Garage gold?

[Sonex]

Hey everyone, my name is Ben and I'll be honest, I'm not a golfer (my 3 year old beats me at Putt-Putt). However, when my father died I found several big Rubbermaid tubs of golf memorabilia. I know nothing about it and a lot of what information I can find without knowing the entire history of golf seems very conflicting. I have kind of a bit of everything, from balls in display cases to signed pictures and enough Tiger Woods cards to open a store (didn't see any rookie cards, I knew enough to check for that). I was hoping someone here could shed a little light on what I have and if it's worth hanging onto, selling seriously online or just throwing it in at our next garage sale.

The most interesting ones to me are the dozens of haggard old golf balls (some have early 1900s dates on the labels) in BCW style cases and two autographed balls (one I can't be sure of the name, but the other I'm pretty sure is Tiger Woods).

 

Some names on the balls are:

Arch Colonel (this one looks really cool with the little moons on it)

Spalding Bramble

The Colonel

Slazenger Bramble 11-99

Spalding White

Cheal Strensall The Minister

Heavy Colonel

1902 Spalding Witchy

Owl Mesh

A bunch more that appear older than the hills.

 

Thanks for your time! I appreciate it!

[Vinsk]

Hello there! Welcome to TST. I'm not a collector but whether or not any of your items are of value ...let's see some pics! 

[Sonex]

Thank you, Vinsk! I took them out of their cases (I hope that was ok!) to get clearer pics. Here are just the ones mentioned. The Colonel, Spalding Bramble and Arch Colonel.

[Sonex]

Cheal Strensall The Minister, Spalding White, Slazenger Bramble 11-99

Do&M Owl Mesh, 1902 Spalding Witchy, Heavy Colonel

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/AKGuitarist/IMG_20170919_161051156.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/AKGuitarist/IMG_20170919_161059066.jpg

[Sonex]

D&M Owl Mesh, 1902 Spalding Witchy, Heavy Colonel (looks like the moon!).

Sorry these posts are funky. I'm having issues posting pics with my phone.

[Sonex]

Got a bunch more, but here are two autographed balls. I'm thinking Tiger Woods and no clue on the other. Any opinions on these? Thanks!

[Warren Zevon]

I'm no expert, but the one on the right looks to me like Arnold Palmer.

[Sonex]

6 minutes ago, Warren Zevon said:

I'm no expert, but the one on the right looks to me like Arnold Palmer.

Really? I know he's a legend. It does look like it. I am terrible at reading signatures. Thanks brother and props on the username! Haven't listened to him in a minute.

[Sonex]

Ok, then that explains this, which was in the same box as the balls. 

[14ledo81]

I have no idea of the value, but those old balls are pretty neat. Thanks for sharing.

[Sonex]

2 minutes ago, 14ledo81 said:

I have no idea of the value, but those old balls are pretty neat. Thanks for sharing.

They are very neat. I'm especially keen on the Arch and Heavy Colonel balls. I'll probably keep them. I'm a old coin collector, so I can appreciate them, but I could also use a new prep table for my restaurant and some parts for my plane. I never even knew my dad collected such things. Wish he was here to fill me in on them. Somewhere amongst these boxes I guess there are two balls autographed by Payne Stewart. The COA were in the envelope with the Arnold Palmer one. Cheers!

[RandallT]

1 minute ago, Sonex said:

They are very neat. I'm especially keen on the Arch and Heavy Colonel balls. I'll probably keep them. I'm a old coin collector, so I can appreciate them, but I could also use a new prep table for my restaurant and some parts for my plane. I never even knew my dad collected such things. Wish he was here to fill me in on them. Somewhere amongst these boxes I guess there are two balls autographed by Payne Stewart. The COA were in the envelope with the Arnold Palmer one. Cheers!

I'm getting the impression that your father's collection may have some real quality items it. Just in the last few things, you've got things tied to Tiger, Arnold, Payne. I'm guessing he only held onto things that were relatively noteworthy, and he may have had a pretty high standard for something to make the cut. Might be worth a full appraisal by an expert.

You've probably scrolled through ebay, but this link has some antique golf balls:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=antique+golf+collectibles&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xantique+golf+balls.TRS0&_nkw=antique+golf+balls&_sacat=0

Prices are all over the map, but if I'm right and your dad held onto only the top items, it's possible that each ball would be on the higher end of the prices listed there.

[Buckeyebowman]

The autographed items may have some value. Many of the older balls look like the old "Haskell" ball. Whatever their value, you have some neat pieces of golf memorabilia there. Back when I was a kid we had a bunch of old hickory shafted clubs laying around. How I wish I'd have held on to them!

[Sonex]

17 minutes ago, RandallT said:

I'm getting the impression that your father's collection may have some real quality items it. Just in the last few things, you've got things tied to Tiger, Arnold, Payne. I'm guessing he only held onto things that were relatively noteworthy, and he may have had a pretty high standard for something to make the cut. Might be worth a full appraisal by an expert.

You've probably scrolled through ebay, but this link has some antique golf balls:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=antique+golf+collectibles&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xantique+golf+balls.TRS0&_nkw=antique+golf+balls&_sacat=0

Prices are all over the map, but if I'm right and your dad held onto only the top items, it's possible that each ball would be on the higher end of the prices listed there.

That is exactly how my father was. I know nothing about these, but I know who he was and he usually bought the best stuff he could afford, but also hoarded some things. I might not have COA in hand for everything, but knowing who he was, I wouldn't doubt the authenticity of any of it. The big items I will hold onto for sure until I can get them appraised properly the next time I make it to Denver or Cleveland (not often living in a remote area of Wyoming). Values being all over the map confused me. One place it might be $450, another it might be $20. Gah! ?

5 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

The autographed items may have some value. Many of the older balls look like the old "Haskell" ball. Whatever their value, you have some neat pieces of golf memorabilia there. Back when I was a kid we had a bunch of old hickory shafted clubs laying around. How I wish I'd have held on to them!

I remember as a little kid he had these old wooden clubs in the shed. Us, being little kids, would hit dirt clods with them in the back yard. No clue what they were, but I probably desecrated a beautiful antique worth a fortune nowadays. I'm sure our kids will have memories like that someday too.

[Buckeyebowman]

Maybe show some of these to the big auction houses, like Sotheby's perhaps? I don't know if there's an auction house that specializes in golf memorabilia, but the computer could help answer that question. A certificate of authenticity is worth a bunch!

[Valleygolfer]

Interesting stuff. Value to me is nil since I don't collect anything but tools that I use. It seems like the Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer mark could be rather saturated. The balls are originals? Or copies? I don't know that they were packaged but maybe your dad had bought something to protect them. Any way thanks for sharing.