World’s oldest golf club collection up for auction
One of the world’s finest private collections of early golf clubs is to be auctioned in Los Angeles at the end of March.
The set compromises of over 130 clubs that span the history of clubmaking from spur irons of the 17th century to spoons and playclubs of the late 19th century.
It is estimated the collection will be worth at least $1 million (£800,000) when it goes on sale at Bonhams, a privately owned auction house, on March 29.
Will Roberto, curator of the Roberto Family Trust Golf Collection, who will be selling the set started collecting golf memorabilia in the 1960s.
The collection has been curated over the past 50 years and has been gradually refined with pieces from America, England and the home of golf, Scotland all being added.
Among the many treasures from the collection the standout piece is a left hand, child’s or light spur toe iron (1690-1700) which is one of the oldest and rarest.
The club has an estimated value at auction of around $75,000-$100,000 (£60,000-£80,000) alone. It is one of only eight such clubs known to exist and is believed to have been found in a box of tools from more than 50 years ago.
Collector Will Roberto said: “Putting together this collection has been a wonderful, absorbing hobby which has given me decades of pleasure. The time has now come for a new generation of collectors to enjoy these fascinating objects.”
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Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
