The Story of the Golf Ball

In 2001, Kevin McGimpsey sold his toy-related businesses, including the Chester Doll and Toy Museum, to concentrate on golfing memorabilia which he has collected since the 1980s; he now runs the Golf department at Bonhams Chester, where regular sporting memorabilia sales are held, with two golf sales annually.

A golf player since he was a boy in Bangor, Northern Ireland, Kevin McGimsey has caddied at the Masters and the Open and comments that he “just about maintains his single figure handicap”.

With its densely packed chapters and appendices, the book offers a listing of more than 3000 named golf balls, each one cross-referenced to give details of their characteristics, date made, cover pattern and prices realised at auction. From the feathery golf ball first made in the 1400s up to the latest ball being used in 2003, our man in the bunker seems to have it covered. The book includes a list of balls by name and manufacturer, with 500 ball advertisements and with colour plates showing balls, clubs and associated memorabilia. Exhausting and exhaustive.