The Royal London Society for the Blind's Living Open Champions' Collection, comprising an authenticated signed golf club presented to the RLSB by ever

The Royal London Society for the Blind's Living Open Champions' Collection, comprising an authenticated signed golf club presented to the RLSB by every living golfer who has won the Open Championship, 31 in total, with the exceptions of Tiger Woods who instead of a club presented an authenticated signed 18th hole pin flag from the Millennium open at St. Andrews, and Roberto de Vincenzo who presented an unsigned club but signed a signed certificate of authenticity; the lot also including a golf club presented by the 1951 Open Champion Max Faulkner during the RLSB's project but who subsequently passed away in February 2005, the club unsigned but with a signed letter of authenticity from Max Faulkner and confirming it was competition-used, the collection comprising the following items: Max Faulkner deceased (1951 Royal Portrush) a competition-used unmarked 3 wood; together with a detailed signed letter of authenticity from Max Faulkner dated 12th November 2004 confirming the various ways he had 'tinkered' with the shape, weight and balance of the wood Peter Thomson (1954 Birkdale, 1955 St Andrews, 1956 Royal Liverpool, 1958 Royal Lytham & St Annes) a driver made by Roger Cleveland of Los Angeles in 1985 and used by Thomson until circa 1990, signed on the sole; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Peter Thomson dated 13th July 2005 Gary Player (1959 Muirfield, 1968 Carnoustie, 1974 Royal Lytham & St Annes) a Par Saver wedge, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from the offices of the Gary Player Group, dated 1st March 2004 Kel Nagle (1960 St Andrews) a competition-used sand wedge circa 1965, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Kel Nagle dated 21st August 2004 Arnold Palmer (1961 Royal Birkdale,1962 Royal Troon) a replica of the Legendary Arnold Palmer Putter, signed on the grip; together with a signed letter of authenticity from the offices of Arnold Palmer Enterprises (undated) Bob Charles (1963 Royal Lytham & St Annes) a competition-used left-handed Callaway driver, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Bob Charles (undated) Jack Nicklaus (1966 Muirfield, 1970 St Andrews & 1978 St Andrews) a JN32 Series putter, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from the offices of Golden Bear International, Inc., dated 4th March 2004 Roberto de Vicenzo (1967 Royal Liverpool) a Dunlop No.5 iron used in competitions between 1980 and 1987, unsigned; together with a signed letter of authenticity in Spanish from Roberto de Vicenzo dated 22nd February 2005 Tony Jacklin (1969 Royal Lytham & St Annes) a Ping lob wedge, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity (postcard format) from Tony Jacklin in (undated) Lee Trevino (1971 Royal Birkdale & 1972 Muirfield) a Topflite sand wedge, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Lee Trevino (undated) Tom Weiskopf (1973 Royal Troon) a Tournament Players driver, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Tom Weiskopf dated 3rd August 2004 Tom Watson (1975 Carnoustie, 1977 Turnberry, 1980 Muirfield, 1982 Royal Troon & 1983 Royal Birkdale) a sand wedge, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Tom Watson (undated) Johnny Miller (1976 Royal Birkdale) a Big Bertha Hawkeye, signed on the crown (no accompanying letter of authenticity from the golfer) Severiano Ballesteros (1979 Royal Lytham & St Annes, 1984 St Andrews & 1988 Royal Lytham & St Annes) a Callaway Big Bertha, signed on the sole; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Severiano Ballesteros dated 12th July 2004 Bill Rogers (1981 Royal St Georges) an Adams lob wedge, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Bill Rogers (faxed copy) dated 19th July 2005 Sandy Lyle (1985 Royal St Georges) a competition-used Titleist driver, signed on the crown; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Sandy Lyle in the form of a portrait postcard (undated) Greg Norman (1986 Turnberry & 1993 Royal St Georges) a Titleist driver, signed on the crown; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Greg Norman dated 25th April 2004 Nick Faldo (1987 Muirfield, 1990 St Andrews and 1992 Muirfield) a putter, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from the offices of Faldo Design dated 19th May 2004 Mark Calcavecchia (1989 Royal Troon) a Titleist 7.5 driver, signed on the crown; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Mark Calcavecchia dated 15th December 2004 (the letter confirms that Mr Calcavecchia had intended to donate a club he actually used when winning the 1989 Open Championship, but unfortunately the club that was shipped to the RLSB dates from far more recent times). Ian Baker-Finch (1991 Royal Birkdale) a Calloway 55 degree sand wedge, being a copy of the Diawa sand wedge that he used at Royal Birkdale in 1991; together with a pair of signed letters of authenticity from Ian Baker-Finch, dated 2nd October 2004, both laminated Nick Price (1994 Turnberry) a Ping driver, signed on the crown; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Nick Price, dated 25th August 2004 John Daly (1995 St Andrews) a Wilson Invex driver, signed on the crown; together with a signed letter of authenticity from John Daly, dated 14th May 2007 Tom Lehman (1996 St Andrews) a metal 5 wood, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity (postcard format, undated) from Tom Lehman also confirming that the club was signed at the Open Championship at Troon in 2004 Justin Leonard (1997 Royal Troon) a Great Big Bertha driver, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Justin Leonard (undated) Mark O'Meara (1998 Royal Birkdale) a Titleist 8.5 driver, signed on the crown; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Mark O'Meara, dated 19th August 2004 Paul Lawrie (1999 Carnoustie) a competition-used Callaway driver, signed on the sole; together with a pair of signed letters of authenticity, the first signed by Paul Lawrie, dated July 2004 and confirming that the club has been competition-used, the second signed from IMG (undated) Tiger Woods (2000 St Andrews, 2005 St Andrews & 2006 Royal Birkdale) a signed 18th pin flag from the St Andrews Millennium Open of 2000; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Tiger Woods's management company David Duval (2001 Royal Lytham & St Annes) a Nike driver, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from David Duval dated 27th September 2005 Ernie Els (2002 Muirfield) a competition-used Titleist Forged 690MB 3 Iron, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Ernie Els's P.A. dated July 2004 Ben Curtis (2003 Royal St Georges) a Titleist iron, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Ben Curtis (undated) confirming that he signed the club at Royal Troon in 2004 during the Open Championship Todd Hamilton (2004 Royal Troon) a TaylorMade driver, signed on the face; together with a signed letter of authenticity from TaylorMade, dated 13th October 2004, and also confirming that this club is made with specifications unique to Todd Hamilton Padraig Harrington (2007 Carnoustie) a lob wedge, signed to the back; together with a signed letter of authenticity from Padraig Harrington Just occasionally items of historical importance are committed to auctions and are snapped up by dealers and collectors when really they should stay in the public domain. Golfing items are rarely of this importance. However, one such, The Auchterlonie Open Champions Collection did appear some years ago at a Sotheby's auction at Chester. The collection was purchased by a far-sighted buyer who realised that this unique group of clubs should stay on view to the public. A representative of Alfred Dunhill realised the importance. On Monday 15th July 1991 the world record for a single golfing lot was set, and may never be broken. The 23 clubs comprising the Auchterlonie Open Champions' collection from 1860-1930 was sold, in total, for well over ?600,000. These clubs formerly owned by such famous names as Willie Park (first winner of The Open), Old and Young Tom Morris, JH Taylor, Harry Vardon and Bobby Jones, to name but a few, are now housed in the Golf Museum of St Andrews and on permanent view to the public. Now renamed the Alfred Dunhill Collection, these implements may look strange, but were typical of their time and it is important for people to see how the game has evolved. Laurie Auchterlonie was a professional at St Andrews for many years. Peter Dobereiner once described his name as one ''which rolls around the tongue like a dram of single malt''. Auchterlonie also realised the importance of collecting these clubs for his and future generations. The Royal London School for the Blind has for several years been collecting another group of clubs that are of historical value. The new unique collection will be of interest to people in the future to see how the more modern implements have changed and indeed are still changing. This very important collection of Open Champions' clubs, signed and/or authenticated by the Champions, was started in 2004 as the living Open Champions' collection. It started with the late Max Faulkener, 1951 Champion, and currently ends with the reigning Champion, Padraig Harrington. One will see from the cataloguing note that there are 31 Open Champions' clubs and one wonderful donation by Tiger Woods, both signed and authenticated as being the Millennium Open Championship 18th hole flag, even with the official hologram. The Alfred Dunhill (Auchterlonie) Collection 1860-1930, and now The Royal London Society for the Blind Collection 1951-2007 - we can see this may not end here! Founded in 1838, the Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB) provides education, training and employment services that enable people who are blind or partially sighted to overcome the discrimination they face and the social exclusion and poverty many experience. This is accomplished through our specialist nursery, school and college in Sevenoaks and our London-based Employment Services division, which helps visually impaired individuals to find and stay in mainstream employment. In 2004 Nicholas Winton accepted an invitation to join a London-based events committee with the purpose of raising funds and profile for the RLSB and immediately set about gathering golf clubs from three British Open winners - Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. The project quickly took on a life of its own, and Nick soon found himself attempting to obtain a club from every living champion. Four years later, the Living British Open Champions Collection was complete and ready for auction. The Royal London Society for the Blind would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in the collection. appendix: THE ROYAL LONDON SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND'S LIVING OPEN CHAMPIONS COLLECTION IMPORTANT NOTICE TO BIDDERS This collection comprising 32 items is being offered as a collection as lot 853 with an auctioneer's estimate of ?30,000-50,000. In circumstances where the collection should fail to reach its reserve price, the lot will be withdrawn. Each of the 32 items will then be offered for auction individually as lots 854 to 885. Correspondingly, should the entire collection be sold as lot 853, then the proceeding lots 854 to 885 will be withdrawn from the auction.