A 90-year-old golf simulator is heading under the hammer for £4,000… but there’s a catch.
The vintage device is a part of sports gaming history and one of the world’s first digital computers of any type.
This Spotlight Golf Machine, first released in 1936, is thought to be one of just four left on the planet.
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Unfortunately, the simulator does not work, and it also lacks the parts necessary to make it usable at the time of sale.
The lucky bidder will receive a 6-foot-tall wooden cabinet with a glass window that has a scroll behind it with a layout of a number of British golf courses.
Just like the top-of-the-range modern simulators, golfers would hit a real ball attached to a piece of string against a wire screen.
The machine would then determine the flight path of the ball and distance – a small bright dot would then pop up on the scroll to show where the shot landed.
In 1936, when the machine debuted, punters could snap up the simulator for 62 Guineas, equivalent to £4,000 today.
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The piece of gaming history is the highlight of the Sean Arnold Sporting Antiques Collection hosted by Ewbank’s Auctions.
Bidding will open on Nov 11, as reported by What’s The Jam.
A spokesperson for Ewbanks stated: “Forget Pong, Space Invaders and other early computer games from the early 1970s.
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“The Spotlight Golf Machine beats them all. It came out in 1936, and now, after 90 years, just four are known to survive.
“They would have been state-of-the-art for their time, and they retailed for 62 Guineas – the equivalent of £4,000 today – so quite a considerable outlay.
“It is believed three other machines are extant in the world, two in Tasmania, one in the R&A World Golf Museum in St Andrews, Scotland, and one in private hands, as featured on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow in 2021.
“This machine is not in working order, and not all the parts necessary to make it work are present. It is, however, a very rare survivor and an important artefact in the history of the game of golf.
“The estimate is £2,000-£4,000.”
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