**We would like to thank everyone who participated in our Summer Extravaganza Auction which ended August 24. It was one of our most successful auctions. We tried to bring in a more diverse selection of memorabilia and based on the amount of bids and phone calls we received, it appears that most were satisfied. We are hoping tentatively scheduling our next auction for early December and have already obtained a number of quality pieces.

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GOLF MEMORABILIA

As summer nears its end, I have finished another season of softball. At age 55, I made the mistake of thinking that I was in good enough shape to play on 4 different teams. It seems that I was playing almost every night and my body went into "shock". This year I tore my rotator cuff, dislocated a finger and pulled muscles I never knew I had. It's made me think over my future in sports.

With all the softball that I played this summer, I was still able to squeeze in a new sport for me. I had played a few rounds of golf in previous years, but this year it became a passion. Unfortunately, my play has been just a tad better than horrible. Getting out on the course is a little different than the golf I was used to. These courses have no windmills to hit under or clowns that give you an extra game for a "hole in one". I have truly gotten my money's worth on each course that i've played- based on the amount of shots that I've taken. Thank god they don't charge by the stroke. In any event, the game has become my latest passion. It's a fun game  and my only golf injury so far is to my ego.

This leads me to this week's subject- golf collectibles. There are a lot to choose from. Advanced collectors may collect vintage golf equipment such as clubs and balls. Of course, there's the usual collections of autographs, but for this blog entry, we concentrate on golf figural items.

At one time, I had counted over 25 different vintage golf bobbing heads (and I'm sure there are more). That in itself can be a lifetime venture with many rewards. There are also a number of comical statue sets with golfing themes. My personal favorite is the two piece set issued by L.L. Rittgers in the 40's.

Go to any "flea market" and you might find advertising figurals , trophies and other statues that will add to your collection. You'll have fun with these and for the most part they do not command the kind of prices that the other sport figurals do.