1926 Sterling Silver Match Safe
Jim Barnes & Johnny Farrell

This is a 1926 Sterling Silver Match Safe from an exhibition that pitted “Long” Jim Barnes and Johnny Farrell against two challengers. The January 3, 1926 Match featuring British Open Champion Jim Barnes paired with future U.S. Open Champion Johnny Farrell against Gordon Gibbons, the Amateur Champion of Florida and Lawrence Sherill, the Amateur Champion of Tampa. Not surprisingly Barnes and Farrell won the match with a best-ball score of 69, shooting par or better on 17 of the 18 holes. While we don’t know for certain, this match safe was likely a gift to one of the four golfers.