We're an eBay affiliate and may be compensated on purchases made through clicks. 

In the "old" days it seemed that neatness was a given - even for golfers :) If you look back to, for example, the likes of Samuel Ryder, Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, a certain Robert T Jones Jnr., Babe Didrikson, Patty Berg, Gene Sarazen, Sam Parks, Max Faulkner, Bobby Locke, Henry Cotton etc - all these players took a pride in their signature. It was done with care, clarity and precision and, some 999 times out of every 1000, really easy to read :)

Even as we move to more recent times the likes of Mr Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Jack Burke, Doug Ford, Billy Casper, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin never seemed to overly rush a signature and always tried to give fans a nice clear, easy to read autograph.

Now - having said that .... neatness does not always go hand-in-hand with readability. The great South African golfer, Hugh Baiocchi, was always neat and precise but - if you don't know his signature - it isn't always that easy to decipher :

Now, add to the discussion the fact that there has been a huge rise in the number of players competing on the worlds main TOURs that hail from countries once regarded as "non-traditional" - Japan, Thailand, Korea, India, Sweden, Norway, France etc

and then throw into the mix that players are often rushing from (a) to (b) and "hurry" autographs and you end up with ....

well, some signatures that are not at all easy to recognise :)

I thought I'd open this little discussion so that we can share some of the more "esoteric" of golf signatures and variants ... and I'm just kicking off with a few to get the ball rolling.

These are in no particular order (other than the way they popped into my head!) and I'll add more as time allows.

I do hope that one or two of you will find this useful.

The great Japanese champion and long time stalwart of world golf - Isao Aoki :

Another rising star and the first golfer from Asia to win a Major championship, Y E Yang :

Born in South Korea but moved to Los Angeles at the age of ten and now a regular on the PGA TOUR, Charlie Wi :

hey, and let's not forget all those gorgeous girls who are packed full of golfing talent too! How about Se Ri Pak :

and Morgan Pressel :

and a couple of variants from multi-Major champion and former world #1 Karrie Webb:

The guys from Scandinavia don't always give us autographs that are what you would describe as "instantly discernible" either.

How about the great Jesper Parnevik "

or Henrik Stenson :

Just globe-trotting back across the world to Japan ... there's always the early "Fuji" variant from Shingo Katayama :

You can also find "pearlers" from some of our more recent Major champions :

Lucas Glover :

Louis Oosthuizen :

and some of the variants from Padraig Harrington aren't that easy to spot from collectors who aren't that "into" golf :

Making the grade to the "hottest furnace of world golf", the USPGA TOUR is no guarantee that you bring with you and easily identifiable signature. Check out :

Notah Begay :

Joe Durant :

Heath Slocum :

That's a few to get the ball rolling .... oops ... almost forget "The Walrus" who has given us some nice variants over the years :

Happy collecting to you all and for those of you in the northern hemisphere that can get out on to the course at this time of year .... here's hoping you stay on the short grass :)

All the best, David.

Views: 11165

Replies to This Discussion

Also just had PGA TOUR star Scott Verplank pop into my head :

and here's another one from him :

Brad Faxon is a nice one too :

All the best, David.

Some golf signatures are impossible to identify unless you know who signed it. I have a couple of such examplars I'm hoping someone here can help me identify. They both resemble Davis Love III's signature, which I included in the picture as a reference. If anyone know whose signatures #2 and #3 are, I'd greatly appreciate your help.

G'day mate - yup, absolutely no doubt about the Davis Love ball - nice one :) Ball #2 is interesting as the first name "Danny" is just about a classic for young NZ golfer Danny Lee in his amateur days - the rest of the signature just doesn't fit though but it still could be Danny! Ball #3 - now that one has me scratching my head. VERY sorry I can't be of more help at the moment but I'll give it some more thought :) All the best, David.

Hi David, I see the resemblance of #2 with Danny Lee's signature, but I see a couple of differences: firstly, he always seem to have his full name; secondly, his "D" and "A" are different than the examplar I have. See below a sample of Danny Lee's signed ball, which is consistent with other balls I've seen of his.

During the 09 NZ Open here Danny was absolutely surrounded by fans everywhere he went and, under pressure as it were, he did sign several items with an abbreviated first name but - as you say - the rest of that signature on ball #2 just doesn't seem right.

Here are 3 other hard to decipher autographs. All 3 look similar; #1 is listed on eBay as being Cal Peete, but this example doesn't match other examples I've seen attributed to him, so I'm not sure it is Cal Peete. #3 is also listed on eBay as being Chella Choi, and this example is consistent with other signatures I've seen from her. I have #2, and I've been trying to figure out who that is.

To me, #s 1 & 2 looks more similar to each other than to #3, but I'm not sure they are the same. There can be so much variation on a golf ball that is hard to say with certainty. Any thoughts on who signed #2?

G'day mate, it looks like #3 is spot on :) Regards #1 - it's certainly not a good example of a "flat-signed" Calvin Peete item or a ball signed by him. The pic isn't all that good but, in my humble opinion, that is not Cal's signature on ball #1. The "C" is just not correct and the entire surname doesn't fit especially Cal's usual uplift and backstroke before crossing his "te". Ball #2 - sorry but I'm head scratching on that one. All the best, David.

Very hard to tell as the pics are too small, but I believe #2 is Tom Kite.  He may be ball #1 as well.  Would like to see clear close-ups.

RSS

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

© 2024   Created by Steve Cyrkin, Admin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Service