Museum Moment: Pebble Beach Photos
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The picturesque par-3 seventh at Pebble Beach Golf Links is one of the most photographed and famous holes in all of golf. (John Mummert/USGA) |
Feb. 19, 2010
By Ellie Kaiser, USGA
Far Hills, N.J. – The USGA Museum houses one of the most comprehensive collections of golf photography in the world, including numerous examples of the evolution of Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, which will host the U.S. Open for a fifth time this summer (June 17-20).
The Museum’s photographic collections contain more than 700,000 images, including original black-and-white prints from the beginning of golf in the United States, as well as an extensive collection of contemporary images. Each year more than 15,000 images are added to the collection from USGA championships and other assignments.
The images in the USGA collection date to the late 19th century and, coincidentally, to the beginning of recorded photography as a form of sports media. The USGA’s collection of images documents all aspects of the game, with a particular emphasis on golf courses, both modern and historic, and USGA championships. Collecting photographs of the game is one way the Museum records the footprints left by golf for future generations.
With the 2010 U.S. Open Championshiponly a few months away, now is a good time to share some of the vast collection of Pebble Beach course photography.
The classic black–and-white images in this gallery of Pebble Beach date to as early as April 1926, with an image of the course’s eighth hole. That historic shot can be compared to a photo of the same hole taken in April 2009, 83 years later. Through these two photos it is clear that the hole has evolved, although the original design remains intact.
The photo gallery “Pebble Beach: Then and Now” contains photographs that the USGA Museum has collected over many years, and it even includes images from a recent acquisition from the Western Golf Association. In March 2008 the WGA donated more than 15,000 photographs to our existing collection. It is through donations like this that the collection fills in gaps in the historic record of golf.
For more information about the collection, you can visit the Photo Archive page (http://www.usgamuseum.com/photo_archive/) on the USGA Museum website. You can purchase museum-quality reproductions of some of our prints through the Photo Store (http://photos.usgamuseum.com/).
Ellie Kaiser is the Assistant Manager, Photo Archives. Contact her with questions or comments at ekaiser@usga.org.