Golf collectors from throughout the U . S . and abroad gathered in Pittsburgh , Pa ., Sept 25 , for the world ’ s largest trade show devoted exclusively to golf collectibles . Exhibitors at more than 90 tables displayed everything from rare golf clubs to ceramics , books , games and silver trophies . The show was part of the 50th National Convention of the Golf Heritage Society .
“ It ’ s now in what we call the ‘ Golf Shrine ’ in my house ,” said Johns , 75 , of Mason Neck . “ It ’ s packed wall to wall with photos . It ’ s a sickness .”
GUY ’ S RECONSTRUCTION
As Johns was adding to his personal golf collection , the retired colonel was also building a top team of professionals in the section office he oversaw . That coincided with the retirement of Dr . Guy , who spent 38 years as a faculty member and dean of Prince George ’ s Community College in Largo , Md .
Retiring from academics in 2005 , Guy planned to “ reinvent ” himself and offered his services at the section office as its golf historian . His love for history was sparked by helping PGA professional Bill Sporre retrieve the details of his own playing milestones in the 1960s and ‘ 70s during a time when Sporre was the Middle Atlantic Section ’ s top player .
“ I started digging into his career and it became a 90-page book ,” said Guy , 78 , of Lancaster . “ Working on that biography brought me into contact with Dick Johns and the section , and allowed me to become their historian , archivist and librarian .”
What Guy discovered was a giant gap in the section ’ s historic timeline . Formed in 1925 , the section office did not keep records or have a professional staff until 1966 . They also didn ’ t keep records of annual meetings or executive committee meetings until 1972 .
As a historian , you are always looking for original documents to create the timeline , we now have a complete history of the section .”
— Harold Guy
PHOTOS COURTESY GOLF HERITAGE SOCIETY
28 V IRGINIA G OLFER | N OVEMBER / D ECEMBER 2021
So , Guy went to work . He visited the USGA library in New Jersey and the PGA library in Florida . He pored over golf stories in newspaper sports sections from Baltimore , Washington , Richmond to Norfolk . He also tracked down more information and photos from the personal scrapbooks of section members .
“ I was able to reconstruct the section ’ s entire history from 1925 to 1979 ,” said Guy . “ There are 1,700 files in my directory and we were able to put together our library .”
The section ’ s library in Stafford now holds 1,200 volumes of books , hundreds of golf media guides , brochures and pamphlets , caddie badges and photos . Guy also tracked down two hickory-shafted clubs that belonged to a section president in the mid-1930s , as well as to the winner of the inaugural Virginia Open , who was a head professional and section member .
In addition to tracking down historical items and information for the museum and library , Guy was able to spend time with octogenarian section members who were competitive in the late 1930s , ‘ 40s and ‘ 50s and to write about 70 different biographies . Based on his research and interviews , Guy recommended six section hall-of-fame inductees . He also identified three former section presidents and discovered details of a dozen section championships that were previously undocumented .
“ As a historian , you are always looking for original documents to create the
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