The golf ball used by Arnold Palmer to win the 1958 Masters at Augusta is to be sold by TheGolfAuction.com with a $10,000 estimate.
The 1958 win was the first of Palmer's four Masters wins, and also the first of his seven Majors.
The ball comes with impeccable provenance as, on holing his final putt on the 18th green, Palmer is seen on video handing the ball to Ralph Hutchison.
Hutchison was the first assistant pro under Ed Dudley at Augusta National.
He is somewhat of a legend within golf having befriended Jack Niklaus (who refered to Hutchison as 'my second favourite teacher'), Bobby Jones (Who recommended Hutchison for the Head Pro vacancy at Saucon Valley), and Ben Hogan (Whom Hutchison often drove to tournaments when he was an aspiring pro).
At Augusta Hutchison was the 18th green announcer, responsible for greeting the players at the 18th and announcing their score for the day, and the tournament as a whole.
You can follow the auction at TheGolfAuction.com with bidding closing on 9th April.
Golf memorabilia prices have rocketed in the last 12 months with a historic ball signed by Tiger Woods selling for an astronomical $186,000.
That ball had been used by Tiger to score his first professional hole in one at the Grand Milwaukee Open in 1996.
About your Author:
Adrian Roose has over 30 years’ experience covering all aspects of the rare stamp & memorabilia industry during which he has sold over £50m of unique items, helping build collections for Royalty, household name celebrities and 1,000s of collectors around the world.
Adrian was previously a Director at Stanley Gibbons, a Board Member of Stampex, and Executive Director of Paul Fraser Collectibles, PFC Auctions and JustCollecting, prior to founding The Memorabilia Club.