By Design - Summer 2018

18 | By Design M y golf collecting began on Christmas Day in 1968, when I was given two antique golf books—Robert Hunter’s Book of the Links and George Thomas’s Golf Architecture in America . By then I had been immersed in golf course design for nearly 12 years since apprenticing with Jack Kidwell, my mentor soon-to-become business partner, but I had never given much thought to golf history—especially that of golf course architecture. In many ways those two books changed my life and began a 50-year pleasure trip of studying golf history, and collecting all things related to it. In the late 1960s there were perhaps only a few hundred people worldwide who were obsessed with golf collecting, and they would occasionally meet in small numbers at events like the Open Championships, or auction houses when some golf collectibles were being sold. There were a few catalogs of stuff out there from collectors who started collecting in the 1920s or 1930s and were selling out because of old age, or heirs disposing of an unwanted inheritance, but there was not much else to help a new collector. Typically, one had to search out golf antiques at flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales or antique shops. Then, in about 1970, two golf book collectors, Joe Murdoch of Philadelphia, and Bob Kuntz of Dayton, Ohio formed the Golf Collectors Society ( www.golfcollectors.com ) . Today that membership is over 1,500 in at least 15 different countries, and there may be double or triple those numbers of people who are serious golf collectors but are not in the society... like you, perhaps. Today, with the internet, Golf Collectors Society, specialty antique stores, online auctions, and scads of books and ads on the topic of golf collecting, it has become easier and more affordable, and just as much fun and educational as the old days. The categories and scope of golf collectibles is nearly unimaginable, for anything remotely connected to golf is collected by someone: clubs, bags, balls, art, books, magazines, silver, glass, flags, bag tags, scorecards, pencils, buttons, tees, etc. Everything! One can collect for breadth of a category or depth, and I choose breadth. Unfortunately, it took me about 35-40 years to figure out that you can’t collect it all, but goodness knows that I tried, and if you ever visited my 5,000 square foot office you would agree. We have some of everything and it shows how pervasive golf was and is in daily life. Be it children’s toys or old people’s walking sticks, there are untold things out there with a golf theme. If you enjoy golf history, you will enjoy golf collecting, for it is nothing more than an extension of history by surrounding yourself with tangible things that contributed to it. Granted every collector has a different set Golf’s great collector EXPERT VIEW ASGCA Past President Dr. Michael Hurdzan, ASGCA Fellow, tells By Design about his passion for golf collecting. Golf collectibles | ASGCA Past President Dr. Michael Hurdzan, ASGCA Fellow It took me about 35-40 years to figure out that you can’t collect it all , but goodness knows that I tried