Willie Dunn, Sr. 1959 Used Philp Club

from Willie Park Match

with Dunn Family Provenance

            The presented club is one of the few 19th century golf clubs that can actually be attributed to a famous golfer of the day. This club comes from the Dunn Family itself (with a letter from Willie Dunn III), and was used by the great Willie Dunn, Sr. (1829-1878) in a challenge match against Willie Park, Sr. at Prestwick. According to the Dunn Family, Dunn lost this challenge match to Park and the sum of £100 - an astronomical figure in 1859. When Dunn used this club in 1859, the Open Championship (also to be held at Prestwick) was still a year away from being formed - and Willie Park would go on to win that inaugural Open. Also, it should be noted that while the Dunn Family can attribute this very club to that fateful 1859 challenge match, Dunn would have certainly used this club for numerous other rounds, including challenge matches or early tournaments, even if such details have been lost over the past century and a half.

            As if a club that can be placed in the hands of Willie Park, Sr. isn't enough, this isn't just any golf club - it is one of the approximately 200 known surviving examples of the most respected clubmaker of all-time, Hugh Philp. Hugh Philp is widely considered the Stradivarius of golf clubmakers - an ode to the late 17th/early 18th century violin maker still regarded as the greatest violin craftsman ever. The fact that other clubmakers respected Philp's work so much that they played with his clubs, not their own, is already well-known, but this is yet another example of that sign of respect for Philp's work. Old Tom Morris, Willie Park, Sr. and others also reportedly played with Philp clubs. Simply put, every serious golf collection in the world contains one or more of the 200 known Philp clubs, and no collection could be considered complete without one. The current average price for a regular Philp club at auction is between $10,000 and $20,000. Surely there is not even a reliable estimate for the value of a Willie Dunn, Sr. match-used Philp pre-dating the first Open Championship with Dunn Family provenance.

            This one-of-kind Willie Dunn, Sr. match-used Philp club comes with a letter of provenance from the Willie Dunn III. The club also still contains a now-fading manila tag which the Willie Dunn, Jr. at one time used to catalog the family's collection. This club was originally sold by the Dunn Family at a Sotheby's Auction approximately 20-30 years ago.