By Design - Summer 2018

19 of attractions and motivations, but we all share a similar exhilaration of finding your own personal ‘treasure.’ This sensation of excitement upon making a find is the difference between a collector and a dealer, who simply acquires and sells items without any real personal attachment. Although everything and everybody has a price, the dealer’s threshold for selling a collectible is lower than a true collector, who tends to cherish his finds and is reluctant to part with them. Historically, golf collectibles tend to appreciate in value, but the worst reason to collect is as a pure investment. Collect because you enjoy the item and you care about preserving it and you will always be happy; avoid adding something because it is ‘a good deal.’ So, my three pieces of advice are to: limit your collecting interest as narrowly as possible; remember the adage ‘buyers beware,’ and; network with experienced people and try to learn from them and their mistakes. Every serious collector has been burned a time or two buying a fake collectible or overpaying for an item, so seek out those who will help you avoid mistakes. In 2006, the USGA worked with ASGCA to establish a program called the Architectural Archive which is seeking appropriate items to collect, preserve and share with researchers, scholars and other interested people. USGA Museum staff, especially senior librarian Hilary Cronheim ( hcronheim@usga.org ) , can provide a submission form and instructions on how to donate your architecture- related materials for safe keeping and historical indexing. I am often asked if I were to start golf collecting today, or to go in a new direction, what it would be. I would focus on all aspects of golf course design, and attempt to amass enough items to open a golf course architecture museum. I may even have enough stuff now for that goal, but first I must deal with whittling down the massive amount of other stuff we have. I have begun to sell many of my duplicate items which would allow displaying more golf course architecture memorabilia. If you like golf history, you will like golf collecting, especially golf course architectural related items. • This article is the introduction to a series of pieces by Dr. Hurdzan on individual categories of collectible, that will be available via www.asgca.org . Photo: Marc Whitney