Jacob Greenleaf, painting (1887-1968) Painting is offered at 31 Gallery.

Before I left on my trip earlier this month, a friend called to tell me about an auction in Massachusetts. I agreed to take a look at what they were offering. I honestly wasn’t that excited to so this; I had packing on my mind. I took a look at the offerings on their site anyway, mostly out of courtesy to my friend. But, surprise surprise. There were at least 12 paintings that caught my interest. I ended up leaving bids on 6 of them.

While I was away, I became the owner of 2, one of which is by Jacob Greenleaf, whose work we already own. I have since talked to the owner of Blackwood-March Auction in MA, and we have agreed to keep in touch.

I have found that Local auctions seem to be the most profitable place for me to buy good art. They have every bit in quality that the major houses have, and this is where we can profit.

First, there’s less competition. Maybe it’s because the advertising might not equal that of the major houses. Or, perhaps people just don’t pay as much for items because they figure the quality is less than they might find at one of the major houses. I don’t truly know the motivation behind each person placing great items in local auction houses, but consider this my very educated guess. I do know this, however: High quality items very often turn up at local auction houses because, the truth is, people would rather deal with people they know, not to mention the cost to them is usually less. There is also the intimidation factor many people feel when dealing with Christie’s or Sotheby’s. I’ve experienced it firsthand.

The best way to take advantage of this phenomenon, is to make a listing of all the auction houses within 75 miles of your home. Call each one of them and ask to be put in their database. This will allow these houses to contact you whenever they have an auction. Doing this will give you plenty of time to prepare for your visit to preview, or to decide upon which of their offerings you might want to leave absentee bids after you view their fliers or catalogs.

When you view the auction houses’ offerings, don’t limit yourself to just one type of item. I often find the best items in the sale weren’t the ones I thought I’d be buying. My intentions might have been to buy a painting, but after I studied the offerings, I discovered a Meissen figurine, for example. If this is an auction where most of the people in attendance would rather have stoneware instead of a Meissen, I might just pick up that bargain I was looking for.

I’m telling you, aside from having entree into private homes, these local houses could end up being your greatest asset.

You might be seeing and hearing all bad news on TV and radio, but don’t believe it all. The antique and fine art business is well and healthy!

Early 1920s Cochrane’s Ltd Club sold for $11,250 at Sotheby’s from the collection of Jeffrey B. Ellis. The complete collection brought in $2,166,210 and set a record. Photo and info from Golf.com

I don’t know about you but all my friends here in Chicago can’t wait to get back onto the Golf Course. But, for me, it’s about this time each year that I start thinking about the money to be made in Golf items.

I visited a home a few weeks ago, and there on the wall were flags from Pebble Beach and Augusta, sign by the most famous men ever to ever hit a golf ball. My mind just went wild thinking about the value of these pieces. Golf is for sure one of the most watched individual sports of our time. Names like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nickolas, Gary Player and perhaps the greatest of all times Tiger Woods are recognized by people that have never been on a golf course. Why is this sport so popular? I think it is for several reasons, one of them being that anyone can play it, and I suppose through their frustrations with the game, they will appreciate how great these pro players are. Second, it is a sport where the best man or woman of the day wins.

Because of Golf’s popularity, it is only fitting that collectors want something from the great player of their day or from the tournaments that they have watch on television or attended in person. Can you imagine the wide variety of items to be collected by dedicated fans? Clubs, Bags, Shoes, Hats, Gloves, Shirts, balls, tees. If any of these are signed by the owner, such as Tiger Woods, watch out. These were personal items, but now let’s look at the famous coursesYou might want a flag from a certain hole where your favorite golfer hit a spectacular shot or they had a hole in one. Advertising for the tournament signed by several of the top pros playing in the tournament might bring you more than a fair return on your investment. I am sure that I could think of many more but you get the idea.

Many collectors want to find items that were used in the game fifty or more years ago, as a token of how these items have developed over the years, like clubs, balls, bags and shoes. But in my opinion, the real value to be found today is in things that are as modern as yesterday. You don’t have to find a feather ball or a wooden shafted club to claim a treasure. Just give me something signed by Palmer, Nicholas or Woods. I promise you, the longer you hold these items, the more precious they will become. And what I mean by holding it is waiting long enough for one of the pros to win the Masters, or unfortunately, the death of one of the Champions for these collectibles will shoot through the roof in value.

Most anything owned by the big three that I mentioned will bring a thousand or more. I am confident that if you were to find the right item, you could be talking in the $50,000 range or more. There will never be a shortage of collectors in the golf market.

I once attended a sale in the older part of Chicago, and from the look of the ad, I thought there might be some good stuff there. However, after spending 30 minutes in the house, I was ready to go away empty handed. Staying this long showed that I was desperate to find something to buy, because seldom do I stay at a sale this long. The exit was through the garage, and as I was leaving, I spotted a golf bag crammed full of clubs. I tell you the truth, there must have been over thirty clubs in that bag. I asked the price and was told $25. Not hesitating, I bought them without even looking at what there was in the whole lot.

When I got home, I discovered an old black and white pair of shoes that were just my size. I still have them. The pockets were filled with balls and tees plus several gloves. But the best discovery was a set of five woods made of persimmon wood and five putters. I showed a very good friend of mine these items because he is a real golf nut. He pulled out the strangest looking putter from the bag, and almost breathless said to me, “Do you know what you have here?” I told him I didn’t have any idea, and asked if he knew if that putter was worth anything. “Probably about $1,000 and maybe even more to the right person,” he told me. I wanted to ask him if he was the right person but didn’t. Later, I learned that the woods were also worth from $500-$1,000.

Yes, this could be a great season for you to increase your bank account by finding the right golf items.

If this might be an area of interest for you, start by learning the history of golf, and getting reference information and price guides. Learn which clubs are valuable, as well as what other golf items are valuable. A good reference book is Antique Golf Collectibles: A Reference Guide by Chuck Furjanic.

Go to Golf.com to view the clubs sold from the Jeffrey B. Ellis Golf Collection.

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