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Why Collect Golf Balls?

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Articles on Golf Ball Collecting from Our Publications

Here are a few relevant articles on ball collecting from our archives (in The Golf and The GHS Bulletin).

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Having a Ball Collecting Golf Balls

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Golf Ball Collection

A Short History of Golf Ball Dimples and Patterns

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Why/How to Collect Golf Balls

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Eras of Golf Ball Collecting

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Featheries Pre-1848 Era

Gutta Percha 1848-1902 Era

Early Rubber Core – 1900-1920 Era

Rubber Core 1920-1940 Era

1940s-Current Era

Golf Ball collecting Resources

Video Resources

Collecting Playlist

3 Videos
FEATURED GOLF BALL COLLECTIBLE

Johnny Bulla
Autographed Ball

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Golf Ball collecting Resources

From Our Blog

Our blog has a constant stream of valuable articles on golf’s rich heritage.

Golf Medals & Trophies

The Runner-Up Medal From Golf’s First PGA Championship

The Runner-Up Medal From Golf’s First PGA Championship       Front and reverse of the gold medal cataloged by The Golf Auction as Jock Hutchison’s runner-up award from the first PGA Championship in 1916. It sold for $27,469.47 in 2023, including the buyer’s premium. Image courtesy of The Golf Auction; digitally enhanced.   On the final green of the first PGA Championship, Jim Barnes and Jock Hutchison had putts so close in length that a measurement was needed to determine who played first. Hutchison was farther away. He missed, and Barnes holed his putt to win, 1 up. Hutchison left with $250 and a gold medal. More than a century later, The Golf

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Golfing Greats: Women

Marion Hollins’ Championship Was Only the Beginning

Marion Hollins’ Championship Was Only the Beginning   Marion Hollins swings a golf club in September 1916. Credit: Bain News Service/Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection.   Marion Hollins went out in 40 in the final of the 1921 U.S. Women’s Amateur. The contemporary newspaper described the course’s bogey score as 90. At Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, New Jersey, her front nine gave her a three-hole lead over the defending champion. Alexa Stirling was trying to win the title for a fourth consecutive time. A United Press report published that afternoon described trouble off the tee and several costly misses around the greens. Hollins, meanwhile, made pars that kept the match moving

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Golfing Greats: Men

Seve’s Last European Tour Victory, on Home Ground

Seve’s Last European Tour Victory, on Home Ground     Seve Ballesteros during a pro-am on July 22, 1987, nearly eight years before his last European Tour victory, the 1995 Spanish Open. Credit: Bart Molendijk/Anefo, Nationaal Archief.   Three holes into the final round of the 1995 Spanish Open, Seve Ballesteros had made three bogeys. He had started Sunday one stroke behind Gordon Brand Jr., but now he had given away ground at every hole he had played. At 38, with five major championships already won, Ballesteros needed no introduction to the crowd at Club de Campo in Madrid. His standing could not help the scorecard, though. If he was going to win Spain’s

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Golfing Greats: Men

From Royal Troon to Black Desert:  The Golf Life of Tom Weiskopf

From Royal Troon to Black Desert:  The Golf Life of Tom Weiskopf     Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah, was the final course designed by Tom Weiskopf with longtime design partner Phil Smith. The course includes architectural references to several places Weiskopf encountered during his playing career. There is a piece of Scotland sitting in the black lava of southern Utah. The 17th hole at Black Desert Resort drops from an elevated tee toward a compact par-3 green. Tom Weiskopf freely acknowledged where the thought came from. His final golf course included a nod to Royal Troon’s Postage Stamp, the famous eighth hole at the place where he won the 1973 Open Championship.

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Featured Articles

A 1973 Scorecard in Tom Weiskopf’s Hand Sold for $4,182.50

A 1973 Scorecard in Tom Weiskopf’s Hand Sold for $4,182.50   Jack Nicklaus shot 62. Tom Weiskopf wrote down the numbers. Nearly 37 years later, that piece of paper sold at Heritage Auctions for $4,182.50. That is enough information to get a collector’s attention, but the real value of the object as golf history comes from what had to happen before either signature was placed on it. The scorecard came from the third round of the inaugural Ohio Kings Island Open in 1973. Nicklaus was playing at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Center in Mason, Ohio, with Weiskopf as his playing partner. Nicklaus shot 9-under 62, one of two 62s listed as his career low

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Featured Articles

The Presidents Cup Was Built in Four Months and Fred Couples Gave It a Finish

The Presidents Cup Was Built in Four Months and Fred Couples Gave It a Finish   The PGA Tour rushed its new match-play event into existence in 1994. A 5-0 American opening and one bunker shot on Sunday supplied its first memory.   Instagram Post View the Presidents Cup post on Instagram    Embed code for web publishing:  <blockquote class=”instagram-media” data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DdozCGRllMl/” data-instgrm-version=”14″></blockquote> <script async src=”https://www.instagram.com/embed.js”></script>     Before the Presidents Cup had a record book, it had a deadline. The PGA Tour’s Tournament Policy Board gave the event its final go-ahead in March 1994. The first match was played that September at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. Later, commissioner Tim Finchem

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Golf Ball collecting Resources

Recommended Reading Resources

  • 500 Years of Golf Balls, by John F. Hotchkiss, 1997, Antique Trader Books
  • The Essential Guide to Collecting Golf Balls, by Colin Palmer, 2010, Riley Dunn & Wilson Ltd.
  • Antique Golf Collectibles, 3rd Edition, by Chuck Furjanic, 2004, Krause Publications
  • Golf in the Making, by Ian Henderson and David Stirk, 1979, Henderson & Stirk Ltd.
  • The Encyclopedia of Golf Collectibles, by John Ohlman and Morton Ohlman, 1985, Books Americanna
  • Antique Golf Collectibles, Identification and Value Guide, by Pete Georgiady, 2006, Collector Books
  • The Story of the Golf Ball, by Kevin W McGimpsey, 2003, Philip Wilson, London (winner of the 2004 Murdock Medal presented by the British Golf Collectors Society)
  • The Collectible Golf Ball Directory, Folio I, ‘Gutta-Percha’ golf balls 1845-1903, by Kevin W McGimpsey, 2021
  • The Collectible Golf Ball Directory, Folio II, ‘Rubber-Cored’ golf balls 1901-1919, by Kevin W McGimpsey, 2022
  • The Collectible Golf Ball Directory, Folio III, ‘Rubber-Cored’ golf balls, A-K 1920-1945, by Kevin W McGimpsey, 2023 [November]
Golf Ball collecting Resources

Valuable Links & Website Resources

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