CIA Golf Ball Anyone? Four Days Left in Christmas Golf Auction

Pure Golf Auctions in Pinehurst could be the best way to score some fabulous golf memorabilia for Christmas presents.

It’s hard to find something really special for golfers. After they have a couple dozen shirts and socks, well, there are GPS devices and specialty clubs they might want, but to get the really memorable golf present takes some effort. Making that task easy is Pure Golf Auctions owned by Tom Stewart, a PGA member, who owns a golf memorabilia shop in Pinehurst, North Carolina. They are currently conducting their on-line Christmas 2020 golf auction.

What kinds of items are they selling this year?

Well, there’s the 1953 USGA dinner menu honoring Ben Hogan, who had won three major championships that year, the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open. It’s signed by Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Francis Ouimet, Gene Sarazen and Fred McLeod. Today, it has jumped over it’s minimum bid of $500 and the current bid is $1577.00

In Ryder Cup lore, there’s the 1955 dinner program for the Ryder Cup, held at Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. It is signed by Lloyd Mangrum, (Honorary Captain), Chick Harbert (Captain), Cary Middlecoff, Tommy Bolt, Doug Ford, Ted Kroll, Jerry Barber, Sam Snead, Jack Burke, Marty Furgol, and Chandler Harper, who were the U.S. team, and it’s also signed by the British Team which included Dai Rees, John Jacobs and Christy O’Connor. Her Majesty The Queen is listed as Patroness of the British team.

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For those who want to know what was served: Alaskan King Crab Cocktail Supreme, Green Turtle Amontillado Noix, Filet of English Sole Au Vin Blanc, Broiled Filet Mignon Bearnaise or a la Stanley, Whole Broiled Tomato, Parisienne Potato and Princess Salad Vinagrette. Cherries Jubilee Flame and Petit Fours for desert.

(These days turtles are protected from becoming part of your meal!)

The minimum bid of $300 has been met, but you still have a chance to top it.

And how about a framed Payne Stewart signed Ryder Cup flag from the 1999 Ryder Cup in Brookline, where the US made an historic comeback to win the matches. The current bid on this one is $440.

Or take the framed Payne Stewart and Tiger Woods signed team photo from that same year. Current bid $500.

Perhaps you want to give someone special an autographed flag. What better than an Augusta National yellow one with signatures by Mike Weir, Tom Lehman, Stuart Appleby, Gene Littler, Brad Faxon, Billy Mayfair, Jeff Sluman, John Houston, Steve Jones, Tommy Aaron, Steve Elkington, Hubert Green, Scott Hoch, Tom Kite, Corey Pavin, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Azinger, John Daly, Jesper Parnevik, Lee Trevino, Hal Sutton, San Snead and Mark Calcavecchia. The flag is framed and comes with a certificate of authenticity. The minimum bid is $250.

If you’re political, how about some golf balls with special logos: Presidential Seal Of The United States, seals of United States Senate, Camp David, Central Intelligence Agency, and United States Congress. And I’ll paraphrase of a funny line once told to me by a Secret Service agent who was walking with the three presidents at the Bob Hope tournament. It was when President Ford, President Bush (41) and President Clinton ( in office at that time) were playing with Scott Hoch, the defending champ. The agent was giving commentary on how difficult it was to cover all of them in the tournament because of the way they played. Paraphrasing, he said Clinton was always hitting it left, Bush was hitting it right, and Ford was hitting it everywhere. That’s probably as funny as the Secret Service gets. Plus, Ford was well known for hitting a lot of people in the gallery.

So, with this golf ball collection, you can make up your own left, right, center and even secret agent jokes for whoever comes into your office. I just want to know who was in a golf tournament that had all those ball-owning people playing. Or who was in all those jobs. I can’t think of anyone. Can you?

If you want to know a bit more about the owner of The Old Sport & Gallery, Tom Stewart started his career in the golf business as a golf professional and then became a director of golf at a Michigan resort. Eventually, he became the pro at Adios, a well-known golf club in south Florida. Then, he decided to move to one of the golfiest places in the east, Pinehurst, where he opened a bookstore and golf memorabilia collector’s delight.

After 18 years of business, Stewart is a known commodity in historic golf circles. He often buys items that people want to sell, and he can be discreet about it, if needed.

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