The B.C. Open, 1977–1990
molds, wax, and plaster
Molds: Binghamton University Art Museum, pending gift of Craig and Patricia Wilson ’74, MA ’76  and Julie Wilson Shiver

Bronze base: Courtesy of Bedi-Makky Art Foundry, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Wilson was commissioned to create a trophy for the B.C. Open, a P.G.A. Tour golf tournament played at the En-Joie Golf Course. The tournament was named after the comic strip B.C., whose creator, Johnny Hart, was born and raised in Endicott. The resulting trophy, given out to tournament winners between 1977 and 2003, features the comic’s titular character, B.C., attempting to tee off, but instead digging a large divot that finds itself and the golf ball embedded on the end of his iron.

Like all of Wilson’s bronzes, the work was cast at Bedi-Makky Art Foundry in Brooklyn. The club shaft was fashioned separately from a metal rod and welded, along with the arms and club head, to the body. Then, the entire form was welded to the base.

The bronze base seen here was created through a process called French sand casting, in which the plaster is packed into French sand and bronze is poured directly into the packed sand mold. The sand can be reused repeatedly, and that used at the Bedi-Makky Art Foundry is over 100 years old.

When casting in bronze, protruding parts are often separated from the main sculpture and cast separately, as seen in the mold on the left in the case, which contains wax replicas of the arms and club head with its divot and ball. The mold on the right in the case contains the plaster model of the main portions of the trophy. Both of these molds were used as part of a lost-wax casting process.

The links below provide more information on the casting processes and the opportunity to learn more about the Bedi-Makky Art Foundry and Wilson's work with them. 

The B.C. Open Trophy

"Who Secretly Created the Bull on Wall Street 35 Years Ago?" a LimeLight documentary on the Bedi-Makky Art Foundry

Oral history interview with Bill Makky, owner of Bedi-Makky Art Foundry in which he discusses The B.C. Open trophy, memories of Ed Wilson, and the history of the foundry. 

More information about the lost wax casting process, courtesy of the The Musée Rodin:

More information about the French sand casting process, courtesy of the The Musée Rodin:

Click here for more history on The B.C. Open at En-Joie Golf Course