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Marty Bonnar

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Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« on: October 21, 2012, 05:22:37 PM »
This afternoon we played at Nancy's home course, Thornton, with a couple of our good friends. We get to the 10th where I typically thin an easy wedge through the back of the green.
Thornton, like many Scottish inland courses is currently experiencing, ehm, 'Drainage Issues', so the greenstaff have been digging holes in a few areas. The 10th is one of those. Quite a big area of ground has been dug to a depth of a couple of feet and some new pipes and gravel were evident in situ. My ball ended up in amongst it all. So I wander over to pluck it out and spot a suspiciously spherical-looking stone. Picking it up and wiping the mud off it, I find it's not a stone at all, it's a golf ball. An old golf ball. A VERY OLD Golf Ball!



A quick initial look on the web identifies it as probably a Dunlop Goblin or similar dating from the 20s or 30s. Given that Thornton has been around since 1921, this means it's quite possibly been in the ground for the best part of 80 or 90 years!
I'm quite a little buzzed about the whole thing. My thought is to present the ball back to the club, in the hope they might use in some small way, maybe even in their centenary year - 2021. I hope I'm still around to see it!

Cool, eh? Golf is Great!

F.
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The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Colin Macqueen

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Re: Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2012, 06:22:14 PM »
"Golf is Great!"

You obviously have a ball, Marty.

Cheers Colin
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"Golf, thou art a gentle sprite, I owe thee much"
The Hielander

Dan Herrmann

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Re: Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2012, 06:52:44 PM »
Make sure you get a thank you note at the least.

I bought an really old book that had a receipt from a golf lesson given in the 1920's at Myopia tucked with its pages.  I was happy to send it to them.

Never heard a peep back.
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Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2012, 06:59:03 PM »
Had a similar experience when rebuilding Pioneer Park in Lincoln, NB about 1989.  When they started dozing, I spotted a bramble ball, last made around 1900 and this course was built in 1914 (Tucker).  So, if that guy lost the ball on opening day, it was probably a 15 year old golf ball, maybe more.  Golfers were more frugal then, I guess.  I kept the ball for years, and may still have it, but recall it falling apart after a while, and it was in two barely connected pieces when I picked it up.

The more common artifacts to find when building courses are old coke bottles and the like, and sometimes arrowheads, although that is far less common than when I started in 1977.  Back in 1999 or so, I found some Dutch dishes/pottery on a golf course site west of Ft. Worth, near what had been an old homestead.  In pretty good shape, too.

In Atlanta, we found some old civil war minnies, a cannon wheel and a few other things on a site right in the path of Sherman's march to Atlanta.
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Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Marty Bonnar

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2012, 07:09:24 PM »
Nice tales, guys. Would love to hear more!
Civil War stuff, Jeff!? Wild!
What's really spooky about this ball are that it's still rock-hard and still reeks of fresh rubber. I really think you could happily tee it up and give it a smack even today!
F.
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The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Neil_Crafter

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Re: Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2012, 11:42:56 PM »
Nice find Marty :-)
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Mark_Rowlinson

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Re: Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2012, 11:18:36 AM »
Someone found a forgotten store of WW2 bombs and shells alongside a fairway at Llanymynech 20 or so years ago. They had to close part of the course until the bomb disposal people had done their thing.

There is supposed to be a mechanical digger somewhere under Moortown. The place was so wet when course construction took place that navvies had to be roped together to stop them disappearing into the bog as the digger obviously did!
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Bruce Katona

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Re: Golf Course, ehm, 'Archaeology'?
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2012, 12:34:07 PM »
Arrowheads and artifacts surfacing during construction or renovation are nice, but generally a nightmare.  The local historical society gets wind of the find and they want to shut the entire operation down to do a complete archaeological inventory.  Get your research project and advanced degree on another persons dime.

Nice find though Martin!
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