April 7 Report: Andy North and Dow Finsterwald

A pair of golfing successes to report today -- though one was quickly tempered.

First up if former University of Florida golfer and two-time U.S. Open winner Andy North. I attended the 2001 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in 2001, which North won. I saved my patron badge from the event for all these years and now it is signed.

The cool thing about it was that the envelope was postmarked in Augusta, Georgia. Obviously North brought my letter with him to The Masters, where he is commentating this week for ESPN.

This is one of three different patron badges I've sent out in recent weeks, so we'll see if they all get returned.

The second success today is from Dow Finsterwald. Finsterwald won 11 events on the PGA Tour, most notably the 1958 PGA Championship. He was also a four-time Ryder Cup player.

In the last two years I've been fortunate enough to do photoshoots with many of the most significant trophies in golf. I've decided to begin collecting the signatures of major champions on photos of that particular trophy.

So when I saw this 5x7 envelope today I knew the forst of those had been returned. Sadly I think Finsterwald signed it and slid it right in the envelope while it was still quite wet.

The result being that the signature is so badly smeared it is unusable.

I guess I will be sending another request explaining that it was ruined when it arrived and hopefully he will sign another one for me.

Day of the Year: 97
Number of Autographs This Year: 137

April 3 Report: Jack Fleck, Tim Herron, Karen Allen and Jeff Reardon

Today was a busy day preparing and mailing out requests. The last five days really have been geared toward adding the signatures of prominent golfers over the years to my collection.

Essentially the focus has been sending out prints of photographs I've taken over the years of significant trophies in golf. The four I've been sending out lately are to LPGA players who have played on Solheim Cup teams, plus PGA Tour players who have either played on the Ryder Cup or have won The Open or PGA Championship.

Hopefully in a week or so I'll have some of those successes to post here. I did officially send my 200th request of the year today. For the record that was a a 5x7 print of the Claret Jug to Stewart Cink.

Now on to the successes from today, while still keeping with the theme of major championship golf.

Fifty-five years ago this year, one of the greatest upsets in golf history occured. Playing the role of upsetter was unheralded Iowan Jack Fleck, who battled the legendary Ben Hogan to a tie in the 1955 U.S. Open.

Fleck, who had served in the U.S. Navy and was a part of the Invasion of Normandy, would outduel Hogan, his childhood hero, to earn his first professional victory.

Fleck, who was 88 years old when he signed this ball, would win three times on the PGA during his career. He later won a senior major at the 1979 Senior PGA Championship.

Today's other golf success comes from a modern-day star, Tim Herron. Herron had a respectable amateur career at the University of New Mexico, where he played on the 1993 U.S. Walker Cup team.

Herron played for a spell on the Nationwide Tour before joining the PGA Tour in 1996, when he won his first Tour title at the Honda Classic.

To date Herron has four Tour titles, the most recent coming at the 2006 Bank of America Colonial.

Herron also has a unique claim to fame as he defeated a 15-year-old Tiger Woods in second round of 1992 U.S. Amateur. The loss was one of only two defeats Woods suffered in 23 U.S. Amateur matches.

Today's last success comes from the acting world.

One of my favorite movies growing up was the Raiders of the Lost Ark series. One of the main characters was Marion Ravenswood (Indiana Jones' love interest), who was played by Karen Allen.

Allen has appeared in a number of other movies, though she has often taken long breaks away from the bigscreen to apply her considerable talents to broadway and stage acting.

Lastly I report my second failure of the year. Bernie Kosar was the first as he was asking for $$$ to sign a card. This time it's Jeff Reardon. Although Reardon did not ask for money, he simply sent the card back unsigned -- no note, no message, just the unsigned card.

Day of the Year: 93
Number of Autographs This Year: 133

April 2 Report: Retief Goosen and Tony Franklin

I've slowly been adding autographs to the tournament logo balls I've collected over the years at tournaments around the country -- and a few overseas.

Today's signed golf ball comes courtesy of two-time U.S. Open champ Retief Goosen.

Goosen, a South African, is among the most successful players competing in the game today.

At the time of this writing Goosen is the 15-ranked player in the world. He presently counts 30 different official worldwide victories on his resume. Most notable among those are his two U.S. Open wins -- in 2001 at Southern Hills and in 2004 at Shinnecock Hills.

Goosen is likely on a path to be elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in the next few years, so I'm thrilled to add this autograph to my golf collection.

The second autograph today comes from former Philadelphia Eagles kicker Tony Franklin. Franklin was a standout at Texas A&M, where he once owned the NCAA record for longest field goal made (65 yards). Franklin also kicked a 64-yard field goal in the same game and remains the only college player to kick two 60-plus yarders in one game.

Franklin's college career ended with him holding 18 records, including most career field goals (56) and most field goals of 50 yards or longer.

Franklin, a barefoot kicker, was drafted by the Eagles in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft and played for them from 1979-83. He also played for the Patriots (1984-87) and the Miami Dolphins (1988). He was a Pro Bowl selection in 1985.

Day of the Year: 92
Number of Autographs This Year: 130