This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/23/2022
1923 Inaugural Illinois Open Championship Runner-Up Medal Awarded to Jock Hutchison
Proudly presented before you in this lot is Jock Hutchison's 1923 "Inaugural Illinois Open Championship Runner-Up" medal, given to Hutchison for his grand achievement at the Peoria Country Club. The lore behind this award rivals the medal itself. The Illinois PGA Sector explains this nearly century-old tournament "inaugural" award up best on their official website:
"Most all the usual suspects (sector PGA Championship competitors) from 1920 were back at Westmoreland in 1922, when the Illinois appellation was first applied. All of this was ignored in June of 1923, when the Section decided at the annual meeting that Willie Marshall, the longtime Onwentsia Club professional who had died the previous spring, should be remembered with a trophy for the section championship. It was bought, Hutchison’s name was the first engraved on it, and nobody looked back, not even Loos, who took the title in 1924, giving him two wins and two runner-up spots when 1920 is included. There was another odd complication. Hutchison and Loos didn’t actually win the tournaments they played in in 1923 and 1924. The IPGA Championship was played as a subset of the Illinois Open, which was won by Joe Kirkwood in 1923 and Leo Diegel in 1924. Hutchison and Loos were second in each case. In 1925, the championship was again conducted separately, and has been since. Hutchison won that one, the second of his three titles, that trio of crowns beginning a trend. Of the first 94 playings – 97 including the Middle States years – 12 players have dominated, winning three or more times, for a total of 51 championships." This explains the relationship and overlap of the Illinois PGA Championship and Illinois Open, as well as the year 1923 being the first official IPGA Championship playing.
Indeed, Hutchison was a United States and specifically Illinois resident during the golden year of golf - 1930. The Fife, Scotland born golfer packed up his things and jumped the pond to become a naturalized citizen in 1920. The newly-turned American citizen soon made his presence felt, winning the PGA of America's championship in 1920 prior to returning to his original home and and being crowned 1921 Champion Golfer of the Year, hoisting the prized Claret Jug at The Old Course of St Andrews Golf Links. Hutchison, who would win the 1937 Senior PGA Championship at Augusta National would return to Augusta as the inaugural Masters Tournament Honorary Starter for ten years starting in 1963 with Fred McLeod. Few would predict Hutchison's impact on Illinois Golf, with his accomplishments inside the state boundaries reading as a list of career accomplishments standing alone itself. He was the 1920 Western Open winner at Olympia Fields (then considered a major), again triumphant at the tournament in 1923 then held in Tennessee. Champion of the 1923, 1925 and 1926 Illinois PGA Championship and William Marshall Memorial tournament runner-up to Al Espinosa in 1930.
"Jock Hutchison Runner-Up - 1st Illinois Open Championship - Country Club of Peoria - Oct - 15-16. 1923," is hand-engraved on the verso of this Sterling Silver medal crafted right in Chicago nearly 100 years ago. This gem once awarded to Jock Hutchison demands inclusion in the finest golf and medal collections.
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