2021 December Memorabilia Auction - Closing Date 12/12/21
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/12/2021
Hal Sutton's 1982 US Open Sectional Qualifying at Bethesda Low Scorer Sterling Medal
Directly from The Hal Sutton Collection presented in this offering is the major winner's 1982 US Open Championship Low Scorer Bethesda Sectional Qualifying Medal awarded to him by the USGA. The detailed Great Seal of the United States is depicted in shallow relief on the front of this medal, those within the collecting community have come accustomed to seeing on the historical organization's medals and tournament branding efforts. Red, white, and blue enamel adorns the front of this medal outlined by scalloped edging. Hal Sutton would go on to finish in the top 20 in the 1982 US Open at T19 and his first made cut at the US Open. It would go on to be a classic that week, as Pebble Beach major tournaments often are. In a dead heat with Jack Nicklaus for the 1982 U.S. Open Championship, Tom Watson sank an impossible chip shot from an embedded deep rough lie on the 17th hole. For good measure he birdied the 18th hole to win the Open notching his sixth Major. A signed letter of provenance from Hal Sutton comes with this lot.
The Hal Sutton Collection
The 'Be The Right Club Today!' Podcast from Hal Sutton Golf is ready for your listening pleasure Hal Sutton Golf Podcast No one else has Hal Sutton, a 14-time PGA Tour Winner and Ryder Cup Captain who can really teach you how to think, how to believe in yourself, how to commit, how to PLAY the game. While Chase Cooper, one of the best instructors in the country, can use his expertise along with our cutting-edge technology to improve your ball striking, short game, putting, etc. Old school meets new school at the Hal Sutton Golf Academy.
Hal Sutton's golf game flourished while growing up in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. In fact the highly touted amateur golfer chose to stay closeby after high school and went to local Centenary College. It wouldn't take much time for the All American to put his school and town on the national golfing map when he received 'Golf Magazine's 1980 College Player of the Year' after 14 victories and lifting the small liberal arts school to 9th in the Nation. Unsurprisingly Hal Sutton would find great success at the professional level, notching 14 PGA Tour victories between 1982 and 2001. The 1983 season was a one for Sutton, earning PGA Tour Player of the Year honors as the leading money winner and the new accolade of 'major champion.' Sports Illustrated's golf writer Dan Jenkins' emphatically recapped his 1983 PGA Championship triumph with "There's a New Bear on the Loose - Hal Sutton Put a Death Grip on the PGA Championship To Stop a Classic Jack Nicklaus Charge." This came only months after his The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass win. Representing his country became a common role Sutton found himself in, as a 4-time Ryder Cup player in 1985, 1987, 1999, and 2002, before being chosen as the Ryder Cup Captain in 2004. He was a victorious Walker Cup team member in 1979 and 1981.
After playing two decades on the tour Hal began to shift his attention to philanthropy, with that soon becoming a main focus. This didn't go unnoticed in the golfing community and Sutton was the 2007 Payne Stewart Award recipient. He would raise more than $2 million with fellow Louisiana natives David Toms and Kelly Gibson for Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims. The Golf Auction has been very appreciative of the opportunity to offer some of Hal's Collection, including his 1998 TOUR Championship Calamity Jane Trophy, Gold Plated Scotty Cameron Putter for 2000 Players Win and all four of his 2000 Players Championship winning scorecards when it was "The Right Club."
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