Expert consulted: If you’re tuning in to the Masters this weekend, you know that the look of golf has changed a lot since it was invented in 15th-century Scotland. Today’s players—both professional and amateur—swing titanium clubs while sporting golf shoes that look like sneakers. Long gone is that early era of flat caps and tweed knickers. Gone, too, are the fancy-face woods and adjustable putters (long since illegal for play) that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1920s characters would have golfed with.
Like many collectors of golf memorabilia, David Levine, a Long Island, New York—based real estate developer, passionately collects equipment that outfitted golfers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the period when the “Scottish game” emigrated to America from its sandy “links land” home on Scotland’s east coast.
These items that once filled clubhouses and stocked sporting-goods stores may now be quite rare. For example, hickory-shafted clubs, mass-produced by MacGregor and Spalding, were often cut down to fit young people learning the game. “It’s all about how many survived, says David.
On the course, achieving par is a constant challenge, but there is an abundance of golf memorabilia on the market (or maybe hiding in your basement or attic!) to make collecting golf gear a winning game. See below for some of the top collectibles of golf’s bygone days:
Golf Clubs
Ironically, today’s technology (titanium shafts and huge clubheads) has not helped golfers appreciably lower their scores. David notes that hickory-shafted woods and irons “got the job done” for players through the 1920s. Pictured here, an 1890s wooden club is a long spoon, used to hit from grassy lies. A dual-faced 1920s Wilson “Amby Dex” putter and, to its right, a 1920s squared, left-handed putter; a 1937 MacGregor Streamliner driver. Fancy woods of the 1930s sported ivory inserts.
How much are vintage golf clubs worth?
Vintage golf clubs similar to those pictured are valued at $60 to $400 each.
Golf Shoes
Golf shoes of the 1970s were not subtle in hue. Shoes of the era were made by manufacturers such as Spalding, Bostonian, and Johnston & Murphy.
How much are vintage golf shoes worth?
Vintage golf shoes like these pictured can be purchased for $15 to $200 a pair.
Portable Golf Holes & Feathery Balls
Bobby Jones-designed “Bobby’s Portable Golf Holes” were made throughout the 1930s and sold for just $1 through sporting goods suppliers, including Alex Taylor & Co. in New York City. The metal indoor putting targets were intended for practicing putts.
How much are vintage portable golf holes worth?
Bobby’s Portable Golf Holes from the 1930s are valued between $20 and $60.
From the early 1600s through the mid-1800s, some golf balls were made of sewn leather and stuffed with chicken or goose feathers. The “featherie” or “feathery” ball example pictured here dates to 1840 and is from author Harry B. Wood’s personal collection.
How much are feather golf balls worth?
Feather golf balls from this period are very rare and hard to find, but some authenticated 1840s feather golf balls have sold in the past for $1,000 to $2,500.
Collectors Beware: These feather golf balls have been often reproduced. Authentication matters!
Golf Bags
Early-20th-century golf bags were usually slimmer and more pared down than those used today. The diminutive bag (far left) is a 1930s Archie Compston model made in England and used as a sales promotion. The open-style Osmond golf bag (center) was patented in 1893 and features legs. The extra-slim tartan-motif c. 1914 Sunday bag (right) was scaled for juveniles.
How much are vintage golf bags worth?
Vintage golf bags similar to these pictured can bring $150 to $900 apiece.
Golf Ball Retrievers
Players unwilling to concede lost balls to water hazards packed ball retrievers, a device golfers were once allowed to carry with them, in their golf bags. A pecan picker (top), likely purchased at a farm store, dates from the 1920s. The largest retriever (center) is from the early 1940s and was used to retrieve balls on driving ranges. Handmade retrievers (second from top) were fashioned with woven netting attached to bamboo poles.
How much are vintage golf retrievers worth?
These pictured date from the 1920s to the 1940s with values ranging from $10 to $50.
Frank Sinatra’s Golf Memorabilia
David Levine acquired this memorabilia from the 1963 Frank Sinatra Invitational. Among the participating celebrities were fellow “Rat Packers” Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. The reported provenance is that a disgusted Ol’ Blue Eyes gave the bag and clubs to an employee after a bad round. The clubs are by First Flight, and Frank was hired by the company to endorse their brand of irons and wood drives. The black bag, made of leather and plastic, is by MacGregor.
How much is Frank Sinatra’s golf gear worth?
As with most items or collectibles that have been owned or used by a famous person, the provenance or pedigree is very important, and without documenting ownership, that provenance is very hard to prove. This bag and set of clubs has been documented to have belonged to Frank Sinatra and sold for $17,300 in a 2017 auction.
Frank Sinatra’s actual putter from his 1963 tournament at the Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs is a copper-coated MacGregor IMG5 Ironmaster sporting his caricature and signature. Approximately 150-200 of these putters were made and given as souvenirs to players in the Frank Sinatra Invitational in 1963.
How much are Frank Sinatra putters worth?
One of these putters sold for $1,000 at a 2017 auction. Values could be as high as $1,700, depending on if provenance can be proven. Collectors Beware: Watch for reproductions on the market.
*Appraisal Values Updated April 2025 by Appraiser Marsha Dixey of Heritage Auctions. These values have been collected by averaging auction prices realized from different sources and may differ from prices on the same item offered for sale by a private dealer. An auction value is more or less based on rarity, condition and desirability (bidding activity) of a specific maker, form or pattern.
Consignment director at Heritage Auctions, Marsha Dixey has worked in the Americana historical and collectibles business as a dealer/collector since 1978. She is a widely acknowledged expert generalist, handling almost anything falling under the “Americana” umbrella. Her interest in American social history has made her an expert in women’s suffrage items and African Americana. After dealing in a general line of antiques including furniture, glassware and decorative Americana, Dixey followed her interest in premium antique advertising for years and served two years on the board of directors for the Antiques Advertising Association of America. Prior to coming to work for Heritage, she worked with Tom Slater at Slater’s Provenance Auctions in Indianapolis, Ind. Their success in auctioning Americana and sports collectibles became the foundation of Heritage Auctions’ historical department, which they started in 2005.
Marsha has appeared on Texas Storage Wars and several radio broadcasts discussing collectibles, their pricing and popularity.
