerie's will. As a studious collector of Hogan material Bob Coffin stayed in contact with the Rae family, and following Sharon's passing was contacted by son Andy Rae. He informed Coffin that in his garage there is "still a bunch of stuff". Coffin, the man of action, caught a plane to Texas and completed a transaction that saved the Hogan collection as sourced through Sharon Rae for the golf collecting community. The Golf Auction is pleased with so much of the prized material of the Hogan's lifetime already placed in permanent homes to be able to make this offering. We recognize that it may be the last opportunity available to offer fresh Hogan material, which contains rock solid provenance, to the collectors of arguably the greatest golfer of the 20th century but certainly one of America's most idolized and interesting people of that century.
Please note: This auction will end at 7:00pm EST on Sunday, October 1st, 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
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