Historic Set of Original Masters Patches

        Every now and then, a piece of golf memorabilia becomes available that truly gives us goosebumps. This particular piece is sure to do just that to any Masters Tournament fan or collector. We first learned of the existence of these historic badges with the release of longtime Augusta National Golf Club photographer and employee Frank Christian's 1996 book, Augusta National and The Masters - A Photagrapher's Scrapbook. Since that time, we have actively searched out these patches - first as collectors and then as auctioneers. Alas, we tracked them down and finally convinced the owner to part with them from his substantial golf collection. It was no easy feat to locate this extraordinary piece, but it was certainly worth the effort.

        Instead of explaining these patches in our own words, we'll leave it to none other than Clifford Roberts to explain the patches and the history of their changes:

"The Augusta National Golf Club emblem is one of the most recognizable in the world. As you might expect, it has gone through an evolution that includes at least five different versions. The first was very crude, according to Clifford Roberts, who explained to me: 'The map of the United States looked as though it came from an ancient drawing,' he said. 'The members thought it was crude, and someone suggested that the English made nice patches, so I told them to go ahead and design another version. It had a very nice map of the United States, with the flag coming out of Augusta, and it also had beautiful silver and gold silk braid. But, the metallic strands frayed, and we didn't like that, so another attempt was made, but that, too, always seemed to fray. Then, someone had the idea for a completely new design, using the map of the United States without a circle around it. This proved too bulky, so we decided to return to the original soft patch, with a more accurate map.'" (Frank Christain's A Photographer's Scrapbook, Page 89)

        In his book, Frank Christian states that "[a]s far as I know, these are the only specimens remaining." It is now believed that two such sets exist. Amazingly, we have been informed that even Augusta National Golf Club does not have all 5 patches - they are missing at least two of these historic patches.

***UPDATE 1/4/10***  Can it get any better than this?!? We've heard from famed Augusta National photographer and author Frank Christian, who remembers these historic patches fondly. Christian has even offered to write a letter for the winning bidder. Thanks Mr. Christian!!