AN EXTREMELY RARE HAND-HAMMERED GUTTA-PERCHA GOLF BALL
AN EXTREMELY RARE HAND-HAMMERED GUTTA-PERCHA GOLF BALL

BY ALLAN ROBERTSON, DATED 1849

Details
AN EXTREMELY RARE HAND-HAMMERED GUTTA-PERCHA GOLF BALL
BY ALLAN ROBERTSON, DATED 1849
Stamped 'Allan' and inscribed '25', with further ink inscription 'a new kind of golf ball made of gutta-percha in the year 1849'
Provenance
Phillips Edinburgh, 14 July 1992, lot 287.
The Union Building Club House, St. Andrews, found in a bottle when alterations took place to the building of the Royal and Ancient Club House on the same site.

Brought to you by

Philip Harley
Philip Harley

Lot Essay

This golf ball, along with lot 75, was found in a bottle when alterations took place to the building of the Royal and Ancient Club House on the same site. The Fifeshire Journal of Thursday 14 July 18 53 mentions that they were found within a cavity of the building with copies of The Times, The Fifeshire Journal and The Fifeshire Herald.
This is a rare ball by Allan Robertson, for legend has it that when gutty balls first appeared, Robertson used to burn them and that he fell out with his apprentice, 'Old' Tom Morris, because Morris had used a gutty in a match.

More from Origins of Golf: The Jaime Ortiz-Patino Collection

View All
View All