In 1900, after winning the British Open in
1898 and 1899, Harry Vardon went on a
promotional tour of the USA,. The tour
was sponsored by Albert Spalding, who saw an opportunity through Vardon to
promote the Spalding “Vardon Autograph” clubs and the Vardon Flyer ball. A. G. Spalding and Sons was a Chicago based
company at the time.
In April 1900, Harry visited the Atlantic
City Country Club to play a 36 hole exhibition match . The match was against Findlay Douglas ( 1898 US Amateur Champion) and H. M.
Harriman ( 1899 U.S Amateur Champion).
Vardon played against the better ball
of the US Champions and beat them soundly 9 and 8. The
match was played in front of 2000 spectators.
The scene on this rare postcard was traced
back to a club history photo captioned “The Vardon-Douglas–Harriman Golf
Match”. The postcard was published by
the Chilton Printing Co., Philadelphia.
Harry Vardon would go on to win 72 of the 90
matches he played on his tour.
Approximately 5 months after the scene depicted on this postcard, Harry
Vardon won the US Open at the Chicago golf Club.