USGA Acquires Landmark Schickler Photo Collection

North Berwick from the Howard Schickler Photography Collection

Judging by what’s shown at USGA.org and what’s hinted at as part of the Howard Schickler Photography Collection, the USGA has made an incredible acquisition for golf.

Danny Vohden highlights some of the collection’s strengths, with a nice sampling of shots embedded atop the article.

The collection contains more than 1,000 high-quality, historically and artistically important golf images from the 19th and early 20th century. Many photographs feature top American and British golfers, both men and women, from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The collection was amassed over decades by collector Howard Schickler, sourced from the collections of some of the game’s most influential figures, including the personal collections of Old Tom Morris and F.G. Tait, the Auchterlonie and the Foulis families, the estate of Billy Burke and the collections of Ed Dudley and Bernard Darwin. 

Schickler’s love of golf began when he started playing the game at age 13 in New York City. As a longtime curator and dealer of fine art photography, Schickler brings a unique perspective to this collection. 

“I have been mostly interested in the human story in all the collections I have personally built,” said Schickler. “The collection in many ways tells the story, and to the extent important photographs are dispersed in the marketplace, a cohesive story may be permanently lost. I tried to bring stability and credibility to the collecting part by assisting other collectors, historians and auctions… and it made the collection that I was building that much more worthy to stand the test of time.”  

When In Far Hills..."The Art Of The Golf Course" Exhibit Opens

For those in the greater Far Hills, or now, Liberty Corner region—aka USGA headquarters—a new Golf House exhibit focusing on golf architecture as art has opened.

The description:

The USGA Golf Museum’s exhibition, “The Art of the Golf Course,” encourages viewers to consider golf course architecture as an art form, as an analog to landscape architecture, in which design choices are made for aesthetic reasons as well as functional purposes. The exhibition is an examination of art, through art, challenging viewers to expand their perspective on golf as linear journey from tee to green.

The full slide show teasing what to expect.

One Man's Idea For Making Golf Attire More "Accessible"

Thanks to reader Andrew for this preview of renderings for an upcoming Mini-Golf Courses to be created and displayed here in Los Angeles. And while I certainly report on these in person, in the meantime we can enjoy a story linked to the de zeen magazine piece from October.

It seems during Dutch Design Week, one Jason Page unveiled his answer to golf attire that would make the game more accessible and appealing to a wide range of non-golfers.

"It’s not directly trying to include more people but it’s trying to create an atmosphere where more people would want to get involved," he said.

Both garments feature embroidered graphic motifs including leaping golfers, flaming belts, chicken wings, and disembodied bird heads.

To pattern the jumpsuits, Page referred to maps from elite golf courses as well as the kind of language typically used by golfers to design visuals that would "open the sport".

"There are only a few restrictions in golf, and that's the type of cut of the clothing – it has to have a colour, be a different length, and it can't have a large logo," he told Dezeen.

No, no, no large logos for golfers!

"Aside from that I realised that many of the companies weren't really taking adventurous steps. They were maybe making very kitsch loud pants, but nothing which normal people, outside of golf, would want to approach or be involved in," the designer added.

I certainly see the average man wanting to wear this!

Nine Days Of Christmas: Lee Wybranski's Major Art

Longtime readers know I'm a huge fan of Lee Wybranski's commemorative posters that are available at three of the four majors). Wybranski's pieces combine the atmospheric 1930's railway art vibe while adding necessary modern touches to provide us the ideal keepsake from major championships.

Lee's 2013 Open Championship poster from Muirfield has been a favorite in my office, aided in part by the special week that unfolded.

As we all know, some majors are better than others, which is why this is a great time to go through Lee's page of past major posters for weeks that were special to you or a friend (there are also some fun surprises in the form of course maps and select amateur events like the 2005 Walker Cup).

There is no better way to liven up your man-cave or office walls with a Wybranski major championship piece from an event you attended or remember fondly. (His 2016 Oakmont poster is now available too).

If you enter the code GEOFF at checkout, he'll give you 20% off any of the posters for sale on his site, including the signed art.

Merry Christmas!

And thanks to Lee for offering a discount on his art work.

DVR Alert: Golf Photographers Featured On In Play

Last week's Golf World had a superb story by Brett Avery (not posted online) about the history of golf photography. The story coincided with the PGA's visit to Rochester, home of Kodak (or what's left of the storied company).

And this week's In Play With Jimmy Roberts features a story on golf photographers that looks like it'll be worth checking out. The preview of the Golf Channel show that airs at 10:30 ET, 7:30 PT:

Note To U.S. Open Visitors: The Art of Golf Comes To PMOA

Joe Logan alerts us to the great news that the Art of Golf traveling exhibit will be up through July 7 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Best of all, it's a great chance to see a masterpiece:

The centerpiece of the collection is perhaps the most famous painting in the history of golf.   Titled "The Golfers," the 7-foot wide canvas, rendered in 1847 by Scotsman Charles Lees,  is set on the Old Course in St. Andrews and depicts a crucial moment in match between Sir David Baird and Sir Ralph Anstruther and  Sir Hugh Playfair and John Campbell.

Here's a nice YouTube video with some insights into the exhibit, a nice curator breakdown of "The Golfers" and some info on planned for U.S. Open tie-ins, including evening events all week which might make visiting during those evenings difficult.

Must See In Atlanta: The Art Of Golf

Thanks to Tim Murphy for noting in Golf World Monday what appears to be an incredible (and first ever) exhibit devoted to the very best of golf art. Atlanta's High Museum of Art hosts February 5-June 24.

Here's hoping Rob Matre's new Georgia Golf Report files a first person review of the show.

"I think we've finally bridged the gap"

John Paul Newport focuses in on two of golf's best landscape photographers and learns this about how Joanne Dost and Larry Lambrecht work.

Ms. Dost, who sells framed photographs as large as 40 inches by 80 inches in her gallery in Monterey, still shoots her most ambitious work on film. "Digital is great. For books, for magazines, for smaller prints, it's perfect. But when you get up into the really big prints, the depth and tonality is just not quite there for me yet," she said. Mr. Lambrecht, by contrast, has gone almost exclusively digital, thanks to an expensive new digital back for his trusty old medium-format film camera. It can record images of 39 megapixels, compared with 10 to 12 megapixels for today's top-line consumer digital cameras. "I think we've finally bridged the gap," he said.

And while we're on the subject of cool golf images, reader Michael noticed this Jaoa Padua shot from MSNBC. It's of Marta Mamani, an Aymara indigenous woman who is on the construction crew at La Paz Golf Club in Bolivia, considered the world's golf facility highest above sea level.

Leroy Neiman Unveils Ryder Cup Print; Pentagon Inquires About Possible Use On Detainees

Gary Van Sickle at golf.com's press tent blog tracks down the image on Neiman's web site and offers his thoughts on this latest masterwork.

Personally I think you can tack that baby to any wall in the Guantanamo Bay prison, throw on Celine Dion's greatest hits, and no one will ever ask about waterboarding ever again.