masters history
How a $470k 1934 Masters badge ended up across the street from Augusta National
We all have family heirlooms. Maybe a set of opulent pearl earrings, Beanie Babies from the late ‘90s or blurry photos of our great-great-great-grandparents. Very few of us have a signed 1934 Augusta National Invitation Tournament badge (it wasn’t even officially called the Masters yet!) in our house, gathering dust and waiting to break nearly every public auction record.
A man and his wife out of the Carolinas—very much not golf fanatics—decided to see what they had with this particular curio passed down about 40 years ago by his parents, who received it from their parents 40 years before that. Signed by 1934 Augusta National Invitation champion Horton Smith, along with Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and a few others, this particular relic eventually found itself in an auction with a starting price of $40,000, but not before an auction taboo that would make even the most hardened golf obsessive gasp.
“He just pulled it out of a folder by the string and said, ‘Hey, here it is.’ I just wanted to grab a cloud and put it underneath it and say, ‘Rest it down here and don't do that again,’” recalled Brad Roberts, vice president of sales, marketing and consignments at The Golf Auction.
The Golf Auction specializes in all things golf memorabilia and has helped many a valuable keepsake find a home, from a recent Payne Stewart Collection, which featured an autographed white flat cap, to a June auction that featured a signed Tiger Woods rookie card, a Rodman Wanamaker Trophy and a historic Bobby Jones swing sequence study with 61 original photos.
When it came to the auction, Roberts helped set the aforementioned $40,000 minimum price for the badge, which was more than helpful for a couple that wasn’t exactly golf savvy. That set number was quickly blown out of the water. And then again. And then again. The badge's original price back in 1934 was $5.50, plus an extra 50 cents for tax. It went for ... a bit more than that.
“He and his wife had a certain number that if they achieved that, they would be more than happy to part with it,” Roberts continued. “And we exceeded that reserve price number with the final money paid of $470,857. That’s the second-highest all-time paid for sporting ticket at an auction. We were runner-up to a debut ticket for Jackie Robinson, and we're more than happy to take a runner-up spot to Jackie any day.”
The auction was finalized on April 14 with 16 number bids and an extended bidding process, in which all those who had bid previously could make additional offers until a period of 30 minutes elapsed without anything new. This is a common procedure for The Golf Auction. What isn’t common is the final price tag and that the item will be housed across the street from Augusta National.
The man behind the money is Marcus Burnell of The Azalea House, who won the auction, hopped on a plane the day after the wire payment and is now adding this 1934 badge to one of the more prodigious Masters collections (right) outside of Augusta National.
Known for its “premium experience packages,” Masters-week corporate fundraisers and "true Southern hospitality" less than a mile from the Augusta National North Gate, The Azalea House’s team is not-so-quietly collecting one of the most impressive golf memorabilia collections in the world, especially when it comes to badges from majors past. The treasure trove is a pretty nice bonus to the valet parking, refreshments and golf cart shuttles that Burnell and his team pride themselves on.
The Azalea House prides itself on its major tickets, hospitality, VIP and hotel packages, but it's also become home to one of the rarest collections in golf.
“I've been buying tickets up for years,” Burnell said. “I picked up a lot of the '50s and I'm almost done with all the '40s. Winning the 1934 auction really gave me the ability to say, boy, you know, I have a chance to have them all. And so my goal ultimately, is to have them all by year 100. This year was the 88th version of the Masters. So we've got 12-ish years left, right? And we only need six.”
Well, it was six at the beginning of the reporting of this story and Burnell is now closing in on 1942. The other five badges still floating around are 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939 and 1940. Burnell uses a potpourri of methods to find these tickets whether it’s simply garnering Augusta connections over his 25-plus years running The Azalea House, watching auction sites like a hawk or even putting out a local ad in the Augusta Free Press.
“I've run an ad in that paper for like four years, every single day. Never missed a day,” Burnell said.
The entire collection isn’t viewable to the public at the moment but Burnell is optimistic that it will be soon enough, especially once the collection is (fingers crossed) completed.
“That’s something we’re talking about,” Burnell said. “It costs too much right now to keep them secure. I’m not against using them for some sort of fundraiser or something like that. I’m wide open to it, but we’d need some pretty good security. I’ve got them all put away right now.”
“He has quite a collection,” Roberts, of The Golf Auction, said. “It’s one of the strongest I've seen in some time and in order to get a full run of badges and tickets, it takes a great amount of work. It's the thrill of the hunt, but the hunt for golf tickets is pretty hard. Probably one of the tougher ones to go on especially when you start dealing with pre-war items from that ‘34 to ‘42 span of years.
“And you can easily see how exciting it would be to locate one or find one. During the Depression era, many individuals would keep things, hide things or put them in shoe boxes or scrapbooks. Things, unfortunately, get disposed of. Who knows the next time one of these will become available?”
The most recent addition for Azalea, the 1934 badge, has been called the “Holy Grail” of Masters tickets. It’s signed by the event’s victor and 10 other competitors, including the first club pro of Augusta National, Ed Dudley.
There were only three fully intact tickets like this one before The Golf Auction put this recently identified badge up for sale. Augusta National, of course, owns one of them and one was sold to a private collector, not through an auction, for $600,000 in 2022. The Azalea House series ticket even has the original string it was handed out with.
The Azalea House has a vast collection along with its spectacular badge catalog from vintage Masters programs to a 2022 flag signed by the best golfers in the world.
Addie Strozier Photography
Addie Strozier Photography
Addie Strozier Photography
The Golf Auction echoes the “Holy Grail” descriptor and states that “it remains in good vintage condition after 90 years, with some creasing and very faint, expected surface wear.” It was verified by James Spence Authentication (JSA) and given a full letter of authenticity.
At just over $470,000 this record-setting Masters badge auction is the latest in an emphasis on golf memorabilia and sports collecting over the last few years.
“We've seen everything on a general uptick across the board,” Roberts said. “When COVID hit, I think there was an increase in screen time for collectors and everyone else. A little cabin fever, a little extra money from not traveling. A good amount of it is undervalued and there are a lot of items in the market today.”
Well, there’s one less item out there after a good deal of bidding and money. It’s an Augusta National Invitation Tournament badge, and it’s just a stone’s throw (or errant swing) away from the vaunted course. It’s back home and fortunately not jostling around in a folder anymore.
