We see our champions stand with their medals and trophies at the pinnacle of their careers, and we imagine those keepsakes will be put on a mantel or behind glass in a cabinet, preserved for generations of a family to cherish.
It doesn’t always end that way.
Athletes, as well as Oscar and Grammy winners, and even Miss Americas with their crowns, sell their tangible prizes for various reasons. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sold all of his awards and rings in a 2019 auction and gave the $3 million in proceeds to charity. At the other end of the spectrum are the sad stories of athletes who are so strapped for cash they sell stuff. Dr. J, Julius Irving, once needed money to pay off a loan after he bought a golf course, and he sold one NBA and two ABA championship rings.
Golf is crowded with memorabilia: clubs, balls, flags, scorecards, trophies, signed photos and … stock certificates? (We’ll get to that one in a bit.) And If you’re in the market for such things, one of the finest auctions you’ll ever see is going on right now.
The Golden Age Premier Auction began on Nov. 7 and runs through Nov. 17. In it are 73 “lots” of memorabilia—some of which can be found nowhere else.
For a golf nut, it’s hard to pick a favourite, but, arguably, the most compelling piece might be John Daly’s champion’s replica claret jug from his 1995 Open Championship victory at St. Andrews. As celebrated as his out-of-the-blue triumph as an alternate was in the 1991 PGA Championship, the fact that Daly, already struggling in his personal life, backed it up by winning golf’s oldest major at the Home of Golf … well, it was mind-blowing.
Apparently, Daly, now 58, doesn’t covet the claret so much anymore. In this auction, the opening bid was set at $500, and 48 bids later as of the night of Nov. 8, the price had risen to $30,164.
(There is a modern precedent for the sale of a claret jug. In 2023, Golden Age sold Gary Player’s 1974 jug for $481,068. Player, however, said that the sale was instigated by a former business partner without his permission, and the nine-time major champion was taking legal action.)
There’s another trophy in the auction—a replica PGA Championship Wanamaker Trophy from the 1990s, though no golfer is publicly attached to it. More intriguing is that Rocco Mediate is putting up the silver medal he earned by losing to Tiger Woods in their epic 2008 U.S. Open playoff at Torrey Pines. The duel easily was Mediate’s greatest time in the spotlight, but maybe a second-place medal doesn’t mean all that much. Somebody will love it, with the current high bid of $4,076.
In the golf club category, the grand prize in terms of historical value is a square-toed iron that expert Jeff Ellis pegs back to the 1500s. Ellis has called it the “oldest iron” that he’s aware of, and after the club spent decades in small collections, he said “it’s time to bring this remarkable club to the world’s attention.” Current bid: $12,968.
Scotty Cameron devotees treat his putters like pieces of art, and they sell like them, too. There are 13 lots that involve Cameron equipment, including two sets of irons. And the current bid for a Classic Deluxe 009 Twisty GSS putter—$36,498—is even more than that for Daly’s claret jug.
Of course, there are plenty of Masters items, with our favourites being Jack Nicklaus’ ball and glove he used to win the 1972 Masters ($4,484); a program from the inaugural 1934 Masters ($4,932), and a 1997 badge signed by champion Tiger Woods ($7,011).
That brings us to the stock certificate. Calling it “surely one of the finest Augusta National documents privately owned outside of the club’s own archives,” Golden Age is auctioning a 1941 stock certificate that was issued to Augusta member Ronald Dean II. The kicker: The signature at the bottom is that of Robert Jones, and it’s said to be among the highest-grade autographs available for him.
It’s been reported that membership at Augusta National during that time was not more than $400. The value in 2024 of a piece of paper with Bobby Jones’ signature on it? Right now, it’s $4,484, with nine more days still to climb.
Main Image: JD Cuban
