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Rare 1910 Oversized Open Championship
Golfing Diploma
Belonging to 1893 Champion Willie
Auchterlonie
THE AUCHTERLONIE COLLECTION
Next to Old Tom Morris, no name is more synonymous with St
Andrews Golf than the Auchterlonie family. Boasting one British Open Champion,
one U.S. Open Champion and two honorary professionals to the R&A, the family’s
name still resonates to this day due to the shop that bears their name situated
just yards away from the home hole of the legendary Old Course at St. Andrews.
David and Willie Auchterlonie both served apprenticeships as
clubmakers with Robert Forgan in the 1880s. David set up his own business around
1893 in North Street. Two years after winning the 1893 Open Championship at
Prestwick, Willie joined his brother David to form D&W Auchterlonie in nearby
Albany Place. Less than a decade later, the other brother Lawrence (“Laurie”)
helped spread the family name by winning the 1902 U.S. Open at Garden City, New
York. Combining a reputation for quality clubmaking with Willie’s and Laurie’s
fame, it helped establish a business that would last for well over a century.
Much to the surprise of golf historians, very little is
actually known about the very-private Auchterlonie family. The National Library
of Scotland has a folder on their clubmaking business, but it contains little
more than empty envelopes, pre-printed clubmaking acknowledgements and largely
irrelevant newspaper cuttings with nothing earlier than 1944.
That is why this remarkable collection of mostly pre-1910
photographs should be considered one of the great finds of golf collecting
history. Believed lost for decades, this historically significant photography
collection was unearthed by two collectors in 1998 at the home of one of the
last remaining Auchterlonie family members. Containing many never-before-seen
photographs of legendary clubmakers from the 1800s or shortly after the turn of
the century, the collection includes not only historic images of the
Auchterlonies but also Robert Forgan, Tom Stewart, Tom Morris and many more.
No longer “lost”, it has been decided to split the
Auchterlonie Collection into individual lots so that a greater number of
collectors will have the opportunity to purchase at least one item from this
incredible collection.
Rare 1910
Oversized Open Championship Golfing Diploma Belonging to 1893 Champion Willie
Auchterlonie
Presented here is a very rare oversized 1910 "Golfing Diploma" celebrating the
50th Anniversary of the Open Championship. This striking piece depicts all
previous Open Champs like Old Tom & Young Tom Morris, and highlights The Great
Triumvirate: Harry Vardon, James Braid and JH Taylor. Quite amazingly, this
diploma was personally owned by Willie Auchterlonie, who won the Open
Championship in 1893. This large piece measures 18" x 23" and would be very
impressive after framing. This was obtained by our consignor directly from the
Auchterlonie family in 1998.