2016 June Memorabilia Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/19/2016
Ben Hogan 1953 US Open @ Oakmont Tournament Used Golf Ball Gifted To Ralph Hutchison
This featured lot offers another of the highlights from the Ralph Hutchison Championship ball collection. Four items from this spectacular collection were first presented and sold to the golf memorabilia world through The Golf Auction's recent Masters week auction. This material was met with the highest praise, and aggressive bidding ensued from the most respected private golf collectors in the world along with the renowned museums which display the treasures of this sport. The 1953 United States Open was contested at Oakmont Country Club and saw Hogan in his finest season win by six strokes over Sam Snead in becoming the first American professional golfer to win the National Open four times. Greeting him that Championship finale day as he did all golfers approaching the 18th hole was the U.S.G.A.'s 18th hole announcer Ralph Hutchison. 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 Hutchison 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 at Oakmont in '53 with Hogan claiming his eighth major, he gifted his Titleist #7 used in the victory to his early travel companion and fellow Pennsylvanian club pro Hutchison.(This brand of ball used in the '53 U.S. Open is further confirmed by James Dodson in his book BEN HOGAN: AN AMERICAN LIFE pages 344,345 "Hogan's mind was clearly made up to break away from MacGregor and start his own equipment company by the time of his appearance at Augusta in the spring of 1953, where he was un-apologetically using the new Acushnet Titleist red ball." Dodson continues specifically talking about Hogan at the '53 U.S. Open on page 368, "he hammered his #2 Titleist onto the edge of the green and two-putted for a birdie." This ball displays consistent use from a round of golf over its surface, and a stain of mounting glue from years of display in "Hutch's" collection. Added to the ball has been the inscription "Hogan" "53" "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 1948 and 1953 U.S. Open wins, Dick Mayer from his 1957 U.S. Open win, and Sam Snead from his 1954 Masters win. **(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, JUNE 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
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