Dear Babe: Prior to the 2001 Ryder Cup, Oldsmobile had a promotion giving out a set of limited edition golf balls if you test drove a 2002 Olds. I have a box of a dozen -- four sleeves of three balls each. The insignias on the Strata 2 balls are for the Ryder Cup and Oldsmobile. Since there was no Ryder Cup that year and there is no more Oldsmobile, does this "gift" have any value to a collector? -- Peggy Bradshaw, Brookline, N.H.
The history of the Ryder cup is interesting. It's billed as one of the last great sporting events where prestige was the prize rather than money.
Da Babe tracked down a nice history on www.rydercup.com.
There's some debate over who first came up with the idea, but the official series began in 1927. As often happens necessity was the mother of invention.
Americans found themselves with time on their hands before the 1926 British Open, because they were forced to play in qualifying matches. With nothing else to do, the U.S. golfers teamed up for an unofficial match against British pros.
Before a crowd that included an English seed merchant and entrepreneur named Samuel Ryder, the Americans were routed 13 1/2-1/2.
Ryder was into golf in a big way and already had Abe Mitchell, a British star golfer, signed on as his personal tutor. After the Americans were routed in '26, Ryder was enjoying tea with Mitchell, fellow Englishman George Duncan and Americans Walter Hagen and Emmett French. As the story goes, Duncan supposedly suggested Ryder provide a trophy and encourage the establishment of trans-Atlantic matches on a regular basis. Ryder jumped on the idea, commissioning the design of the Ryder Cup, a gold chalice with Mitchell's likeness on the top.
While Mitchell's likeness was on the cup, he didn't compete in the inaugural matches in 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts, which the Americans won in a runaway, 9 1/2-2 1/2. Hagan was team captain.
As you noted, for the first time since WWII, the 2001 Ryder Cup competition was canceled after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. It had been scheduled for Sept. 28-30 at The Belfry in England. So you have golf balls for an event that was canceled with the logo of a car that is no longer made.
"I haven't seen these and haven't even heard of them, but would assume that to a collector that they could be worth around $10-$20 per sleeve," said Leila Dunbar, a golf memorabilia expert (leiladunbaraol.com).
That would work out to $40-$80 for the dozen. Da Babe saw a couple of eBay auctions offering what you have. One seller is offering the dozen for $29 with S&H, while another has them listed for $152.74 with S&H. Methinks the top end is a wee bit on the high side. Asking price is one thing, what matters is the final price of a complete auction. So far, they haven't sold and have been listed multiple times.
With the competition switching to even-numbered years after the 2001 cancellation, this year's Ryder Cup competition will be Oct. 1-3 at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales.
As mentioned earlier, there's no prize money for the players. The PGA gets players and caddies to the site of the event.
While the players receive no prize money, since 1999, the PGA of America has distributed $2.6 million (in each Ryder Cup) to charities and universities on behalf of the U.S. Ryder Cup players and Captain.
That works out to $200,000 for each person on the squad.
(Send card questions to Babe Waxpak, PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397 or e-mail babewaxpak@charter.net. If possible, include card number, year and brand or a photocopy. Please do not send cards. For Babe Waxpak's blog, see www.scrippsnews.com/waxpak. Babe Waxpak is a feature of The Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif.)
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