Ben Hogan and Ken Venturi's Personal 3-Wood

Used by Venturi to Win 1964 U.S. Open

        Some items of golf memorabilia are truly pieces of golf history. This is one such golf club. This 3-wood was personally used by Ben Hogan in the late 1950's, and then given by Hogan to budding star Ken Venturi. So what did Ken Venturi do with Mr. Hogan's club? With this 3 Wood and the grace of God, Venturi carved up Congressional Country Club to win the 1964 U.S. Open. And he did this despite almost fainting due to heat exhaustion.

        Venturi famously fired a front-nine 30 in the morning round and was on his way home when, at the 16th tee, he was overcome by the 100-degree heat and humidity. He looked over at Ray Floyd, his playing partner, and said, "I don't know if i can make it in."

        He made it in, but it was questionable that he would make it back out for the afternoon round after the allotted 45-minute rest period. Under the careful watch of a physician, Venturi rested and soon was ready to tee off, trailing Tommy Jacobs by 2 strokes with 18 holes remaining. With the doctor accompanying him carrying salt tablets and iced tea, Venturi slowly grinded out a 70, good for a four-round total of 278. Jacobs, who had tied a record with a blistering second-round 64, ballooned to a 76 for a 282. Ken Venturi was the 1964 U.S. Open Champion.

        This club found its way into Venturi's bag by way of Ben Hogan who himself used it during the late 1950's. Hogan gifted his 3-wood to Venturi in 1960. We have no way of knowing which tournaments Hogan himself used this club in (did he use it in his 1959 win at Colonial?), but Venturi himself attests to the fact that he used it to capture 5 tournament victories, including his lone Major Championship win on that hot day in 1964. The club has also had an interesting history after it was retired from play as it was acquired and resided in the collection of John Olman, who was regarded as one of the most knowledgeable and advanced golf collectors in the world, having authored many books on the history of golf collectibles.

        The provenance for this historic piece of golf history are two letters from Venturi himself. One letter from Venturi first gifting it to a friend and then a Venturi letter to Olman attesting to the provenance of the club. Venturi has also signed the sole of the club.

        It's almost as if this great 3 Wood was handed directly from Ben Hogan to Ken Venturi to our winning bidder...

[We will be updating this lot shortly with better and clearer images]