MEMORABILIA AND COLLECTIBLES PART 20: Gary Morantalks to Kevin McGimpsey, a passionate collector, who with one book under his belt (published himself) releases his second in November, simply titled Golf Memorabilia.
IF YOU spend eight years researching a book for a niche market and then publish it yourself with a print run of only 1,250, it's fair to surmise that you are fairly passionate about the subject.
Kevin McGimpsey fits the bill and the book he wrote and published in 2003, The Story of the Golf Ball, has been described by Harry McCaw as "a mammoth effort universally received by all who love and care about golf". McCaw ought to know. He's a former captain of the Royal Ancient and of Royal Co Down where he co-authored the club's centenary history.
McGimpsey is the older brother of Ireland's most capped amateur international Garth and says that he was short-changed when the golfing talent in the family was divvied up. "I've been collecting golf memorabilia for 20 years. Probably when I decided I couldn't win medals I thought I might as well buy them," quipped Kevin, when I chatted to him at his home in Chester.
That's the town where he co-founded a toy museum in 1985. He had a particular interest in matchbox cars but once the toys became his business, he says that he had to find something else to satisfy his collecting urge and golf was the obvious replacement.
Before McGimpsey finally "got the monkey off my back and self-published", there were other references books specifically about golf balls.
Antique Golf Ball Reference and Price Guideby Leo Kelly (1993) and 500 Years of Golf Ballsby John Hotchkiss and John Stuart Martin were two of the best known and McGimpsey decided to take a different tack.
Understanding that everything from club design to swing technique and course architecture has been influenced by developments in ball technology, he used the evolution from featherie to gutta percha to rubber core and beyond to trace the history of the game.
To satisfy collectors he also listed the price achieved for every single significant ball sold at auction over the course of 30 years. While the market will fluctuate, he felt that this was a far better way to document prices than offering woolly price guides with low and high estimates.
There were 125 deluxe edition copies of the book with Kaduna Goatskin binding, a slipcase and signed by McGimpsey and one of them sold for €230 at Maxwells July auction. It must tickle him that his own book has become a collectable because he really landed on his feet when he sold the toy business several years ago.
As luck would have it, auction house Bohnam's conduct their golf sales in Chester and their golf expert departed just around the time that McGimpsey became available. He is now their worldwide expert in the field. "It keeps me busy a couple of days a week and the rest of the time I play golf," he chuckled and your columnist was just a tad envious at the other end of the phone line.
Many valuable items have gone under the hammer during his five years with the firm and McGimpsey selects a putter owned by Samuel Ryder as one of the highlights. Made by Robert Forgan circa 1910, the club still had the original rubber grip and the wooden, mallet-shaped head with SR inscribed on the crown. It came with excellent provenance being sold by the godson of Ryder's daughter who included a signed letter detailing the putter's history. It fetched €19,000 last January.
Just over a year ago, Bonham's sold the gold medal awarded to Henry Cotton for winning the Open Championship at Carnoustie in 1937. It made €42,000 which was a nice return for the collector who paid less than a third of that 15 years earlier. Understandably given his brother's accomplishments, Kevin has a special interest in Walker Cup memorabilia and he caddied for Garth in the British Open and US Masters back in the 1980s.
He even took a shot at Augusta's par-three 12th during a practice round. Did he hit the green? "Well it was an eight iron when it should have been a seven and I was stuck in a white overall that was a bit tight. That's my excuse!"
McGimpsey has a new book coming out in November simply titled Golf Memorabilia. It has 210 pages, 280 photos with chapters on Tom Morris to Tiger Woods and hickories to featheries. McGimpsey will sign copies for readers of this column (price is £22.50 plus £5 postage) and he also has 50 copies remaining of The Story of the Golf Ball(£30 plus £5 postage). He can be contacted at:
K McGimpsey, PO Box 120, Deeside, CH5 3HE, UK. Tel 0044 1244 539414 if paying by credit card.
• This column welcomes e-mails on all golf memorabilia items and stories to: collectgolf@gmail.com.
