Golfexpo 2000, at the NEC, Birmingham will for the first time feature a valuation and golfing auction by leading sporting auctioneers Mullock Madeley.
With golf antiques and collectibles in increasingly strong demand, the auction and valuation service will generate an extra dimension for golf enthusiasts and professionals alike. “There are families who don’t appreciate the value of items passed down to them. Likewise there are golf enthusiasts who have never considered collecting golfing items, yet become totally fascinated and hooked, once a sense of the game’s history fits into place.” says John Mullock.
Among the catalogue of more than 400 golfing lots to go bang under the November 5 hammer, is a Harry Rountree watercolour and a rare Staffordshire biscuit barrel. “We have items for the serious investors and for the first time enthusiasts,” says John Mullock.
Dating back to the 1850s, from the renowned W. & J. Dunn, Bros of Musselburgh, is an early bronzed smooth gutty ball mould with cast iron gutty ball press, likely to command a £4,000 to £6,000 bid. Two scarce stoneware bottles of Bells Oil Paint and Varnish Co, both unopened and dated 1898, one in white and the other in Indian red make fascinating collectibles with a guide price of £300 to £400.
There is a great selection of hickory putters and clubs, suitable for collecting or using, at very affordable prices. In contrast an unusual patent beech wood Torpedo style putter with hickory shaft is likely to realise £600 to £800.
True “conversation” pieces include Van Tassel Sutphen’s “The Nineteenth Hole” published in 1901; an 1894 silver golf medal, engraved “The Pride of the Esk – Golf Club – IOGT (invitation open golf tournament) and two Vanity Fair prints, both signed and dated June, 1910 (probably signed at the Amateur Golfing Championship at Hoylake,) one autographed by Horace G. Hutchinson and the other by John Ball.
John Mullock will be pleased to discuss golf antiques and memorabilia throughout Golfexpo 2000, open to professionals, club officials and trade buyers only on November 2 and 3 and to the public on November 4 and 5. The Golf Memorabilia Auction gets underway on November 5 at 12.30pm