Green Jacket Auctions: How To Place A Bid On Ben Hogan’s 1953 MacGregor Irons
Some people invest in gold, some in art, and others still in sporting memorabilia. And lots don’t come much better than Ben Hogan’s actual 1953 set of MacGregor irons used to win the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.
The clubs are currently up for online auction at Green Jacket Auctions (click on the link to enter their site). The auction continues until April 12th 2014 and the current bid is $7320, nowhere near the reserve I’m guessing.
Here’s the auctioneer's description:
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Offered here is the most significant set of irons to every grace our auction block - or quite possibly, any auction block.
These are Ben Hogan's actual set of MacGregor irons from his magical 1953 Season â€" when Hogan won all five official events that he entered, including the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and British Open.
And this isn't just any Ben Hogan iron set that he may have used once or twice. These are Hogan's actual "working" set from 1953, when he not only won 3 Majors, but was fine tuning his idea for the perfect golf club. Hogan fulfilled his lifelong goal by forming the Ben Hogan Golf Company in late 1953. Once the Ben Hogan Golf Company was formed, Hogan, of course, never used MacGregor clubs again. Therefore, since all of Hogan's used MacGregor clubs date to 1953 and before, they are coveted by collectors.
The offered set is one of only three Ben Hogan-used MacGregor iron sets known to exist, and the only set in private hands. Those two other sets are owned by the USGA Museum and Merion Golf Club - the site of Hogan's 1950 U.S. Open victory.
We were most interested in the USGA Museum set, as it also dates to the 1953 Season. According to the USGA Museum, that barely-played set was used by Hogan to win the 1953 U.S. Open. The USGA recently granted us access to their 1953 U.S. Open set, which is displayed in the Ben Hogan Room at the USGA Museum in Far Hills, NJ.
So what happened when we closely inspected the USGA Museum set? Well, let's just say that we were in for the shock of our collecting lives!
The USGA Museum set of Ben Hogan irons attributed to the 1953 U.S. Open was actually a partially mixed set - it was missing the original 9 iron that matched the rest of the set (Ben Hogan Personal Model 1037). Well, guess where that 9-iron resides? YES! - the missing 9 iron from the USGA Museum set is in our possession and is included with our set of Ben Hogan's 1953 irons.
Quite significantly, while the USGA Museum set shows little use, our irons (with the exception of that 9 iron, which also doesn't show much use) are without question Hogan's actual "working" clubs from one of the greatest seasons in golf history. You want to know how Hogan came up with "the Secret"? It was by pounding thousands of balls on the range and at the course with clubs like these. Just inspecting these irons brings back the memory of Ben Hogan; the well-worn irons exhibit a extreme amount of use, and underwent an extraordinary amount of the Hawk's famous tinkering. Every amount of custom clubwork imaginable has been performed on these clubs - the soles, heels and bounce have been ground, the hosels bent, the lofts and lies altered, and a substantial amount of lead weight added. Most of the grips appear to also contain the reminder wire for which Hogan was known to use on ocassion.
These Ben Hogan irons are attributed to Hogan's magical 1953 season. Six of the seven clubs (3 iron through 8 iron) are identical Ben Hogan "No Series Number" Personal Model irons exhibiting an extreme amount of use, and the seventh club is a Ben Hogan Series 1037 Personal Model 9 iron exhibiting light to moderate use.
Ben Hogan's 1953 irons are being offered today by former PGA Tour player Jimmy Powell. They have been Powell's most cherished possession for well over 35 years, and originally belonged to Hogan's best friend Dennis Lavender.
Letter of Provenance from Jimmy Powell. Letter of Authenticity from Green Jacket Auctions.
I'm currently looking for an app developer to build me a wicked GolfCentralDaily app for my stories, funnies, and video. If you are an absolute legend in that area please contact me through Facebook or Twitter. Thanks D.
The clubs are currently up for online auction at Green Jacket Auctions (click on the link to enter their site). The auction continues until April 12th 2014 and the current bid is $7320, nowhere near the reserve I’m guessing.
Here’s the auctioneer's description:
Follow @golfcentraldoc
Ben Hogan's Irons from Magical 1953 Season
Offered here is the most significant set of irons to every grace our auction block - or quite possibly, any auction block. These are Ben Hogan's actual set of MacGregor irons from his magical 1953 Season â€" when Hogan won all five official events that he entered, including the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and British Open.
And this isn't just any Ben Hogan iron set that he may have used once or twice. These are Hogan's actual "working" set from 1953, when he not only won 3 Majors, but was fine tuning his idea for the perfect golf club. Hogan fulfilled his lifelong goal by forming the Ben Hogan Golf Company in late 1953. Once the Ben Hogan Golf Company was formed, Hogan, of course, never used MacGregor clubs again. Therefore, since all of Hogan's used MacGregor clubs date to 1953 and before, they are coveted by collectors.
The offered set is one of only three Ben Hogan-used MacGregor iron sets known to exist, and the only set in private hands. Those two other sets are owned by the USGA Museum and Merion Golf Club - the site of Hogan's 1950 U.S. Open victory.
We were most interested in the USGA Museum set, as it also dates to the 1953 Season. According to the USGA Museum, that barely-played set was used by Hogan to win the 1953 U.S. Open. The USGA recently granted us access to their 1953 U.S. Open set, which is displayed in the Ben Hogan Room at the USGA Museum in Far Hills, NJ.
So what happened when we closely inspected the USGA Museum set? Well, let's just say that we were in for the shock of our collecting lives!
The USGA Museum set of Ben Hogan irons attributed to the 1953 U.S. Open was actually a partially mixed set - it was missing the original 9 iron that matched the rest of the set (Ben Hogan Personal Model 1037). Well, guess where that 9-iron resides? YES! - the missing 9 iron from the USGA Museum set is in our possession and is included with our set of Ben Hogan's 1953 irons.
Quite significantly, while the USGA Museum set shows little use, our irons (with the exception of that 9 iron, which also doesn't show much use) are without question Hogan's actual "working" clubs from one of the greatest seasons in golf history. You want to know how Hogan came up with "the Secret"? It was by pounding thousands of balls on the range and at the course with clubs like these. Just inspecting these irons brings back the memory of Ben Hogan; the well-worn irons exhibit a extreme amount of use, and underwent an extraordinary amount of the Hawk's famous tinkering. Every amount of custom clubwork imaginable has been performed on these clubs - the soles, heels and bounce have been ground, the hosels bent, the lofts and lies altered, and a substantial amount of lead weight added. Most of the grips appear to also contain the reminder wire for which Hogan was known to use on ocassion.
These Ben Hogan irons are attributed to Hogan's magical 1953 season. Six of the seven clubs (3 iron through 8 iron) are identical Ben Hogan "No Series Number" Personal Model irons exhibiting an extreme amount of use, and the seventh club is a Ben Hogan Series 1037 Personal Model 9 iron exhibiting light to moderate use.
Ben Hogan's 1953 irons are being offered today by former PGA Tour player Jimmy Powell. They have been Powell's most cherished possession for well over 35 years, and originally belonged to Hogan's best friend Dennis Lavender.
Letter of Provenance from Jimmy Powell. Letter of Authenticity from Green Jacket Auctions.
I'm currently looking for an app developer to build me a wicked GolfCentralDaily app for my stories, funnies, and video. If you are an absolute legend in that area please contact me through Facebook or Twitter. Thanks D.
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