Ralph Hutchison's International Four Ball Gleneagles Scotland Patches

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/6/2023

Ralph Hutchison's International Four Ball Gleneagles Scotland Patches

Sometime in 1920 the idea of a golf match between the best of the United States and the British first started to come to fruition. The story of the Ryder Cup began six years before Samuel Ryder and the first official match at the Worcester Country Club in Massachussets in 1927. The contest held at Gleneagles was called the International Challenge, but in essence it was the first Ryder Cup. After some debating by the United States team whether to include the transplanted Scots in the side or not, In the end, they decided they couldn’t do without them. Golf was a Scot’s game, so it would’ve been a shame had they not been there. Among the visiting team of ten golfers was Jock Hutchison of St Andrews, Fred McLeod of North Berwick, Clarence Hackney of Carnoustie and Harry Hampton of Montrose. Waiting at Gleneagles for Team America were some of the game’s immortals such as James Braid, Harry Vardon and JH Taylor. There were five foursomes and ten singles played that day. The older and more experienced British team was victorious by a score of 9-3. They all agreed that these matches should be repeated sometime, that there was great potential in the idea of a transatlantic joust, this international challenge. Soon that competition would be born in the guise of the Ryder Cup. Presented here is a pair of ‘International Four Ball – Gleneagles Scotland’ patches. They are believed to be from that first challenge match back in 1921, from the United States transplanted Scot Jock Hutchison. Each patch measures 2" x 2 1/2"

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.

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