Christie's Auction: Golf Memorabilia

Golf Essentials: Clubs, Pleats, A Painting Worth £300,000...

A golf putter, used by two of the game's most famous players, and a painting of a golf course are just two of the headline lots at an auction expected to raise more then £2m.

It might seem like a lot of money for the non-golfers among us, but golf memorabilia has been known to fetch a lot of money in the past. In 2007 at Sotheby's New York a collection of more than 800 antique golf club collection belonging to golf historian Jeffrey B Ellis fetched a whopping $2.1m (£1.4m).

The Golf Course, North Berwick, painted by artist Sir John Lavery in the 1920s is expected to sell for around £300,000 in the auction at Christie's in May which features other artwork, balls dating back hundreds of years, and clubs including a putter used by father and son Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, who won eight Open Championships between them in the 19th century. Christie's has slapped a £70,000 estimate on that particular item.

Also up for sale are Featherie style balls, made from a mixture of cowhide and goose feathers, which are estimated to fetch as much as £20,000 each. They were introduced into the game during the 17th century, replacing wooden balls, before being replaced in turn by rubber balls in the 19th century.

The collection was put together over a quarter of a century by Jaime Ortiz-Patino who founded the Valderrama Golf Club in Spain.

Some lots will go on show in New York, Hong Kong and Dubai before the sale on 30 May.

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