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SARAZEN, Gene (1902-1999). Born Eugenio
Saraceni. Professional golfer, one of the few to win all the
major championships in his career. First golfer to win the Career
Grand Slam: the U.S. Open in 1922, 1932; PGA Championship in
1922, 1923 and 1933; British Open in 1932 and the Masters in
1935. He was among the first class of inductees into the World
Gold Hall of Fame (1974). While he was receiving a flying lesson
from Howard Hughes in 1931 the idea came to him to invent the
modern sand wedge which he called the sand iron.  We can’t imagine a finer content letter of Sarazen explaining how he created the Sand Iron. Only portions of the letter are illustrated here. The letter is in fine condition………………………………................................................................$1900.00 |
Autograph Letter Signed, “Gene”
two very full pages on his name imprinted letterhead which also
contains his return address and a full length portrait of him
holding an iron. Dec. 9, 1990, Sarazen writes in part: “….in
regards to Sand iron, the idea came to me while taking flying
lessons. I noticed when I pulled the stick back the tail would
go down, and on with the take off. It flashed in my mind that
if I put a flange on my niblic it would bounce off the sand.
I tried and it worked. I hope this answers your question-this
was in 1932. The first tour I used it was the British Open. I
won it very easily but I had to take the wedge to my bedroom
for fear the R.A. would barr it, during the British Open. I went
down to seven out twelve. The following tour…I repeated,
traps were no longer a hazard to me. Then they copied my idea,
take this club out of the bag and it would increase the score
by two or three strokes. The pros today are experts, Gary Player,
Palmer are the great bunker players….” Boldly written
with a dark ink felt tip pen.