2016 Spring Memorabilia Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/10/2016
Ben Hogan 1951 US Open at Oakland Hills Tournament Used Golf Ball
The 1951 United States Open was contested at Oakland Hills, on one of the most difficult layouts every assembled. No one over the first three rounds had broke 70. Enter Ben Hogan in the fourth and final round who with five birdies and two bogeys shot 35-32 for a 67. The monster was conquered. He had his third U.S. Open title in his last three attempts. Hogan over the rest of his life never hesitated to call the 1951 Open triumph his "most satisfying". Greeting him that day as he did all golfers approaching the 18th hole was the U.S.G.A.'s 18th hole announcer Ralph Hutchinson. Hogan and Hutchison were longtime friends having traveled by car together when both were young twenty something year old starving players breaking onto the PGA Tour in the 1930's (this relationship with Hutchinson was confirmed by Hogan in a 1983 CBS interview and also appears in Curt Sampson's 2001 book "Hogan"). This closeness over the years continued as they both received top club head professional jobs in the PGA's Philadelphia section.
With Hogan at Hershey Country Club and Hutchison at Saucon Valley, a scant 81 miles apart from each other. By this time Hutchison had grown accustom to asking the Championship winners for their golf ball(You can read more about Hutchison's role on the 18th green at the Masters 1947-71 and in 15 U.S. Opens in paragraphs below along with Jack Nicklaus' own words from his autobiography about "Hutch" asking him for his 1963 Masters winning ball). After the final putt had dropped with Hogan claiming his sixth major, he gifted his Spalding Dot #4 (This brand is further confirmed by his caddy at the '51 U.S. Open Dave Press in a 1996 Associated Press interview "He used Spalding Dot balls ," Press says. "A lot of the pros did. He (Hogan) said when MacGregor made a ball that good, he'd switch.")in the victory to his early career travel companion and fellow Pennsylvanian club pro Hutchinson. This ball displays consistent use from a round of golf over its sufface, and a stain of mounting glue from years of display in "Hutch's" collection. Added to the ball has been the inscription "Hogan" "51" "Open".
RALPH HUTCHISON COLLECTION OF CHAMPIONSHIP USED GOLF BALLS--Who is Ralph Hutchison? How did he acquire these historically significant golf balls? Ralph Hutchison, whose great-Uncle was golf Hall of Famer Jock Hutchison grew up in the Oklahoma City area with Jack Grout (the primary instructor of Jack Nicklaus), although Nicklaus would call Hutchison "my second favorite teacher". Hutchison in 1931 became a golf professional and worked under Tommy Armour and Ed Dudley. When Dudley was named the first head professional at the Augusta National Golf Club, he took along Hutchison as his first assistant."Hutch" held this position from 1932-35 a time period which saw him meet Bobby Jones with the two becoming close friends. So close, that Jones recommended Hutchinson in '35 for the Head Pro's job at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, PA. He held the position for over 39 years while still competing during his early career with appearances in PGA tournaments primarily in the Winter Tour.
During this time period he reunited to travel by car to the various tournament stops with Jack Grout and a third young aspiring pro by the name of Ben Hogan (confirmed by Hogan in one of his few later life TV interviews with CBS in 1983). In 1945, Hutchinson reached the quarter finals of the PGA Championship falling to Claude Harmon. This performance however earned him an invite to play in the 1946 Masters. In 1947, the Augusta National was taking the first steps to better keep fans in the know of play on the course as they installed the first field scoreboards. A conversation from the year before, at the Masters, between Hutchinson and his old friend Bobby Jones led to "Hutch" being positioned at the 18th green as an announcer. As the players approached the 18th Hutchinson would greet them, following up after they putted out with an announcement of what they shot for that day and for the tournament. He carried this position at the Masters through 1971 along with his additional tournament duties on the rules and pairings committees.
In addition to the Masters as both player and announcer, Hutchison also combined for this same unique combo at the U.S. Open playing in six events while serving the U.S.G.A. as it's 18th hole announcer at 15 other Open Championships. With all of this major golf experience, and personal relationships with the top players of the game Ralph Hutchison developed a sense for preserving the history of the game. This is bore out in the words of Jack Nicklaus from his 1997 autobiography page 105. Nicklaus describes his 1963 first Masters win, "As I'd walked onto the eighteenth green, the announcer there, Ralph Hutchison, had asked me to save the ball if I won and give it to Bob Jones. When the winning putt dropped, I just had to throw something, so I whipped off my cap and slung it to the crowd. At the ceremony a little later, Mr. Jones and I made an exchange. After he and the previous year's champion Arnold Palmer, had presented me with my green jacket, I gave Bob the ball. It was a small thing, but the look in his eyes remains one of the most emotional memories of my life." So Bobby Jones got the winning ball in 1963 from Jack Nicklaus not Ralph Hutchinson, but "Hutch" got plenty of others for his collection in the same manor.
It is a great honor for The Golf Auction to present to the collecting world historical Championship balls from Ralph Hutchinson's days as the 18th hole announcer at both the Masters and United States Open. These include Ben Hogan's from his 1951 U.S. Open win, Ed Furgol's from his 1954 U.S. Open win, Cary Middlecoff's from his 1955 Masters win and Arnold Palmer's from his first major triumph at the 1958 Masters. **(Also please see photos attached to this lot which show Ralph Hutchison with Arnie/Winnie Palmer, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones)
Please note: This auction will end at 7:00pm EST on Sunday, APRIL 10th 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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