Golf Ball Authentication- New to this, any advice?

Dolan

Hello everyone,

I'm usually on the PCGS coin forums, but I thought I'd give this place a shot as well.. not too long ago, this lady sold me some autographed golf balls she wanted to get rid of. Namely, 12 of them. They used to belong to her late husband, who used to collect all sorts of coins and memorabilia. Anyway, I think I'd like to sell them, because I'm more interested in basketball memorabilia.

So, I have 12 golf balls, none of them with authentication, which this late gentlemen acquired via silent auctions. I guess the reasonable step to take here would be to have them authenticated by PSA/DNA. Here are some questions I have about the process:

(1) How does golf ball autograph authentication happen?
(2) If the golf balls don't turn out to be genuine, will PSA/DNA refund any part of my fee?
(3) PSA/DNA will be at a local show nearby in a month- can I ask them to take a look at these golf balls and give me an idea of their authenticity before I "officially" submit them?
(4) Can they grade a golf ball by the time that local show is over?
(5) With coins, we have different grades for each coin, depending on the coin's condition. Is there a similar scale for autographs?
(6) One of the golf balls is allegedly signed by famed golfer Ben Hogan. I looked up some retailers online, to see what they're selling his golf balls for. This one vender listed one golf ball for about $500, and that same vender listed another one for over $3,000. Is that because the latter may look nicer than the former?
(7) Is there anything I can do ahead of time to gauge whether the autograph is genuine or not? I only ask because I'd hate to spend money on grading something just to find out it's fake. For all I know, they could be real.. I'm just curious if anyone has advice on what I should do at this point.

As you can tell, I'm completely new to this stuff, and do appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks!

VitoCo1972

If you post pictures here or message pictures to me, I can tell you if they're authentic and if they're worth paying authentication fees. If you want to start by just telling me who the players are, we can go from there.

UPDATED WITH ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS:


(1) How does golf ball autograph authentication happen?
- They take "exemplars" (legit versions of the players signature) and compare them against yours

(2) If the golf balls don't turn out to be genuine, will PSA/DNA refund any part of my fee?
- No, your fee is paid to them regardless

(3) PSA/DNA will be at a local show nearby in a month- can I ask them to take a look at these golf balls and give me an idea of their authenticity before I "officially" submit them?
- No, they're usually against this

(4) Can they grade a golf ball by the time that local show is over?
- Yes when they're doing on-site grading - they don't always do that

(5) With coins, we have different grades for each coin, depending on the coin's condition. Is there a similar scale for autographs?
- Not for golf balls. I believe baseballs and blue flip cards are the only autographs that are graded


(6) One of the golf balls is allegedly signed by famed golfer Ben Hogan. I looked up some retailers online, to see what they're selling his golf balls for. This one vender listed one golf ball for about $500, and that same vender listed another one for over $3,000. Is that because the latter may look nicer than the former?
- Several reasons factor in here. Hogan is pretty desirable but NEVER $3000 worth. A decent example goes for less than $500. There's a reason why the one for $500 hasn't sold yet.

(7) Is there anything I can do ahead of time to gauge whether the autograph is genuine or not? I only ask because I'd hate to spend money on grading something just to find out it's fake. For all I know, they could be real.. I'm just curious if anyone has advice on what I should do at this point.
- Like I said, I've been an expert on golf signatures for quite sometime. Other members can verify. Happy to help

alifaxwa2

(2) If the golf balls don't turn out to be genuine, will PSA/DNA refund any part of my fee?
No, they performed there service.

(4) Can they grade a golf ball by the time that local show is over?
Authenticate yes, grade the autograph, yes, grade the ball itself, they only do that for baseballs.

(5) With coins, we have different grades for each coin, depending on the coin's condition. Is there a similar scale for autographs?
Yes, they will grade any autographs. You will have to pay the additional fee.

alifaxwa2

edit, double post

estang

Interesting thread. I've never tried signing a golf ball, but I would imagine it is difficult -- and one's signature would look very different on one versus a flat surface.

It would seem that any provenance that you could get from the lady you bought them from would help. Silent auction receipts or a situation write-up ???

For example, my son got an auto from Angel Cabrera at the Masters practice round. Very cool, but it just looks like scribble. I have a picture of him holding up the golf ball while at the Masters. That would help the authentication for someone many years later...

VitoCo1972

<< <i>Interesting thread. I've never tried signing a golf ball, but I would imagine it is difficult -- and one's signature would look very different on one versus a flat surface.

It would seem that any provenance that you could get from the lady you bought them from would help. Silent auction receipts or a situation write-up ???

For example, my son got an auto from Angel Cabrera at the Masters practice round. Very cool, but it just looks like scribble. I have a picture of him holding up the golf ball while at the Masters. That would help the authentication for someone many years later... >>



If you have a Cabrera signed Masters logo golf ball it's a little bit of a rarity. He doesn't regularly sign golf balls. He stopped after his Masters win (like a lot of guys do). The Cabera ball I have in my Masters rack is a duplicate from his US Open victory. He refused to sign a Masters ball for me again at Riviera 4 days ago.

estang

He gave my son the ball that he was playing with and motioned his caddy for a pen as he signed it on the 18th tee box while he was waiting for the fairway to clear. A very nice gesture & now we're instant fans of his. He doesn't tee it up in many events globally (compared to his peers). It was a Titleist ProV1... We didn't ask for anything, he just did it...

Dolan

<< <i>Like I said, I've been an expert on golf signatures for quite sometime. Other members can verify. Happy to help >>



Michael, thanks very much. I've been a bit busy since last night, but this evening I will take photos of the golf balls and upload them to this thread. All twelve of them were framed in one giant display case- should I leave them in there, or it doesn't matter?

VitoCo1972

doesn't matter. You don't even need to take photos if you don't want to. I can tell you if authentication is necessary just based on the names.

Dolan

Pictures will be up soon. I can't really tell all the names- your expertise in golfers might come in handy. So far, I can make out Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, and Lee Trevino.

Dolan

OK, here goes.

VitoCo1972

Interesting. Are you sure they were received in person? I have questions about many of them. The Weiskopf and Hogan are the closest. I would believe the TRevino is real if I saw it signed but there are enough flags that I'm uncertain. Player hasn't signed like that for awhile. Nicklaus is a bit more all over the place than normal.

The Palmer is pretty close too. You know what kind of scares me off of these? The type of ball many of them were signed on. If I were a forger, I wouldn't be buying expensive Titleists to forge with, I'd be buying bottom of the line Top Flite's for cheap - which unfortunately many of yours are.

I think your Faldo is legit. The Norman is god awful. Tom Watson hasn't signed golf balls in years and that one is no good in my opinion.

This is a legit Nicklaus


This is a legit Player


I have the others too but I can't find them in my photobucket. Overall, I think you should try to get the Hogan ball authenticated. It's worth the money to try. The others I think you're probably looking at fails. I'm sorry to say.

Dolan

No worries about the fails. I didn't spend too much on these anyway. You did say that you'd just try to get the Hogan certified (which I will) but you also mentioned something about the Weiskopf, the Palmer, and the Faldo being "close" or "legit"? Would you attempt to get those certified as well?

Thanks for your input!

VitoCo1972

The Faldo doesn't need authentication. I'm sure it's good and the authenticated price increase doesn't warrant the fee (meaning if it's $20+ to authenticate you wouldn't see more than a $20 increase in sale price with the certification). Yes, I would send in the Hogan. If it's good you'll probably have a $200+ item and without authentication it'd probably sell for $150 or less. I think you have a 50/50 shot at it passing.

Re: Palmer: there's so many of these out there that I think $50 in increased value from a PSA sticker is probably a little much. I'd probably sell it as is.

The other ones I'm very skeptical about (especially Norman, Ballesteros, Snead)

leathtech

cool read, Mike thanks for posting your knowledge!

Kesmith5910

Regarding the Ben Hogan golf ball, if it is indeed authentic it will be a very late signature. Mr. Hogan died in July of 1997 and the Maxfli Revolution golf ball was introduced in that same year.