GOLF TREASURES:
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

I have acquired from the estate of a family friend a set of 33rpm records that is a golf coaching manual by Arnold Palmer. The forerunner of the golf video! The whole package is in excellent condition... problem is that with the advent of cd's and cassettes, I no longer have a record deck!
Nick Matthews

Dale Concannon writes:

Such is the popularity of golf that enthusiasts have collected items connected with the game – known as 'golfiana' – for many years now. However, despite what you may have heard about thousands of pounds being paid at auction for old clubs, balls, books, balls etc., the reality is only a small percentage of items are worth more than a nominal amount.

That said, there is nothing connected with golf, no matter how remotely, that is not of interest to some enthusiast. Collectibility, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder and what might be looked upon as a real 'find' by one collector can be dismissed as worthless by another. Therefore when judging the financial value of your golfing item/s you have to bare this important fact in mind. What I have done is offer an estimate of its value but to the right collector it might be worth more and to the wrong one less. That is the fun of golfing antiques.

Regarding your golfing item/s:

Coincidentally, your Arnold Palmer record was among the first things I ever bought as a collector. And while it has shown a handsome profit on the 30 pence I paid for it back in the late seventies, it has never really hit the financial heights. Like most LPs, its value is strictly limited by the fact that you do need a old style record player to enjoy it!! Pretty common place, especially in America, they occasionally pop up at memorabilia auctions and rarely fetch more than £30. My advice is to hang on to it because when Palmer finally passes on, they will probably double or even triple in value over the coming years. Sad I know, but that is the golfiana market for you.