Billy Casper's
1970 Masters Tournament Winner's Trophy
BILLY CASPER COLLECTION
Billy Casper was one of the all-time greats. During his career, he won an astonishing 51 times on the PGA Tour, the 7th
most in history. That is more than Walter Hagen, Phil Mickelson, Gene
Sarazen, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Gary Player. It is no wonder that
despite those 51 victories, including 3 Majors, golf historians still
consider Casper perhaps the most underrated golfer ever.
We
can all agree that Billy Casper was a great golfer; but let’s be clear
on one thing – he was an even better person. Though we don’t usually do
this, let us share a little info on our business dealings with Billy
before he passed away. Billy Casper first reached out to us in early
2014 about what to do with his collection. When we promised him a
sizable six figure cash advance, he told us to come visit him – and to
bring our checkbook. We then flew out to Utah to meet with Billy, his
wife Shirley, and several of his children. After agreeing to a plan for
Casper’s collection, we pulled out that checkbook to write one of our
largest checks ever…and Billy Casper told us to give the entire amount
to charity.
Like we said, Billy Casper was a great golfer; but he was an even better person. Rest in peace, Billy.
Billy Casper’s 1970 Masters Tournament Winner’s Trophy
We are pleased to offer one of the finest pieces of memorabilia ever to grace our auction block – Billy Casper’s actual winner’s trophy from the 1970 Masters Tournament.
Though everyone is familiar with today’s iconic “clubhouse” trophy awarded to Masters Champions – that trophy actually didn’t start being awarded until 1993. Immediately before that was a bas-relief trophy that was awarded from the early ‘70s til 1992. But it takes a true historian to recall the first trophy awarded to Masters Champions – a sterling silver cigar humidor intricately engraved with the signatures of the event’s participants.
To our knowledge, this is the first original Masters Tournament trophy to be offered for public sale, though we do know of one that traded hands for a rather lofty sum in a private transaction.
The trophy is engraved in the front:
“PRESENTED TO BILLY CASPER, JR, WINNER, MASTERS TOURNAMENT 1970.”
That engraving is flanked by the facsimile signatures of Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts. The other 3 sides of the trophy are engraved with the facsimile signatures of Casper’s competitors in the 1970 Masters Tournament, including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson, as well as former champs like Henry Picard, Gene Sarazen, and Herman Keiser. The sterling silver trophy measures 9 1/4" x 5 1/2" x 1 3/4 and was made by jeweler Cartier. It should be noted that the trophy has a typo; it accidentally states “Atlanta” National Golf Club under Bobby Jones’ name. Until we brought this to the attention of the Caspers, they had never even noticed.
Letter of Authenticity from the Casper Family