By Bob Bows
The most familiar collectibles having to do with sports are probably baseball memorabilia. We’ve all read stories and seen pictures concerning baseballs, baseball cards, uniforms, programs, bats, mits, et cetra, and the game of baseball is only a little over a hundred years old. But what happens when folks begin to collect items having to do with a game that is over seven hundred years old? That question can probably only be answered by two presently existing sports: soccer (what the Europeans call football) and golf.
With all due respect to soccer which has the greatest worldwide audience of any modern sport, golf’s history, art and culture provides a more diverse and stimulating forum for collectors than any other sport (with perhaps the exception of hunting and fishing, which were means of survival before they became sport.) My confidence in this assertion is based on the long term documentation of “The Royal and Ancient Game” through artistic and literary expression.
The first written reference to the game of golf appeared in a Scottish Act of Parliament enacted in 1457. In this statute “the goff” was banned. It seems that the pasttime of boffing a wee orb along the linksland was bcoming so popular that the peasantry was foregoing the practice of archery, which was the principal means of national defense in those times. But the momentum of a few hundred years of play proved greater than any constitutional prohibition, and following the introduction of gunpowder in Europe, plus a healthy interest on the part of royalty, golf became a legitimate pursuit.
Although it’s generally assumed that golf originated in Scotland, there is enough evidence, principally fifteenth century Dutch paintings and tiles, to at least throw some monkey wrenches into this version of history. And while the Dutch landscapes and portraits depict instruments and practices that may or may not be directly related to the game the Scots claim as their own, it is with these objects d’art that any collection relating to golf begins.
Now, over five hundred years later, there are collectors gathering every possible type of item relating to golf—golf balls, clubs, books, paintings, prints, cartoons and etchings, autographs, programs from tournaments, statuary, trophies and medals, tablesettings and glassware, towels with club insignia or special event emblems, patches representing societies and courses, pencils and pens, and really anything else that catalogue sales might deem marketable.
One of the best reference books to all of these collectibles is The Encyclopedia of Golf Collectibles, written by Mort and John Olman, proprietors of the Old Golf Shop in Cincinnati. The book contains illustrations and price ranges as well as explanatory text. Many of the items cataloged are available as originals or reprints through the authors’ establishment. They may be contacted at the Old Golf Shop, 325 West Fifth Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202.
The hobby of golf collectibles is steadily growing in popularity. There are literally thousands of collectors of golf items around the world at this time. Not too many years ago one of the foremost collectors of golf books, Joseph Murdoch, organized this group of devotees into the Golf Collectors Society. The GCS, as it calls itself, publishes regular bulletins for its members, and organizes get-togethers which include displays and the buying and selling of collectibles. Another benefit of membership in the GCS is the appearance of your name on a variety of mailing lists of other golf collectors, publishers, traders and auctioneers. As a result you’ll receive regular catalogues and notices of sales, which are very helpful in keeping up with current prices and such. Membership applications and information can be obtained by writing GCS c/o 5732 Reeder Ave., Shawnee, KS 66203.
The ultimate collection of golf memorabilia in the United States is gathered at Golf House, the headquarters of the United States Golf Association, in Fair Hills, New Jersey. The entire museum area has recently been remodeled and is once again open to the public. For anyone interested in the history of this most traditional of all sports, a visit here is a must. The U.S.G.A. also sells reproductions of famous paintings and prints, which they purchase from the Old Golf Shop in Cincinnati.
Within Colorado it might be noted that a very well-rounded collection of old golf books is available for perusal at the academic library of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It’s suggested that arrangements be made with the library prior to any visitation. Also any local public library that’s part of the national borrowing system can order almost any book ever printed on golf, with the exception of the rarest volumes for which there may be no reprints or moderately valued editions remaining.
But historic and artistic values of golf memorabilia aside, perhaps the best reason for becoming a golf collector is for the appreciation it lends to the playing of the game. Golf is generally recognized as being difficult to learn and nearly impossible to master, so any consolation and meaning that one might derive from its rich culture is valuable in maintaining a perspective on this often frustrating and most compelling of sports.
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