Wooden Shafted Golf Club Values
Wooden shafted golf clubs were manufactured by the millions in the early part of the 1900s. It is estimated that as few as one out of twenty wooden shafted golf clubs are considered collectible. The vast majority are considered common grade clubs and are worth anywhere from $5 to $50 each, depending on condition. Common clubs may have chromed heads, metal end caps on the grips, registered numbers, department store names, numbered instead of named irons, yardage ranges listed on clubhead, etc.
Condition is very important. In fact, a club that is in like new, mint, original condition (not refinished) will probably be worth more than any listed book value. Especially if it came in original packaging or with an original receipt or advertising flyer.
In general, putters and woods are worth more than irons. Unusual irons like Putting Cleeks, Rut Irons and adjustable clubs, are generally worth more than the mid-irons and mashies. Smooth face irons or irons with unusual face markings are more desirable than irons with machined scoring lines or dot-punched faces.
Putters made of aluminum, wood or brass are worth more than steel head putters. Aluminum woods (The first metalwoods!) are more valuable than wooden heads. Although, the most valuable clubs are the long-nosed woods made in the late 1800s. They are very easy to distinguish from regular woods, as their name is very descriptive!
As I answer more and more email inquiries about golf clubs, I will continue to add to this section about wood shaft golf club values.
Steel Shafted Golf Club Values
There are many highly sought after steel shafted golf clubs. While some old wooden shafted golf clubs can be worth over $5,000, The George Low Wizard 600 putter used by Jack Nicklaus is probably worth close to $20,000!
It is hard to give general guidelines to steel shafted golf club values, and the sheer numbers make it hard to list them all. I will try to give some you some names to look for. '40s, '50s and '60s MacGregor clubs are probably the most widely collected steel shaft golf clubs. Tommy Armour putters, irons and especially persimmon woods are always collectible. Toney Penna, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson are a few other names that make MacGregor clubs more valuable. The Iron Master putters and the Tourney Woods and Irons are excellent clubs. The VIP clubs are some of the most valuable. But, beware -- the VIPs made after the '60s are of little or no value. A general range for old MacGregor Persimmon Drivers is $50 to $1,000.
Other Irons that are collectible include Ben Hogan, Wilson Staff and Ping or Karsten clubs. The 1 irons and Sand Wedges are usually a little more valuable than the others, as they are used to fill out the set. The others (2-PW) almost have to be complete sets to have value. If you have a full set, 1 iron thru Sand Wedge of the original Ping 69 Irons, you've really got something!! If you have a 5 iron and an 8 iron, don't call us, we'll call you ;>) A good, collectible set of irons is rarely worth more than $200. Some go as high as the $1,000s. Very collectible wedges can range from $50 to $300 each.
There are many collectible putters. Old MacGregor Tourney Iron Master putters are very desirable, as are Ping putters made in Scottsdale or Redwood City. Spalding putters with Bobby Jones name or Cash-In, Blue Chip, HB or HBA are good putters. The older Wilson 8802, 8813 or Arnold Palmer putters are very collectible. Any handmade T.P. Mills putter is very valuable. Scotty Cameron has a lot of valuable handmade models as well. Many collectible putters are worth around $50 or less. Rarely, a putter will be worth over $300. But, some of the best can be worth over $10,000!
Sorry, I don't know much about old golf balls, yet! All I can say is, if it's old and has a funny looking dimple pattern, it's probably worth $.50 to buy and find out if it's valuable. Some old signature balls (not autographed! Don't even ask me about autographed balls -- 90% of them are fakes!) are collectible. Any old balls with a square mesh pattern are valuable, as are the old brambles or gutta perchas. If you have one, just send me as detailed of a description as possible and a picture if it's not too much to ask. It's fairly easy to find old golf balls worth more than $10 each. Some of the old gutta perchas or featheries can be worth $100s or even $1000s!
Golf Memorabilia is too broad of a subject to try and describe it. If it seems to be a pretty cool old item related to golf, there is probably a collector somewhere who wants it. I have good luck selling old items in their original packaging, especially if it has a date on it showing the item to be over 50 years old. For example, old golf trophies, old tickets or programs from professional tournaments, or old golf gadgets or games in their original boxes. If you have something cool, just send me as detailed of a description as possible and a picture if it's not too much to ask.