Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2018 - 23

GOLF GURUS
History
Hunters
COLLECTING GOLF
MEMORABILIA IS ABOUT
ATTAINING SOMETHING OF
VALUE-WHICH HAS LITTLE
TO DO WITH MONEY.
* BY JOSEPH OBERLE *
T
he History Channel's " American Pickers " is a popular
TV show about two " pickers " who travel the
country in search of Americana collectibles. They
forage though the treasures of lifelong collectors,
whether carefully curated or buried in a corner of a crowded,
dusty garage. Viewers enjoy watching hidden gems unearthed
with links to bygone eras-it's akin to a golf memorabilia collector
finding an old photograph from Chick Evans' 1916 U.S.
Open win, or a program from the 1932 PGA Championship
at Keller Golf Course.
" I am a bit of a picker; I like to buy and sell and move items
along, " says collector Dan Goodenough, a 63-year-old sales
rep for Impact. " Some of these things belong in a certain
place, such as a 1923 Minikahda Club history book. They only
printed about 200 originally, and I think the club has three of
them. But if they didn't have any, and I did, I would think that
is where it should belong-like it was coming home. "
Goodenough (who, as a Rochester youth, collected stray
golf balls and sold them to finance his first membership to
a public golf course) was a college history major. He is now
one of several local golf memorabilia buffs who've spent years
collecting old hickory-shafted golf clubs, gutta percha balls,
championship trophies, programs, scorecards,
contestant
badges-just about anything to do with the game. But rather
than seeking fortune from their collections, they're chasing
history.
" The game of golf has a rich history, " says Phil Kostolnik,
a retired finance manager from Medtronic and longtime
collector. " The more you know about golf history, its great
moments and players, the more you enjoy and appreciate
the game when you play it. The attraction of collecting golf
mngolf.org
memorabilia and artifacts is they provide a portal to learning
golf history. "
Kostolnik, who is also a member of the USGA's Museum
and Library Committee, collects golf ephemera ( " things that
aren't meant to last " ), such as a paper ticket of an exhibition
match between two famous golfers, an obscure pamphlet, a
luggage label with golf graphics, or a state golf travel brochure.
" Travel brochures were important in the early expansion
of golf in America, " Kostolnik says. " Railroads would entice
people to take trains to Florida, for example, and create brochures
with very colorful graphics on them-often depicting
the early architecture of courses. Each artifact and item of
memorabilia has a story associated with it. The interweaving
of the collective stories provides a rich understanding of the
game's history. "
Sometimes experiencing golf history will create a collector,
such as Tom Otteson, who is 75 years old and has been collecting
for most of his life. When Tom was 10 and only mildly
interested in the game, he and his older brother, Bill, watched
Ben Hogan win the 1953 U.S. Open at Oakmont (one of three
majors he won that year).
" We arrive on Thursday, and there are barely 500 people in
attendance, " Tom Otteson recalls. " Bill tells me the best golfer
is Ben Hogan, so we follow Hogan, and there couldn't have
been 50 people around him. Bill asked Hogan to sign our programs.
So, that was my first big deal in golf-the first item I
picked up. "
Fall 2018 MINNESOTAGOLFER
23
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Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2018

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