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Auction: 17047 - The Official Honours and Related Film Awards Bestowed upon Sir Christopher Lee, C.B.E., C. St. J. (1922-2015)
Lot: 3

FILM AND OTHER AWARDS


'There comes a time when a light shower of awards settles, like stardust, on the actor's shoulders. You feel slightly bemused because, as in the case of all awards, they are essentially for doing your job. People with awards in their gift worry lest they have left it too late, and are anxious to get them to you before you fall off the twig - but not so early as to encourage you to get above yourself. Generous beautifully dressed people salute your 'lifetime achievement', and you wish that might mean 'most promising veteran'. You stand there clutching a piece of statuary, looking down at their smiling and expectant faces, and for a moment it feels like a prop that you will have to give back at the end of the scene. You wonder what to say. In your heart you know the real achievement is to have reached eighty through a turbulent century, and still be working …'

Sir Christopher's Lord of Misrule, refers.





Halford Hewitt Golfing Cup Award, 1959

bronze medal, obverse, a golfer in action, reverse 'Halford Golfing Cup' in raised letters above and engraved central date '1959', 25mm. diameter, on a red silk riband bow, this with glue stains to reverse, good very fine, together with completed golfing score cards (3), two from the Villa D'Este Golf Club, one dated 'Oct. '62', and another from the Golf Club of Patriziale, Ascona (4)

Sir Christopher, in common with his father, was a talented golfer, and was a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. He played in Pro-Am Tournaments alongside such 'greats' as Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Arnold Palmer:

'Acting has been good to me. It has taken me to play golf all over the world. Every sane production schedule fixes its location work near a good course. Golf is a habit more actors have in common than any other. In the words of Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel, 'You work it out, you set it up, and you know where you can find me' (Lord of Misrule, refers).

The 1959 Halford Hewitt tournament was played at the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, where Sir Christopher and his partner, N. P. C. Dodds, distinguished themselves. They won 6 & 5 in round one against Trent College, 5 & 3 against Malvern College and, on the 21st hole, beat C. Taylor and D. C. Wigglesworth of Tonbridge School in a desperately close semi-final following a state of 'all-square' after 18. The point tipped the score 3:2 in favour of Wellington. Sadly though, he and his partner lost 3 & 2 to A. J. Cox and M. C. Bryant of Charterhouse in the final, but it made no difference to the team outcome.

The Halford Hewitt Competition has been described by the golf writer Nick Tremayne as 'the greatest of all truly amateur tournaments.' Founded in 1924, the Cup is competed for by the old boys of 64 leading Public Schools, each fielding five foursomes pairs. The sheer field size, plus the supporters and tradition, make this a unique sporting event, frequently pitting average golfers against famous internationals. Leading the 'most victories' table are Charterhouse (17 wins), and Harrow and Eton (11 each).

Refer:

http://www.halfordhewitt.org/files/halfordhewitt.org/39/HH50-59.pdf

The Villa d'Este Golf Club incorporates a beautiful 18-hole course which winds its way through the chestnut, ash and pine landscape of Montorfano (Como), Italy. With a par of 70 and standard scratch score of 71, Sir Christopher's cards display a real flair for the game with scores of 65 and 66, representing rounds of five and four under par. Most impressive is an outward half of 31 (-3) and a string of pars and birdies.

The Golf Club Patriziale, Ascona, was a par 72 course (now amended to par 71) which can be found north-west of Lugano in Switzerland. In this game, Sir Christopher completed the front nine in 34 shots (-3), before returning in 36, for a total score of 70, two under par for the round. He completed the entire round with no worse than the four '5's on his card, which is quite a feat.


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Sold for
£170