A rare collection of Tom Morris-owned photographs is going under the hammer at Sotheby’s on 6 November
Dating back to the earliest days of professional golf in the 1850s, they include photos of him and his family along with images of early Open champions like Willie Park, Andrew Strath and perhaps the greatest of them all – ‘Young’ Tommy Morris.
Discovered gathering dust in a St Andrews store room in the early 1990s, they were gifted to 1893 Open Champion, Willie Auchterlonie, a close friend of the Morris family, after Old Tom’s death in 1908. Lost for over six decades they have been described as the golfing equivalent of “Tutankhamen’s Treasure.”
“Even allowing for the Tom Morris connection, this collection includes some of the rarest golf photography ever offered for sale”, said auctioneer, Graham Budd.
The iconic name of “Old Tom” has also attracted a wider audience beyond the golf collecting world.
“We have received a number of enquiries from people not normally associated with the sporting memorabilia,” said Budd. “I can only suppose that is because Morris is synonymous with golf the same way Mohammed Ali is with Boxing.”
The Collection has a pre sale estimate of £120,000 to £160,000.
For more details contact: Graham Budd Auctions Ltd in Association with Sotheby’s, London. Telephone: 020 8366 2525 Mobile: 07974 113394 Fax: 020 8363 5016
Email: gb@grahambuddauctions.co.uk
See catalogue here (pages 75 – 91 illustrate the Old Tom Morris Photo Collection)