1904-05 U.S. Amateur Champ Chandler Egan
Tournament-Used Haskell Bramble Golf Ball
Offered here is unquestionably one of the oldest tournament-used golf balls by a Major Champion in existence. Recently, a treasure trove of trophies and memorabilia were discovered from the estate of Chandler Egan – an important figure in early 20th century golf. Egan not only won the 1904 and 1905 U.S. Amateur, but he also won Silver Medal at the 1904 Olympics (the last time golf was played in the Olympics), as well as the NCAA individual title in 1902.
Among Chandler Egan’s personal effects, golf trophies and the like, were 8 Haskell bramble golf balls – each marked with an 18-hole golf score (72, 74, etc). There was also an indication that there was originally a key, or legend, which would’ve identified more details about these balls. We can only assume that it indicated which important tournaments the balls were used – as why else would the balls be marked and then saved for any length of time – let alone by his family for over 100 years.
7 of those 8 newly discovered tournament-used Chandler Egan golf balls were quickly tucked away into two private collections. So we can be pretty sure that this is the only ball that will grace the auction block any time soon. Did Egan use this ball to win the U.S. Amateur? Did he use it en route to Olympic Silver? We’ll likely never know, but the fact that these balls are Haskell brambles (which would only have been used from 1899 to 1907) places to the very peak of Egan’s career, including those famous tournaments.
Letter of Authenticity from Green Jacket Auctions