Walter Hagen's Personal Clubs

Used to Win 1929 Open Championship

            Very rarely is an item of such historical significance ever made available for purchase a public auction. The presented clubs are Walter Hagen's actual clubs used to win the 1929 Open Championship at famed Muirfield. These clubs were used by Hagen to win his 4th Open Championship and last-ever Major Championship. The 1929 Open Championship is also well-known to historians as the last all-hickory Major Championship, as the steel shaft era was about to unfold. Hagen also used these clubs in the 1929 Ryder Cup (the 2nd-ever Ryder Cup and 1st on European soil) and in a match with the Prince of Wales (soon to become King Edward VIII).

            This collection of 6 custom Walter Hagen clubs includes a Driver, Mid-Iron, Mid-Mashie, Mashie Iron, Spade Mashie, and Mashie Niblick. Our consignor, well-regarded collector and amateur golf historian Connor Lewis, assembled an extremely comprehensive collection of Walter Hagen 1929 Open Championship memorabilia (including Hagen's 1929 Open bag, which sold in the November 2011 Heritage Auction for $21,510). The 5 irons from this collection were originally obtained directly from Alexander Lilac of the LA Young Co. - Walter Hagen's Clubmaker. The custom Walter Hagen WH1 Wood was tracked down separately by Lewis, and is the same custom club that Hagen used during his trip overseas in 1929 for the Open and the Ryder Cup. Could an identical, duplicate custom WH1 Wood be the one used by Hagen during that fateful trip? It is possible, but this is the only such club matching the description known.

            These clubs and their history truly exemplify Walter Hagen as both a golfer and a person, as they represent Hagen the Champion (in using them to win the Open Championship) and Hagen to Person (in advancing great lengths from lowly working class club professional to hobnobbing with royalty).

            Accompanying this lot is (1) a 1994 letter of provenance from Alexander Lilac of LA Young Co., (2) a letter from our consignor Connor Lewis regarding his acquisition of the clubs and his keynote speech about the clubs and the 1929 Open Championship at the 2009 National Golf Collector Society Meeting, and (3) copies of several photos showing Hagen using these clubs in 1929.