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Million dollars to spare? The most famous golf painting in the world is for sale

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Grab your checkbooks: “A world-famous piece of golfing memorabilia” — as legendary commentator Peter Alliss called the painting — is up for sale.

Auction house Bonhams will feature the aptly titled The Portrait of Henry Callender standing in a landscape, in the red coat of Captain General of the Blackheath Golf Club and holding a putter for bid.

CALLENDER

The painting is the work of the brush of Leicestershire artist Lemuel Francis Abbott, and is expected to fetch £600,000 –£800,000.

That’s roughly $900,000 to $1.2 million.

Regarded as one of the earliest depictions of the gentleman’s game, the undated painting has spent at least the past 150 years in the clubhouse of Royal Blackheath Golf Club, which traces its origins to the early 17th century is one of the oldest golf courses in the world. Indeed, the famed British golf writer Bernard Darwin identified it as the oldest course in the world.

The club is auctioning off the famous portrait to raise funds.

More about the painting, via Golfbusinessnews.com:

“The portrait’s sitter is Henry Callender, an expatriate Scot, who is depicted in the uniform of a Captain General of the Blackheath Society of Golfers. This style of uniform is still worn by Captains of the Society on formal occasions. The title of Captain General is an honorary one bestowed upon a member of good standing who is part chairman, secretary, president, law maker, and someone whose opinion is asked on any matters that might arise about the workings of Royal Blackheath Golf Club. This title is unique in the golfing world.”

“The portrait itself is undated, but it was the subject of a mezzotint issued in 1812 which helped to make the image more widely known. Its fame was secured when the mezzotint was reproduced in colour by various publishers 100 years later.”

If you’re interested, the work will be up for bid at Bonhams Old Master Paintings sale Dec. 9 at Bonhams in London.

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4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Chris Taylor

    Nov 10, 2015 at 10:09 am

    Okay, which image above is accurate? In the original, is he wearing a blue collar or red? Is the golden medallion hanging just above a single exposed button or not?

  2. 8thehardway

    Nov 10, 2015 at 7:43 am

    I thought the top photo was “George Washington crossing the Swilican Burn in the gloaming.”

  3. Dan

    Nov 9, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    Why doesn’t TPC Sawgrass buy this photo? They have million dollar artwork in their clubhouse, add another one.

  4. Mike

    Nov 9, 2015 at 10:29 am

    I wonder if they’d take a trade. I have a used Cleveland Classic belly putter. Heck…I would even throw in $20 to sweeten the deal.

    One Classic for another…

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Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (1/16/24): Cobra Forged One Length irons

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a set of Cobra Forged One Length irons.

From the seller: (@adamwittman): “4-PW, GW, lw. Nunchuk shafts. $350 tyd conusa.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Cobra Forged One Length irons

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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What GolfWRXers are saying about Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons

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In our forums, our members have been discussing Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons which he has in the bag at this week’s CJ Cup. WRXers have been commenting on the switch and the clubs themselves in our forums.

For lots more photos, check out the full thread here.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • btyh: “Holy offset.”
  • Glf_LU: “These are interesting. Not going to make a rush to judgement until I see them in person. It does look like a little more offset than I would expect to see in this model.”
  • bcflyguy1: “Kisner is not one to make a lot of equipment changes (see the GBB driver he’s still using), so if these do have staying power in his bag that will be interesting to see. I have to wonder if there’s something different about his set, because like others have mentioned there appears to be more offset on his than I recall seeing in the samples I’ve had in hand.”

Entire Thread: “Kevin Kisner’s new Callaway X Forged CB irons”

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WATCH: PGA Tour players play hole blindfolded and it’s hilarious/amazing

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As part of a Srixon campaign, four PGA Tour players recently participated in a three-hole challenge, with each hole being a different game; hole No. 1 was blindfolded, hole No. 2 was costumes and distractions, and hole No. 3 was alternate shot with a baseball bat. The teams were Smylie Kaufman and Sam Ryder against Shane Lowry and Grayson Murray.

Watch the full video below, since it is quite entertaining (albeit not the type of golf that Old Tom Morris surely had in mind), but in particular, make sure to check out the first hole where Lowry and Ryder play a full hole completely blind folded. It’s amazing to watch how badly Ryder struggles, and how Lowry nearly makes par.

Cleveland-Srixon’s marketing department has been hard at work crafting these viral-esque ad campaigns; if you remember, former long-drive champion Jamie Sadlowski recently dressed as 80-year-old Grandpa Jamie to fool range-goers. That video has since gathered over 1.2 million views on YouTube.

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