ballmarkercollectorsclub.com

This marker is from a course in Leicestershire that closed in 1996. If you have any spare there are members of the ballmarkercollectors club that would love to hear from you. Picture supplied by Adam 222 Northants

3000 miles by air, more by car,?....read Larrys account

During the summer of 2011, I played a round of golf on Canada’s only true links course. I was immediately hooked on the type of golf and vowed that someday, I would make a trip to Scotland to experience links golf – at the home of golf. Someday turned out to be September 2012.

It is impossible to summarize 23 days, 3.350 miles, 20 magnificent courses, and countless miles walked, in a couple hundred words. What follow are just a few of the many highlights of the trip.

Tain was my introduction, and immediately I knew that I wasn’t at home. To reach the first green, you have to negotiate a gully, a road, and two fences! Another Old Tom Morris gem is the 11^th. The green is completely hidden from the fairway. On your approach, you hit between two massive hummocks (The Alps) and hope your ball lands on the small cupped green.

Brora fits, perfectly, with my mental image of a links course. The first tee is elevated, and the view is fantastic, with water all along the right and the course stretching out in front of you. There are long running fairways, greens tucked into hillocks and protected by bunkers. Everything was great until the 18^th. It is a 201 yard par three with the green 25 feet above my landing area. The pin was at the front and several shots ended back at my feet. I wish I had known about Stableford scoring at this point of the trip.

A day trip way up north to Wick was my introduction to an honesty box. The Club Secretary noticed my name and residence in the guest book so took a buggy out to the 14^th to meet me.

At St. Andrews, Eden a storm was coming in (from England) so it was a rush to get around before the rain. I was done in 2½ hours. The wind was a steady 32mph gusting to 38. I had no expectations about playing well and consequently shot one of the best scores of the trip.

It was a clear, sunny day at Crailhead Links. The breeze/wind is a constant factor as no two consecutive holes play the same direction. Highlight of the round/trip was on the 6^th. I was well off the fringe and debating whether I should use a PW. I said to myself “you are on a links course – play it like a links course”. Used my putter, took a moderate swing, and it happened to go in the hole. Paced it off – 96 feet!!

I was invited to play North Berwick West West Links. My host was a Scotsman that “rrrolled his rrr’s” and was wonderful company. Scorecards stayed in our pockets and we enjoyed the day and the course. All the wonderful holes are a blur, but mention must be made of the 15^th green – THE Redan, and the 16^th  which is like two greens joined by a gulley.

Silloth-on-Solway was the only links courseI played in England. If I had not been “smitten” by Brora earlier in the trip, this would be my favorite course. An innocent start and then you are off into the dunes, shooting at “aiming posts”, because the shot to the fairway is blind. There are elevated greens, greens well below the fairway, long greens and greens surrounded by bunkers. A fantastic course, and excellent value for money.

In the final days I was able to play at Worksop with five members of the BMCC. Alan Mansbridge arranged for two wonderful meals, the round of golf, and sunshine for the day. It was great to finally meet some of the people with whom I had been corresponding for the past two years. Even though I let my team down terribly on the golf course, all was forgotten once we started swapping markers back at the clubhouse.

After enjoying the hospitality of Martin and Jean Sizer the previous evening, Martin and I were able to get in nine holes at Kenwick Park. It is a wonderful parkland course that was undergoing renovations to correct drainage problems. Why ? – it hardly ever rains in England. Later in the day I visited Rutland County to pick up a marker – it was only 1400 and sunny – what to do? Played my final round of the trip!

Apologies to all of the wonderful courses not highlighted: Royal Dornoch Struie, Golspie, Fortrose & Rosemarkie, Nairn Dunbar, Carnoustie Burnside and Buddon, Old Musselburgh Links, Gullane #3, Tarbat, and Strathpeffer.

Regrets – only that I didn’t leave enough time to spend with other individuals that I have met online through trading ball markers.

Summary – I would  do the trip again in a heartbeat.

Larry 903 NS


COMMENT : Is Larry the only serious collector of GB & I markers in Canada?  If not we/he would love to hear from you (use the contact sheet on the SPECIALS page)! 

Jackdaws flock to Oxford GC
Sixteen members of the BMCC met up ( 30 April)  to enjoy 18 holes,  delightful sunny weather, an excellent meal and  importantly the chance to BUY SELL and SWAP some markers amongst themselves.

A few members bought along some of their prized markers, including ryder cup and Masters markers, a display of Oxfordshire & Scottish  club markers, a rare open winners set from Royal St George's,  centenary marker sets from 2009 & 2010. As well as information on arguably the rarest of all markers, the silver ball marker used during the 1969 Ryder cup where Jack Nicklaus conceded the 2 foot putt to Tony Jacklin on the 18th green of the final singles match.  That marker is owned by one of our members!

The day is about meeting fellow members/ collectors- rather than serious golf competition. BUT, for the record the accolades  were shared amongst:



Winning group  Mick A, Phillip , Mike




Runner Up group  Rob,  Larry,  Alan

 Winner of the Par 3 comp. was Paul (from MK) who appeared as a guest but has subsequently joined the BMCC. Picture to follow. 

Autumn 2013 Meeting.  Our next meeting will be held further North, probably west of the Pennines  during September.  If you would like to attend as a member or guest contact  kinghamphil@aol.com for details and grasp the opportunity to  meet some collectors, play some team golf and BUY SELL SWAP some markers.

A few exclusive branded items

First seen at our Worksop meeting branded hats, towels, markers, pencils, golf tees all supplied via Golferscave see TRADE LINKS page.


Other items will be made available soon- ask for what you would like to see.


REWARD Spot one of these at a golf course near you and receive 50% discount off your membership fees. Just tell me what you saw and who the owner was!

 

Some years ago, I was fortunate enough to play some golf at what is often called 'The golf Capital of the World', Myrtle Beach SC in the US. That has prompted me to attempt to collect markers from all the courses in that area. The ones above are the courses I played, the ones below are from other courses in the immediate area that I have managed to acquire. However, there are many more courses that I would like to add to complete that particular part of my collection. If you are able to help out, please get in touch.

Whilst most of our members are based in the UK. We do have a few  that because of their location can acquire markers that are a little bit different for example:

Gavin 901 SA  collects  markers from  the four majors and lives in Cape Town. He is willing to pick up markers from South African clubs for fellow members. Just drop him a line and take it from there.

Whereas

Larry 903  NS CA  is a keen collector of markers from all GB & I clubs and regularly lists his spares on our monthly duplicates/wanted lists. He is,  as you may be able to tell from his membership number a resident of Nova Scotia and can help with some markers as seen below, if you so desire. If you collect Nova Scotia markers, or would like some, Larry is your man!

Stuart 913 NSW AUS is our first Australian collector. Some of his favourite markers are shown below, the majority of which feature in Aus Golf's Top 100 public access courses. If you have an interest in Australian golf and or ball markers. Stuart is the man!  His story is detailed further down this page.

Members will find email contact details for Gavin , Larry and Stuart on the latest membership listing. New members are always welcome,  please contact Kinghamphil@aol.com for information on how easy it is to join this unique club of enthusiasts.

Hello  and greetings from Parramatta Sydney Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The rankings used by Stuart are as per Aus Golf's top 100 public access courses.

If there are any other collectors of Top 100 course markers (particularly if your aim like Stuart is to play them as well as collect the markers ) we would love to hear from you. Can be Oz, US, UK, Irish, South African courses - indeed anywhere just let us know.

 

The Caesarea Israel Golf Cub was established in the 1960's by the wealthy Rothschild family. It was refurbished in 2009 by influential course designer Peter Dye. Hence the marker image provided by Colin209 Kent. Markers from countries not always thought of as golf destinations, is something he is very interested in.  He would like to hear from you if share a similar fascination for this category of marker. He may even have a spare if you wanted one?

 Poms can be helpful!   Ross an Australian visitor to the site emailed the BMCC to say that he had been trying to locate a Royal Burgess Golfing Society marker for two years. So Ross, you can look at these two pictured left,  until yours arrives  from the BMCC thanks to the cooperation of two of our members.

Auction latest

Welcome to a new column, which will feature news of ball  marker prices generated at recent on line auctions, that we feel might be news worthy for one reason or another. 

The marker shown is a 25mm double sided coin, given away at Wentworth for the BMW by Boss as a 'limited edition'. They appeared very soon after on ebay and fetched up to a remarkable £18.26, though an average sale price was around £10!

UPDATE: 12.10.2011 one went for £25.01, seller balatalove.

SCOTTY CAMERON: A 2011 M & G Musuem & Gallery issue featuring a double sided ballmarker with Tour Rat on one side and Scotty dog on other went for US$ 113.61 seller sjsbirds on 20.10.2011.  Another one at US $ 111.11, same seller on 22.10.2011. Other SC markers went for strong prices 30-75 US $ . This is a field to collecting that I'm not really into. So if there's an enthusiast out there that would like to get in touch and enlighten us, I would be delighted to publish their thoughts on this site- for the benefit of others. contact Kinghamphil@aol.com 

Auction lots to be wary of/avoid are those that feature a number, all with identical looking surroundings/mounts into which labels have been stuck!  How likely is it that all those clubs went for the same cheap looking markers using the same mounts and all just happen to be for sale at this particular time from the one seller? Very suspicious indeed!

Manic ebay bidding 16/3/2012 with collectors eagerly anticipating the tournament. A few paid seller  '1860 Open' a remarkable £15.90 for a Red undated version and £11.00 for the Yellow undated. If you would like some undated versions: Red, Yellow or White will be available from the BMCC to all collectors after the event at less than that- much less than that if you are members. Makes you think?

16/3/2012 Seller bsoifa must have been delighted to make £11.50 for this classy 2011 Open marker from Royal St George's. To see how pleased he must have been check out the range of markers for 2011 Open (including this one) on the SPECIALS  page

......ouch!

15/4/2012 Royal Cape Centenary Wynberg Links 1906-2006 sold for £13.95
28/4/2012 Masters 2012 in box, seller 19louisa71 £16.00
29/4/2012 1995 Ryder cup stemmed original/ genuine item seller golfshed£15.01   

1/5/2012 Oakmont winners set item 1953 Ben Hogan, seller ballmarkerman $102.25
1/5/2012   Oakmont winners set item 1962 Jack Nicklaus, same seller $98.26

1/7/2012 CRAZY price paid for a European version of the Ryder Cup 2012 Medinah stemmed marker. Seller willowmaster must have been delighted £17.00 acheved. Buyer could have had 3 for that price from the BMCC see SPECIALS page!!

Centenaries selling well in July

Two centenaries that sold well on the 27/7/2012, the Newark 2001 reached £13.49, fair enough for a limited edition item that is rarish, but more suprisingly the recently issued attractive Knott End centenary made £12. Seller 1860 Open 

and in August...Four notably sales of  older centenaries over a tenner were:

 8/8/2012 Wilpshire centenary from 1990 reached £17.89 
26/8/2012 a clean Chelmsford centenary issue from 1993 realised £17.50
13/8/2012 a 1991 centenary from Ramsey Isle of Man made £15.18
26/8/2012 Heaton Moor centenary from 1992 sold for £13.56  

Whilst 3 of  similar vintage/condition failed to reach £10

1999 Caledonian centenary issue sold for £9.00 on 5/8/2012
1993 Brough centenary made £8.40 on 5/8/2012
1995 Cracker of a centenary Crowborough  Beacon issue made just £7.52 on 13/8/2012   

Suprisingly those last  three centenaries  were beaten by two similar vintage small brass club markers from:

Kenilworth which sold for £11.40 on 5/8/2012
Monifieth bought for £9.85 on 17/8/2012  

Elsewhere and in September Ryder Cup markers sold well. Those that purchased European 2012 markers before the event did better than those that scrambled to buy them after the Seve, Olazabal and Poulter inspired European fightback and victory on the Saturday evening/Sunday.  Many paid £10-£16 for the stemmed version, verses up to £5 just days earlier!    

 
Very strong prices paid for some small brass stemmed markers, a selection of which included:

Drayton Park Centenary from 1997 sold on 3/1/2013 for £31.99, whist Powfoot from 2003 made just £12.50 a month earlier on 8/12/2012

Individual markers from Open winners issues also made vastly contrasting sums. A St Andrews winners item commemorating Jack Nicklaus win in 1970 made £27.26 on 17 December, whilst a Tom Watson commemorative marker from the Troon winners set made just £8 on 13 January.

 Argueably the biggest suprise was achieved by a humble Bracken Ghyll standard club marker (with 1993) that sold for £12.81 on 26/11/2012!