Ben Hogan
The Personal Letters of
O.B. Keeler to Chick Evans
THE BOBBY JONES COLLECTION
In 2005, the
World Golf Hall of Fame held arguably its most famous exhibition in history
when it celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the Grand Slam with
the exhibit Bobby Jones: A Salute to the Grand Slam. That exhibit
featured memorabilia from the expected places: the USGA, the Royal &
Ancient, Augusta National Golf Club, Merion Golf Club, as well as items
owned by the Hall of Fame itself. But the golf world was abuzz with chatter
about another source of much of the rare and one-of-a-kind Bobby Jones
memorabilia on display – a previously unknown private collector.
We have the
great privilege of offering that famed, yet mysterious, Bobby Jones
collection in this auction. The collection was assembled by a very private
Midwest collector over the past three decades. In the golf collecting
community, and with today’s internet world, it is virtually impossible to
keep collections quiet; but this is an extreme exception. When the World
Golf Hall of Fame sent out its press release announcing the Bobby Jones
exhibit in 2005, it specifically highlighted the fact that many of the items
in this private collection “will be on display to the public for the first
time.” And aside from that brief loan to the Hall of Fame, almost all of
this memorabilia was obtained in private transactions and has never been
seen publicly – until now.
The Personal
Letters of O.B. Keeler to Chick Evans
Offered here is a wonderful collection of two original letters from O.B. Keeler
to the great Chick Evans. The first letter is dated 1923, and O.B. Keeler asks
Chick for examples of his greatest golf shot. Keeler even gives examples of
Bobby Jones' response to the same inquiry. That vintage 1923 letter has been
signed by O.B Keeler, who actually signed it a second time after a postscript.
The 2nd letter is not dated but also dates to the 1920s. It is very interesting
to note how glowingly affectionate O.B. Keeler is being towards Chick Evans, who
never got along with Keeler's best friend Bobby Jones.
Our consignor had an impressive custom case produced for
these two historic O.B. Keeler - Chick Evans letters.